SILVIO
"Goddamn it." I skipped over the last two steps and rushed over to where she was sitting on the couch. My heart was banging a consistent rhythm inside my chest of anxiety and anticipation building up but never seeming to explode into a red cloud of catharsis.
A breath of relief escaped me when I saw her—her face was the first thing that caught my attention. She was fine, she wasn't hurt, or touched in any way shape for form. I took a minute to examine her, my gaze moving from the strands of curly hair on her head to her black heels.
She was trembling, her whole body shaking with fear and possibly something more. I had never seen her like this. So fragile, breakable and soft in my arms.
I closed the distance between us not giving a second thought about it, wrapping my arms around her shoulders and held on to her tightly, never wanting to let go. I rested my chin on top of her head, and hid my face into her hair and inhaled. Existed.
"Breathe for me." I whispered, my voice soft and quiet in a way that always seemed to appear whenever I spoke to her.
It didn't last for too long before she pulled away from me, emotionally and physically. I took her by the arm gently, sat her down on the couch and forcefully took her phone away from her.
Anger boiled through my body in a fizzle of hot red liquid as I read the message and the pictures which accompanied them. My jaw tightened, chest pained as my gaze hovered over the most concerning picture of them all.
Whoever the fuck was following her had gotten so close he'd managed to capture a picture of her body, and his hand was in the frame, reaching forward almost like he was about to touch her but he didn't.
I knew what this meant.
Whoever this was knew her. The person was close enough to be able to get within a distance to acquire pictures but the horror of not knowing what to expect whenever you left your house was the most terrifying thing ever.
I forwarded the message to Beast from her phone with the caption, 'I want this handled' and I knew he didn't have to guess who was the sender, and then I turned to Presley. My Presley.
I wanted to hold and comfort her, if she would have me do so. I knew that there were people in this world who didn't like being comforted or held whenever they were distressed, they preferred space. I was one of those.
I gazed at her face, and the way she held that stoic expression like nothing had happened. If I hadn't heard her scream earlier, I would have simply assumed she was giving me the silent treatment but she wasn't.
This was her coping mechanism. She was going to deny anything was wrong and let it build up until it consumed her into a rage of anxiety and fear.
I wouldn't let it get that far this time.
"Presley." I called her name out, reaching out to grab her by the elbow but she shifted to the side, silently demanding for me not to touch her.
Even if I wanted to respect her boundaries about space, all that went to shit the minute I tasted her. Her boundaries were now mine, all the fucking lines were crossed and twisted with each other.
I reached out once again, tightening my hold on her elbow despite her sounds of frustration and pulled her towards me.
She turned her face to the opposite way facing towards the door, ready to flee away from me but I placed a hand on her waist and hefted her against my body. Placed her ass on my lap and curled her beautiful, conflicted face in my grip.
"You planning on talking to me?" Her gaze was hot and fierce as she focused her eyes on my face, almost like she was conflicted between seeking comfort in my arms, and also slapping the shit out of me.
She shook her head with a heavy sigh and twisted--or attempted to twist her hand out of my hold. "Let me go, Silvio."
"Is that what you want?" I asked her.
"Yes," She muttered, scowling down at me. "Let me fucking go."
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, the thought of ever letting her go anywhere where I couldn't find her terrified me. It was only that. A simple thought.
I'd only had her for a day, and the funny thing was I didn't even have her. She wasn't mine to love, or care for but I'd recognized she was mine but I knew eventually she would leave and this dream of ours would be over.
"Fine." I exhaled with a resigned sigh and dropped my hand, letting her escape. Only temporarily.
I relaxed slightly, watching as she nearly flew from my lap and started accumulating all her things and belongings into a bag.
As soon as she was done, she headed towards the door and before she could reach the doorknob, I pounced like a predator and nearly flew through the wide silver of space between us to reach her.
I didn't wait for her goddamn permission or acceptance before throwing her over my shoulders and headed for the door.
"Silvio! What the fuck?" She started screaming, thrashing and kicking like a three-year old girl who'd been denied of something she wanted "You're crazy, oh my fucking god."
Yeah, crazy about something.
I didn't respond to her because I knew the best way to deal with this specific woman was not to entertain her.
I entered the elevator swiftly, landing a hand on the globe of her ass and slapped it when she drew my earlobe between her teeth and bit. Except it was more of a seductive licking which only made me swell in my pants.
Goddamn, any little thing this woman did always managed to have that effect on me. She could be fucking glaring at me and threatening to kill me and I would still be goddamn hard for her.
"Careful, dolcezza." I warned her, switching over to her right ass cheek and slapped it, watching it jiggle in my line of sight. Fuck.
"Keep thinking those thoughts and you won't make it out of this elevator, yes?" I curled a hand around her curvy thighs, the sight of my rings and tattoos branded into her smooth dark skin filled me with some sort of primal satisfaction.
She sighed heavily and released her grip on my earlobe when she realized she wouldn't win this battle. "Where are you taking me, Mr. Rossi?"
Ah, we're back to that.
I didn't respond to her question because if I did, I would never hear the end of her wrath. And when I didn't respond to her question, she quieted down, withdrawing back into her shell--the same one I'd seen a couple of times to protect herself.
She always reverted back to this coping mechanism where she could recuperate and delude herself into thinking everything was fine, and she would be fine except it was never that easy.
There was a goddamn stalker after her, apparently one who didn't value his life.
I allowed her down from my shoulder when we arrived at my Black Audi, buckling in her seatbelt for her when she entered and I lowered my head down to watch her.
"Give me a kiss, dolcezza." I was a greedy man, I wanted to steal every single kiss before this would be over and I didn't mind if that made me look like a sappy son of a bitch.
She watched me quietly, shooting daggers into my head and I knew she was thinking of digging the stilettos of her heels into my right eye but regardless, she clutched my shirt in her fist, and brought my face down, and my lips met hers for a chaste kiss.
The kiss reached down inside the dead parts of me, building a small fire and left promises of redemption, and hope for my dead soul.
The smell of her strawberry scent shampoo mixed with my body wash wafted into my nose, making me wonder if she tasted just as sweet as she smelled.
Something in her demeanor changed, and her body went lax, relaxing for a slight second which was the effect I'd hoped for. A hand curled around the nape of my neck, tugging and playing with my hair like she'd become accustomed to.
I broke off the kiss, taking her bottom lip between my teeth and tugging gently. "Trust me. Can you do that for me?" I murmured in a husky voice, my fingertips drifting over her cheek.
I broke off the kiss, my gaze darting over her face, searching for something, a tell, something which could tell me what she was thinking.
Her eyes closed on a deep breath, and it'd taken every bit of my willpower to not throw her into my arms and whisk her to some goddamn country no one would find her, and spoil every single piece of her.
"Okay." She responded and opened those big brown eyes to meet mine. "Don't break my trust, Silvio."
"I won't." I answered without a doubt. "I won't so let me help you, hm?"
She nodded slowly, softness radiating in her eyes but I could still tell that the events that'd occurred earlier were disturbing her. The woman always had the ability to lie to everyone except me or maybe I saw right past her bullshit.
I'd recognized that she was the type of woman who didn't want a soft love but she deserved it. A woman with the beauty of an angel and a personality of a daredevil.
As I drove down the busy New York street, the sunlight glowed a bright shimmering gold rushing towards her face, and illuminated her soft features.
Her face was calm and impasse but her light brown eyes mixed with warm honey from the sun's fixation were stormy and hot.
She shifted her gaze to the car mirror where I was already watching her, and immediately, she looked away as if it was unbearable to look at me.
I wondered if I would ever make it through a day without seeing this woman whose touch I'd come to crave so much like a drug.
It obliterated whatever fear and anxiety I had of touching the opposite sex and made me crave more of hers. Only her.
I placed my bare hand on the gear shift, making a note to avoid wearing gloves around her if it didn't burn too much. This was the first time I hadn't worn my gloves consistently for the past week.
My thoughts ceased to exist when I felt the light brush of her finger against mine.
She'd causally placed a hand beside the gear shift but instead of initiating the touch, she slowly brushed her pinky against mine. Not too much force but just enough to get my blood rushing.
I almost flinched; I had never been touched with so much gentleness ever and I knew what the touch of others felt like but hers felt like I belonged in this world, like an invisible string pulling and tugging me back to her.
I took her hand in mine, the static feeling shocking us both, a remainder of the unspoken taboo between us.
Our eyes clashed in the car mirror, the hidden desire mixed with fear in her eyes and I pressed my foot over the gas, running to the other side of it all.
I pulled into the driveway of the small, cottage home and slipped out of the car to head over to the passenger side and help Presley out.
She gazed at the house in pure amusement and confusion like she wanted to say something but cautioned against it.
This was one of the smaller houses I owned, it was on the other side of where Octavius lived, and in a small unknown neighborhood and currently it was the only solution for the situation we were in right now.
I needed her to be unguarded and carefree tonight, I didn't want her worrying about the creep or anything which she didn't need to.
I glanced down at her hand as we walked towards the door together side by side, wondering if I was supposed to hold her hand and wondering if I wanted to end this thing right now or wait until she was safe again.
It would be easier then especially if I didn't have to see her every day.
She brushed her pinky against mine silently letting me it was fine to touch her and I took that as an initiative to reach gently and hold her hand in mine.
A warm feeling exploded through my chest like bouncing in a cloud of cotton candy. Yeah, I don't know how the hell I'm going to walk away.
An hour later, I'd settled into the house making sure she had spare clothes of mine to change into and threw a little something on the stove.
I usually had boxed meals lying around, and I knew the maid had recently cleaned up and stocked the fridge.
I also had a feeling she hadn't eaten all day because the woman liked to skip meals and that was something I knew we were going to disagree on.
Especially since I had first-hand information from Finley and I knew the classic I'm not hungry tale.
Octavius and Beast had been blowing up the goddamn group chat about Presley and how I was 'worse than Octavius' because Octavius spent days without seeing Finley but I couldn't say away from Presley.
And why the hell would I do that?
I heard the sound of footsteps behind me, turning around to meet her gaze while the spaghetti boiled behind us. I'd turned the gas off first then paid attention to her.
She took a couple of steps, taking her sweet time to reach me and I couldn't help but smile in amusement to myself.
My gaze ran down the length of her, and how my clothes looked on her; it filled me with this primal urge to have and consume her.
I leaned against the counter, shaking my head to myself as I drew my bottom lip between my teeth watching her.
"I'm gonna make you something to eat," I murmured when she reached me, running my fingertips down the front of the white shirt, and brushing a thumb across her nipples.
She inhaled a shaky breath, shivering. I watched as they hardened through the shirt and I had the urge to rip her shirt and play with them. Ah, fuck. I wondered how sensitive she would be.
I shook the thoughts away from my head, dropping my thumb from her nipples and cupping her face around my large palm.
I pulled her into me, splayed my body to hers, forcing her back against the counter. And hefted her body on the countertop, sliding into the space between her curved, silky thighs.
Our faces were only separated by a silver shard of space as she whispered, "I'm a tough girl, I don't need protection from you."
My brows raised in slight awareness, knowing damn well she'd been thinking about this while she was left alone with her thoughts. I nodded, "I know you are."
A softness came into her eyes like she was surprised to hear me acknowledge it. "I know you can take care of yourself but I want to do it as well."
"Take care of me?" Her voice was filled with bewilderment.
I shrugged slightly, unsure of how to convey what I wanted to say. "Amongst other things."
"Silvio." A slight warning. I knew she was warning me not to make this more complicated than it already was.
She wanted me not to make this anything else than it was which I guess she supposed was two people having earth-shattering attraction which would eventually lead to sex. Nothing more.
Lucky for her, I never listened to anyone.
"Angel."
Her brows lifted in slight confusion and amusement. She visibly struggled with what to say, at a loss for words at the nickname and squirming at the idea of what everything meant.
"What do you want, Silvio?" She asked softly. "What do you want from me?"
"Everything."
"Goodbye, Mr. Rossi." Her face hardened, eyes stormed with frustration and she made a move to flee away from me but I stopped her with a hand on her thigh. Tightening my arm around her middle so she couldn't move an inch.
I gazed at her with an unexplainable loss of words but this time, I could feel her presence digging deeper and deeper into my soul, leaving me open. Raw and exposed for the first time in years.
I'd waited for years—forever for her to notice me and I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep waiting.
"Stop. Stop that. Stop looking at me like that." She warned me with a raised brow.
I cupped her cheek in one hand, kissing her hard on the mouth. "Like what?"
I murmured and then went in for another kiss but she stopped me with a pointed look. My brow rose. "Give me another kiss."
Her nose flared with frustration."No. What do you want?"
"I want you to marry me, Angel."
author's note
hi, I know the cliffhangers are killing you all & I'm so sorry but I have to leave it on a cliffhanger so I don't end up writing like eight thousand words.
thank you for 85k & I love you all.
PLS CALM DOWN YALL, & yes Silvio is a bit crazy. MARRIAGE IS A BIG THING :)
all my love,
dee