I found this bewildering.
Now as he tossed me a blazing grin, I took in his scruff-covered jaw and perfectly proportioned face with a galloping heart. He stood and began to strut about the patio as if he were God’s gift to everyone, and I kept noticing every inch of his body, including the prominent bulge behind his zipper. I should’ve hated such arrogance. I should’ve despised his brazen sexuality. And I did.
Yet, I also didn’t. I also wanted to see him out of that expensively tailored suit, to see what it might be disguising. Every time he had teased me he’d remained fully clothed, so I was still left to wonder what he might look like. I wanted to know. I wanted his body to touch mine. To press against mine. And something deep down inside me wanted to meet his darkness with my own.
Which was so stupid.
“Besides, farfalla, the Cavettis have completely defeated the Bonifacios, and as of a couple of hours ago, every other threat to our dominion over this city. Isn’t it ironic that our bloodlines have demonstrated themselves to be stronger than yours? Than everyone else’s?” he bragged with a harsh laugh, reminding me yet again of how stupid it was to feel anything but disgust towards him.
How insensitive and narcissistic could one man be?
So, shoving all my conflicted feelings to the side, I incorporated the strategy I wished to try, praying against all odds that it might work. As he’d brought me here, I’d scoped out and memorized everything about the mansion that I could. There was a plush carpet down the corridor where I’d been living, which would muffle footfalls.
The walls there were windowless and looked to be made of gold streaked white marble. Around a corner where there were windows, I noticed that we were higher than the ground level, possibly on a second story. Fleetingly, I spotted a handful of their staff hanging around cleaning various and sundry, but while they glanced at us, Romeo didn’t stop to interact with any of them.
The hallway ended in a wide landing with two parallel staircases descending downwards on either side. The atrium I’d glimpsed as we’d rapidly traversed the floor had eye-catching arched Roman doorways as well as the most colossal crystal chandelier I’d ever seen. If I came this way all by my lonesome, such features would be impossible to miss.
Romeo continued onwards past the double stairways and led me to another elaborate staircase, this time a spiral one that pointed upwards. The banisters had been decorated by criss crossing golden railings that gleamed, and I’d dedicated myself to remembering the location and where everything was.
As I sat out on the patio with Romeo now, I thought up some scenarios where I could use my new knowledge of the floorplan to track down my family and/or head for an exit. I needed to have an escape route at the ready, and mapping as much of the Cavetti’s home as I could would hopefully make all the difference. I figured that their mansion must have at least three stories along with the basement Philippa had mentioned, and each floor obviously spanned a significant amount of space. I had to be careful to not get lost in here.
I’d monitored Romeo’s wine intake, sipping mine while he refilled his own goblet three times. I didn’t know his tolerance for alcohol, but I’d noticed that his posture seemed looser and more relaxed, his features softer and more amused. Did that mean he’d imbibed enough to get drunk? I couldn’t be sure, but I knew that with dessert over with, he’d likely want to go back in soon, and I needed to check something while we were up here. This might be my only chance.
Deliberately, I rose in my five-inch stilettos and raised both my arms over my head. Doing this would be a calculated risk, a gambit that might fail, but as frightened of Romeo as I was, he could’ve taken me out many times over if he’d wanted to. While I knew he could—and probably would—harm me if I pushed him too far, I no longer thought he’d kill me. This was the first time Romeo had allowed me to leave my room, and I couldn’t let this precious opportunity pass me by. I swayed as if music was playing. Romeo had been pacing but he slowed mid-stride, sizing me up with his assessing gaze. I continued.
As the daughter of a patriarch, I and my sisters had all been taught etiquette, charm, and several forms of dance. The main emphasis had been on ballet for gracefulness and on waltzes and similar forms of pair dancing for use at grand parties, weddings, and other formal events. One thing my mother had made certain we were taught as well, however, was belly dancing. She never said why, but now that I was a grown woman, I thought I probably knew.
It would be wise for any future mafia wife to know how to please her man.
Moving seductively, sensually, I shifted my hips in a steady rhythm, encircling his position. Over time, I increased my speed, picking up my pace just a little, as I shimmied my hips and made a beckoning gesture with my hands. His smile broadened as he took me in, his eyes darkening. The skirt of my gown was too tight to incorporate the sort of move requiring me to place my leg high over my head, so holding his gaze, I wiggled my shoulders briskly back and forth as I bowed before him as if in submission.
That did it.
He came to me then, his hands going to my cheeks as if to cradle them. But since this was Romeo, his grip came down a few degrees firmer than it should’ve, his fingers leaving indentations in my skin. He’d probably cause bruises again, but I didn’t mind. In a moment, I might receive a short window of opportunity, one I knew I’d never get while stuck in my gilded cage. I was ready.
He kissed me with the same odd gentleness he did the first time, his lips caressing mine like the butterfly nickname he used to refer to me. He tasted of the Pauillac red and seemed a tad less stable on his feet, which I took as a good sign. I could feel his frame pancaked to mine, could feel the tensile pressure in his muscles as if he might be about to spring, could feel his arousal jabbing into my upper thigh. I tracked my hands up his broad back, a quasi-embrace, as his lips went from my mouth to my temple.
His grip on my cheekbones slackened as he lowered them to my arms and taking one hand in his, swung me into a twirl. I smiled at him, hoping he couldn’t tell that I was making constant calculations as we danced together. What his reaction time was. How far he could reach. The distance between me and the door where the staff had appeared. How fast I could sprint away given the extreme height of these narrow heels.
I did a move that brought me close enough to twitch against him before backing away, then did it again. The next move I made included more risk as I softly brought my splayed hand over his face and brought it gradually downwards, encouraging him without words to close his eyes. He did and if I hadn’t had a different goal, I might’ve cheered. Instead, I turned him in circles until he looked dizzy, then sprinted as fast as I could for the exit.
Adrenaline pumping through me, I’d just reached the spiral stairway leading downwards when I heard Romeo’s footsteps dashing up behind me followed by his sharp command. “Lucia.”
He sounded far soberer than I’d hoped for and I stopped right at the head of the stairs, though that’s not the direction I looked in. Instead, I glanced down at the three-story drop, instantly determining that there was no path there that would enable me to climb safely down. The exterior wall at the back was as sheer as a granite cliff face with no ledges within reach that might’ve allowed me any avenue to gain purchase. My heart clutched with disappointment.