Page 21 of Villainous Kingpin
Of course, my mother didn’t behave like our friends’ moms. They’d chaperone the dates, get their daughters educated on safe sex, and put them on birth control. Mine crammed my schedule with training and Juliette’s with ballet.
“What’s on your mind?” Bas inquired, his gaze burning me with its intensity.
“I remembered something my mother used to tell me and my cousin.”
“What’s that?” he asked curiously.
It was a silly thing to say to a twenty-seven-year old man whose reputation as a skilled killer and sought-after bachelor preceded him. Call me stupid, but I trusted him and wanted to share whatever I could with him.
“When we started showing interest in boys in high school, she’d tell us that first love shatters dreams and innocence,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“Rather morbid,” he mused.
I nodded. I didn’t tell him it had never resonated with me until now. Because something about this man could shatter me. I’d stake my life on it. Worst of all, I’d let him.
He picked up another piece of sushi and I took it eagerly. Food was always easier to handle than deep discussions of love. Since I gave up on my own chopsticks, I let him feed me.
“Don’t forget to get some.” I reminded him before taking a bite, so he took the next one and we ate in silence. This moment under the stars would forever stay with me. It was simple and complicated. Romantic and dangerous.
None of it stopped me. I liked this man. The dark edge that surrounded him pulled at strings that I never knew existed and whispered to something deep down in my soul.
“Do you eat sushi often?” he asked.
I thought back to the last time I had sushi. It was with my mother right before leaving for Yale. She took Juliette and I to a little hole in the wall, but they had the best sushi in California. At least she believed so.
Of course, all three of us opted for forks rather than chopsticks. I still remembered that tense but comfortable silence as we ate our California rolls. I guess we were all disappointed that day. I hoped that for once she’d accompany me to the East Coast and see me off to college. She hoped I’d pick a college on the West Coast. Juliette was on my side, just for the principle of it.
I sighed. “My last night in California, before Jules and I came to college, Mom took us out for sushi,” I told him softly, glancing at the sky. She was a good mother. I knew she loved me. Both Juliette and me. But sometimes she felt more like a coach than a mother. It was like she died right along with my father. “She was disappointed we picked Yale rather than a university on the West Coast, so it wasn’t the most pleasant evening.”
The starry sky glittered against the darkness, whispering secrets in a language I’d never understand. And I knew without a doubt there were many secrets. It wasn’t until recently that I started pondering what my uncle and mom were hiding. Her refusal to ever come to New York or the East Coast, and the whole thing with Juliette finding birth certificates that had names of the Cullens as her and Killian’s parents. There was a lot being withheld from us, leaving us blind to who we really were.
I glanced at him to see he’d been watching me and I smiled.
“How did you end up so-”Dangerous.But that wasn’t the right word. Papers called him dangerous and ruthless. The Villainous Kingpin. Those weren’t the right words either. Yet, none others fit better than those. So at the loss of how to say it delicately, I just spit it out. “How did you end up being one of the most feared men in New York?”
I was curious about this man. I wanted to know everything, not only what reporters and paparazzi reported.
“Following my father’s footsteps,” he answered, his voice slightly bitter.
I tilted my head pensively. I doubted there was a person on the entire East Coast who hadn’t heard of Gio DiLustro. Monsters were real, and from everything I heard, Gio DiLustro was one of them. All you had to do was google his name and hints to his cruelty and crimes were everywhere. Owner of suspicious businesses, deaths in his strip club and his restaurants.
He was a man to keep your distance from. So was his son. According to the press, Basilio DiLustro wasn’t any less ruthless or lethal than his father. Except I had already fallen under his spell the moment he caught me sneaking over the balcony.
Thanks to Bas’ looks, reports labeled him as charismatic, intriguing, and one of the most sought-after bachelors. They weren’t wrong, but I had a feeling he hid a lot underneath all that.
“I’m not like your Yale boys,” Bas growled, his voice low and dark.
But as I watched him, I didn’t feel fear. I could sense his darkness, seeping through each word and glance. The slight psychotic possessive need lurked underneath every word and every look. Regardless, I faced it head on. I loved it and that was the part that scared me. The way it seemed to draw me like an undercurrent that would swallow me whole.
“You’re not,” I acknowledged in a whisper. Nobody could mistake Basilio for just any boy. His power and confidence oozed through every fiber of his three-piece-suit.
“I’m not a good man, Wynter.” I nodded, his eyes dark and possessive. Every look and touch by him exuded dominance, control, and power. “I’ve killed many.”
My heart hammered against my ribs, threatening to break down. God, I wished I could say it was from fear. Maybe even with Uncle Liam shielding Juliette and I from the underworld, it was for naught. We’d been born into it, we’d been unknowingly part of it, and we’d die in it.
“I know,” I rasped.
“Do you want to go?” The last chance to get out. His voice was deep, even emotionless, as if he prepared for me to run. I shook my head in answer. “Even knowing I’ve seen and done some bad things?” I shook my head, so he continued, “Even knowing I have blood on my hands? I’m not going to pretend that I’m someone good and lie to you.”
