Petrichor [ pet•rich•or ]
n. the smell of earth after rain
^ - o r a b e l l a - ^
"Orabella, I wanted to personally apologize for my behavior. I was acting out in selfishness," Valentino spoke huskily when he found us preparing to exit out of the house doors. I noticed how Vincenzo looked agitated as he glared at his brother.
"It's fine," I told him, my voice soft, not sure if I meant it or not.
He gave me a beautiful jaw-dropping smile before taking my hand into his and placing a small kiss on my knuckles. "You look especially beautiful," he complimented.
"È abbastanza, Valentino," Vincenzo told him, annoyance clear in his voice. [ that's enough ]
"What? Sono solo gentile," Valentino responded, smirking at his own words. I moved closer to Vincenzo after he had wrapped his arm around my waist, connecting our bodies. It was crazy how they spoke of Vincenzo being the one all scary and mighty, when all his brother had to do was look at you for your heartbeat to exhilarate. [ I'm being nice ]
"Have fun on your date," he said before finally taking his intimidating eyes off of me and looking over at his brother. "Also, Barbie took your little Orabella here to my club," he told him.
I swallowed hard as I looked up at Vincenzo. My hopes were extremely high that he wouldn't lash out and take out his anger on Anastasia, the only person who I could see myself trusting here.
"What?" He asked angrily.
I narrowed my eyes at Valentino as a newfound dislike seemed to sprout from me as I looked at him. He didn't pay Vincenzo any attention as he smirked at me. "Sorry, Principessa-you tell on me, I tell on you," he chuckled out, acting as a child. [ princess ]
"Non ha visto molto e mi prenderò cura di Barbie," he said, shrugging his shoulders. I was going to make it my mission to learn Italian. Not knowing what everyone was saying around you could get really stressful and nerve-wracking. [ she didn't see much, and I will take care of barbie ]
"I want her handled. Poteva farsi male-," Vincenzo began, fire swimming around in his eyes. If this were a cartoon, I just knew that smoke would be steaming out of his ears. [ she could've gotten hurt- ]
"Go enjoy your time. I've got her covered," he spoke, never wiping that wicked smirk from his face. In fact, I believe that it grew as the sentence flew out of his mouth.
I noticed how he wasn't wearing his suit jacket anymore. Instead, his shirt had the top few buttons unbuttoned allowing his muscular chest to be seen. He even had a gold chain around his neck that seemed to add to his appeal. He gave me one last look, then I watched as he turned on his heel, whistling a tone as he went.
When my eyes trailed back over to Vincenzo, he was already looking at me quite angrily.
If I had known Valentino was just going to tell him everything I was attempting to avoid, I would have told him myself. That way, I could've explained it in a way that would've made him less upset.
"Okay, look-"
"I don't want to hear it. We have a dinner to get to. We will discuss this later," he told me. For some reason, I found a double meaning behind his words.
My whole body shivered as he placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me outside of the estate. We walked to the front where a man was already waiting for us with the back door of the limo ajar.
"This is fancy," I muttered lowly to myself. It never occurred to me how much money he had. I knew it had to be a lot, seeing that the place we lived in was the biggest house I've ever seen. It was even bigger than houses seen in movies. Also, discovering that there was an underground floor only made it more massive.
I got into the car first, followed by Vincenzo. When he was in, the door was shut behind him by the driver. My eyes took in every feature the limo had to offer. It was the first time I ever was in one.
"Do you like Italian?" He asked. Just as I was about to answer, he grabbed me by my waist and placed me in his lap.
"I love Italian," I said darkly. I didn't mean to sound so dirty, but I wasn't mad at myself for saying it. His eyebrow rose up as a smirk played out on his lips.
"You do, don't you?" He asked, I could feel his nose lightly touch my neck before his lips pressed down on my skin. The hand on his thigh moved passed the slit of my dress to cover my exposed skin.
"I'm not one-hundred percent sure," I told him, faking puzzlement. This time, both eyebrows went up before he showed off that dazzling smile of his.
Before I could even realize it, his hand trailed farther up my skin. It was so close up to the point I'm sure he could feel the fabric of my red lace panties he had bought for me. "Would you allow any persuasion?" He asks.
His hand moved passed my underwear just as I reached down to grab it. My hand was on top of his, stopping him from making any more movements. I looked around, checking to see if anyone could see us but the driver had his privacy window up.
"Permettimi, piccola," he said huskily, inching closer to my core. My eyes held his before he slowly began leaning in. The night sky casted a dark shadow to look over his face that only made him look sexier-if that's even possible. [ allow me, baby ]
His lips connected to mine immediately sending a jolt to my center. The hand that was not in my dress, but instead, around my waist had pulled me in even closer.
He was so great at doing absolutely everything. It felt natural to have his lips moving against mine and his muscular arms to wrap around me like he never wanted to let go. My favorite part was the passion, and the care he left behind with every kiss.
Just as he removed his hand from the inside of my dress and placed it in my hair to bring me closer, the car came to a stop in front of a huge fancy looking restaurant. We pulled away, leaving me to look out of the window to see as women and men walked in looking as if they were entering a high-class ball.
Insecurities began to make me feel out of place, but I shook it off the moment they began to arise. The driver opened up our limousine door before Vincenzo stepped out with a hand outstretched for me. I immediately slipped my hand into his before he helped me step out of the vehicle.
The second my heels made contact with the pavement, I let go of his hand. A smile of mine was sent to the driver as a thank you, but all he did was respond with a curt nod.
He didn't allow the 'letting go of hand' thing for too long as he placed my hand in the inside of his elbow before walking us towards the front of the restaurant.
The man at the front was smiling an award-winning smile until his eyes found Vincenzo's. Immediately, his jaw-dropped as his eyes widened a little.
"Mister, Rossi," The man greeted before ringing the bell at the front of his desk. A waiter immediately made his appearance before taking in the sight of Vincenzo and I.
"Uh, um, right this way," he gasped out before walking away leaving us to follow right behind him. He had taken us to a private table all the way in the very back. It was a dim booth, and what I liked most was the privacy of it all.
I sat down in the booth first before Vincenzo slid into the booth opposite of me. Nervousness took over my body as anxiety clouded my mind of possibly not knowing what to say, or maybe saying the wrong thing. This was my first time ever being out, so I truthfully didn't know what to expect from him or myself.
"You look a little apprehensive," he said, cocking his head to the side a little in the most adorable way.
I gave him a small smile before shaking my head entirely. "No, it's just that I've never done anything like this before," I told him honestly. He bit down on his lip as if he were trying to hide a smile before nodding his head.
"Well, there's no need to be nervous around me," he stated. The waiter came back up to us, asking what we'd like to drink, but all Vincenzo said was for him to gather what he normally gets along with getting the same thing for me.
"Your name is Vincenzo, and everytime I try to say it, I feel like I'm going to mess up. So, I've been thinking of a nickname for you," I said. He chuckled a little before leaning back in the seat.
"A nickname?" He repeated.
"Yes," I answered him feeling calmer than what I had been previously.
"And what have you thought of, Bella?" He asked me, smiling a little.
I bit down on my lip to contain myself from laughing. It wasn't that I found it funny because it was actually creative and quite adorable. The only reason why I had to hold back from laughing was because I had a feeling that he wasn't going to react in an accepting manner. "Well, at first I wanted it to be Vince, but that's too typical. So, after a while, I came to the wholesome decision of calling you Zozo."
He laughed a little. The type of laugh that your head tossed back a little. It made me give a small laugh as well, I couldn't help but do so, seeing as his laugh was such a contagious thing.
"I've never heard that one. I have heard Enzo, Vincent, Vince, and even Vinney, but I don't think I've ever heard Zozo until I met you," he laughed out.
"Well, what can I say, Zozo? I'm different," I told him shrugging my shoulders with a big smile taking over my face.
He stopped laughing, pulled his bottom lip in-between his teeth in the most scrumptious way before nodding his head. "Yeah, you are."
The waiter returned. He placed a dish that I don't even know the name of in front of me. It was some sort of pasta before doing the same to Zozo. He then grabbed empty glasses and placed them in front of us before filling each one up with a bottle of wine.
"I-Is there anything else I can help you with, Mr. Rossi?" He asked.
"Leave," he ordered, his voice intimidatingly low and hard. The waiter quickly left as if those were the exact words he's been waiting to hear.
I had never tasted wine before, so I grabbed ahold of the glass, not caring that I didn't look as luxurious as everyone else in the building and downed the whole thing.
"Attento," he told me, watching me carefully as the entire drink left the glass and filled my stomach. It was much more tastier than the sip of alcohol I would steal from my father as it left behind a sweet taste in my mouth. [ careful ]
"I'm sorry, it just tastes really good," I said to him. He chuckled at me leaving me to smile. I picked up the fork and tasted the pasta, loving how it seemed to melt on my tastebuds without even trying. A moan left my mouth before I could stop it.
When I looked up, his eyes seemed to darken. "Bella, posso darti qualcosa di cui lamentarti," he spoke those native words to my ears, and for some reason it never failed to leave a damp in my panties. [ I can give you something to moan about ]
After a while of us talking about a little of everything. I was stuffed, and I think I had drank about three other glasses of wine before Vincenzo told the waiter I had enough.
Everything was a little spiny, but I think that I was still okay.
"Tell me about how you started all of this, Zozo to the zo-no?" I said, giggling at his nickname that I know I will never manage to get over.
"Well, I'm not going to go into details, but intelligence and strength is what got me to where I am. It started as something to keep my mind off of pain and soon-I learned that the best way to do that was to own everything and everyone," he said.
"Including me?" I asked.
He laughed unenthusiastically. "You're drunk. I should've figured you'd have an extremely low tolerance," he said.
"Let's get home, you've been acting like una cattiva ragazza." [ a bad girl ]
- • -
Next chapter, I'll be showing you guys who I imagine as my new favorite character; Mr. Valentino
I must ask; how do you guys feel about Valentino now? Also, do you guys what a chapter of what he did with Barbie because I don't want to leave you out in the dust and just know that I'm not planning on writing a book for him anytime soon. At least not until I finish this one lmao.
Also, how do you feel about Vincenzo's avoidance of the question. Do you think it's because she's drunk, or because he didn't want to give her an answer.
Let me know your thoughts. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting. I try my best to respond to as much as possible. Just know that I'm always here for you loves.
Your friend,
- xx lee
PLEASE VOTE.