Page 82 of Pain and Possession

I scoff adjusting my arms to push my breasts up further, "I hardly think the wife of the Arcuri family head needs to be on a list. Shall we call out my husband? See how he feels about this little hold up?"

The man pauses his eyes dipping to my breasts as if he's weighing if it's worth it or not before he glances at the man posted on the opposite side of the door. They nod in unison as they step aside making Kurt snicker as I step past them, breathing for the first time since this unpleasant interaction begun. They quickly step back in front of Kurt and Buffy cutting me off from them, "Weapons."

I step back towards them my heart dropping as I protest the room fills again with music as the doors behind me open again. I watch a moment of panic fall over Kurt's eyes before they nod and begin unloading their pockets. I peek over my shoulder meeting the intense green eyes of an ogre who is watching the interaction with the same hunger you'd see in the eyes of a starving man as he prepares an expensive steak. I suppose his presence was meant to ensure my companions comply, I'm sure for a normal unfucked person that might work. A bead of excitement starts in my fingertips zigzagging up my arms and down my spine. I watch silently as Buffy unloads the third gun he had on him.

Where the fuck did he even have all of those?

Kurt does the same, jerking off the suit jacket he hastily threw on as he unstraps a blade from his arm. Two excruciatingly through checks later we're finally let inside, the ogre man scowling at Buffy and Kurt the entire way past. Both of them hold out their arms letting me wrap mine around them as we enter the equally ostentatious ballroom.

Who the fuck even has ballrooms in 2022? Maybe that's just my poor talking.

The large arched windows are dripping in expensive fabric. Half a dozen golden chandeliers hang proudly from the ivory white vaulted ceilings you'd need scaffolding to dust. An ice sculpture of a swan sits in the middle of the room, a cliché I only thought existed in movies. I suppose why not when most of your vast income comes from the hard work and sexual torture of women and children. In all my fantasies of revenge I had forgotten just how truly disgusting this family is. How important this is not only for me and the family I now belong to but forthem.My palm twitches with the need to touch my stomach to reconfirm the safety of my child.

Although I realize how ridiculous that is.

"By the bar." Kurt whispers as my eyes instantly find Hock, leaning against the bar speaking to three women all who seem to hang from his every word. He has that same thing that Laney does, the ability to make everyone he speaks to feelseenand special. My heart clenches in my chest, where is Noè? Is he with her already? We're only halfway to Hock when he notices us, he raises and eyebrow shaking his head slightly before a slow shit-eating grin spreads across his boyishly handsome face. He nods slightly in the direction of the back of the ballroom.

Please be okay.

I'm surprised by how many faces I recognize here, how many men and women are from the compound. How Noè and Hock managed to sprinkle in this many soldiers among the guests is beyond me.

"Man, I guess they're really hanging onto Plan B." Kurt mumbles. Only getting a grunt in response from Buffy as they escort me through the crowd.

"Plan B?" Noè didn't mention a Plan B…

Of fucking course he wouldn't.

They both shoot me a loaded look, as if begging me to drop it now that they realize they let something slip.

Fat chance.

"Tell me." I order them, taking a steadying breath.

"If she doesn't hand over the information with a little… convincing then we paint these ugly white walls red." Kurt is the one that answers me, but I can barely hear him beyond the pounding of my heart in my ears, "There's so many civilians…"

Buffy scoffs, "Everyone here is in deep with one of the leading families. This isn't just a cute little get together Liv. It's a breeding ground for deals, alliances and anything else these fucks can dream up."

"Sure, it'll piss off a lot of people but that can be handled easily enough. Most everyone here dies, save for some of the other family heads, we raid the safes and find the information by force." I can hear the smile in Kurt's voice. Either way, the cold war between the Arcuri and Riviera family ends tonight. Only one coming out on top, I'm halfway disgusted with myself when it occurs to me that I'm okay with this.

As long as my family wins.

Perhaps the ugliness I always saw in myself was never on the outside. It wasn't the excess pudge by my stomach, or my pale skin. My upturned nose and round eyes. My unusually small doll-like appearance. The ugliness I have long hated grew from inside me, planted there long ago. Taking root long before I was old enough to realize the monster I've always hated was me. That benign darkness that clung to chaos, that thrived when things were fucked up and wrong. The darkness that drew in a man like Noè Arcuri, a moth to the flame.

He's a bad man and I'm… his perfect match.

My racing heart stills as he comes into view and unreasonable amount of relief, he hasn't yet come into contact with Bitchface. I watch him carefully as Kurt and Buffy tense at my side, no doubt nervous about what their consequences will be for defying him. I watch the back of his perfectly tousled onyx hair as he lifts a small glass to his lips feigning a drink along with the men he's surrounded by. The tattoo of his family crest on full view to everyone that sees him, a signal of his status.

A warning.

He smiles and laughs at something one of the older wrinkled men says. As far as they are concerned, I'm sure it's perfectly believable. I know better. The way he clenches his jaw, the rigidity in his lean muscular frame. He hates this. I smile my first genuine smile of the night as we reach him, heat floods my core, and my heart rate increases. All in anticipation of his anger. He turns towards me, those intense hazel eyes lighting withhisall too familiar flame.

"Sorry I'm late my love." I smile up at him sweetly, ignoring the men he was speaking to.

Noè doesn't miss a beat as he extracts me from the men at my side dismissing them with a nod before he snakes a muscular arm around me. His eyes taking in every notch of exposed skin, I bite down on my bottom lip. Nothing I've experienced is quite like having Noè's full attention, especially in a room full of people. He too has that special thing that Laney and Hock possess only difference is he reserves it only for me.

"Gentlemen I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Olive."

"No wonder you've been absent at our meetings lately." One jokes before they all take their leave, clearly sensing the tension between us. Arousal leaks from my sex as he bends down, his lips gliding along my skin as he makes his way to my ear. His grip tightening.

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