CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: WINTER
“Whatareyoudoing?” I ask after Lucia throws my door open. It thunders against the wall, the sound of wood cracking making my jaw clench.
The wicked female Costa only offers me a smile and I have the unwelcome thought that she reminds me of Maleficent. What with her inky black hair, bright green eyes, and crooked smile. Her lips are painted black today and it makes her look even more devious. She has her hair pulled back into her favored bun, exposing the harsh lines of her face.
She could be a model.
And I suspect that she knows it.
She strolls into my room, her boots clunking against the floorboards. She throws herself down on my bed before lifting the yellow sundress on my bed.
“I’m your guard for the next couple of days,” she says simply. She tosses the dress at me and I struggle to catch it. Finally, I stabilize the fabric in my hands, glaring at Lucia. She laughs. “Hurry the hell up and get dressed, we’ve got things to do.”
“What are we about to do?” I ask her. I don’t go into work until later on today and as far as I know I don’t have any other plans. Everyone has been even more tight-lipped than usual around here.
Giovanni hasn’t made an appearance since he left me on the library floor. I couldn't even muster up the ability to be embarrassed when Enzo found me there the next morning after I’d drifted out to sleep, my body exhausted.
You can’t be any more embarrassed when you’ve already had said guy’s cock in your mouth while you came on his sort of boyfriend’s dick.
He hadn’t said anything about my compromising position and I suspect that he knew exactly who the perpetrator was. Maximo was no doubt in the same bed as him at the time of the defiling and Vito wouldn’t leave me like that, maybe. Giovanni, on the other hand, would be ecstatic to do such a thing.
“Apparently, you made friends while I was gone or some shit,” she says with a shrug, “So you have a friend trip at the mall or something like that.” When she gives a roll of her eyes, I suspect that she doesn’t have any friends of her own other than Maximo.
“Daria?” I ask. She’s the only person that I’m friends with who would be able to talk the Costas into allowing me to go out with her. Or at least, she’s the only person who’d get her fiancé to see permission.
Lucia nods her head. “Yea, and the Accardi fuck up.”
“Isabella?”
"Yes,” this response comes with her gesturing with her hand for me to hurry up.
I eye her before looking down at the dress in my hand and back up. “Are you going to leave so I can change?” I ask her.
She scoffs. “Winter, I’ve seen my fair share of tits, no offense, but I’m not going to go crazy over seeing yours. And I’m not about to get up and leave either, so the quicker you are the better for me.” Her features pull tight, showing her impatience.
Sighing, I turn my back to her, trying to protect whatever little modesty I have left. She taps her fingers in a quick rhythm as I change. When I’m done, she hops to her feet, giving me a push to head in the direction of the door.
I nearly trip, but I manage to catch myself. I glare at her over my shoulder but she only smiles, her lips twisting.
We make our way outside and her sleek, black car is pulled up at the stairs, already running. I climb inside and instantly feel uncomfortable.
It’s so… clean. The interior is shiny and there isn’t a single stain on the surface, no crumbs on the floor. The leather seats are shiny and it has that new car smell, even though I know I’ve been seeing her drive this car for months now.
She turns on her radio, heavy metal flowing through the speakers. The entire way to the mall she air-guitars and beats her hands against the steering wheel in time with the music. At one point, she scares the shit out of me as she drives with no hands to strum the hell out of her imaginary guitar.
I let out a sigh of relief when we finally pull up to the mall.
I don’t wait for her, climbing out of the car and slamming the door. It’s hot out, the humidity in the air thick, but I still take deep breaths, thankful to be out of the car.
Lucia’s door slams and she moves around to me, rolling her eyes. “Way to be dramatic Winny-Poo.” She pauses next to me, her gaze moving around the parking lot. It’s packed with cars and I can only imagine what it’s going to look like on the inside. “Listen up,” Lucia says, her face turning serious. “I got rules and you’re going to follow them or I’ll drag your ass back home,” she warns.
She has to know that I look forward to these moments when I can actually leave the house and spend time with others, pretending that my life is normal.
“I need eyes on you at all times,” she says. “That means you don’t turn around corners unless I’m right on your ass, you don’t go take a shit unless I’m standing outside the stall, listening to your shit hit the water. You don’t run off, and you don’t approach any strangers, nor do you allow them to approach you. You certainly don’t let anyone touch you.”
“How do you suppose I stop them?” I ask her, unable to control the bite to my tone. I hadn’t been able to stop the Ramos cartel when they’d grabbed me, nor had I been able to do anything about Sheffield’s man a moment before he hit me in the head and knocked me clean out.
“No need to be sassy,” she quips even as her eyes continue to flicker around the lot, like she’s expecting a threat.