Page 68 of Pain and Possession

Also, it kind of turns me on but I'm not about to say that out loud.

He smirks but I don't miss the tight clench of his jaw. Naturally he completely missed the entire point.

"What are you smirking about?"

"Just working out how much manpower I would need to shoot every pharmacist in New York city." He deadpans, making my core tighten and my heart pick up pace, "Noè…" I warn.

"I'm kidding doll…." He clears his throat, cracking his neck, "Mostly."

Just like that he's successfully distracted me.

"Who is at the compound and why are you freelancing your stalking habit now?" He ignores the stalking bit; with all his perfectly formed justifications he knows that's just simply what it is.

Creepy as fuck… also hot.

As good as it feels to admit that, it's wrong. I'm blaming all of it on my daddy issues and tucking it away deep inside. Writing it off as a character flaw I don’t want to deal with.

"I'm having a final meeting with the Riviera family head. One last attempt at buying back the information they have on the family. Documents outlining past trade deals, our smuggling routes and most of all a hit list of jury members my father and I had ordered years ago. Also, they have some personal things on me that would make me look… weak." He scoffs, "If they released any of it, other families and hell even lower-level smugglers would start bidding wars for my head."

A sick feeling takes root in my stomach, along with that uncomfortable nagging fear that something more is at risk here, "You were supposed to marry her, so all that information stayed hidden. She's who you're meeting?"

"Absolutely not. She's been banned from the compound after her last little tantrum. I'm meeting with her uncle Aldo but he's just as unreasonable. They need the money, badly but they won't take it, not from me. Their primary source of income was absolved a few years after I was made family head." I feel him pull back; something is being left unsaid.

"What was it?" He shakes his head lightly, for the first time since I met Noè he looks ashamed. My heart drops, preparing for the worst. He's a murderer, a drug kingpin and arms dealer among so many other things. He's never shown regret for any of them… why this?

"I'm not a good man Olive."

My hand clenches on my stomach as he pulls into the small parking lot for employee cars behind Costa's. His low sitting sports car along with another black SUV already sitting there.

"My father and Camilla's spearheaded countless sex trafficking rings across the country. As soon as I took over, I wiped my hands clean of that part of his dealings." He looks down, "Freed as many as I could without painting a target on my family's back. I focused on the kids, thought that maybe I could right some of the wrong done there. I handed the rest over to the FBI."

"Noè…”

"I'm not a fucking rat butthatwas wrong. Very fucking wrong. The years I spent complacent in it made me sick. They have no proof it was me, but they won't need it. The other families were pissed enough I ruined that little venture. If extent of my involvement gets out, I'm as good as dead, which wasn't much of an issue until recently. They lost a lot because of me, on top of that I made them look bad when I broke off the engagement with Camilla. An engagement designed to keep both families… accountable. Whatever information my father had on them in turn died with the bastard and Aldo knows it." I look up, my heart cracking when I notice the way he's digging the cuts of his hands against the other. That's what the pain thing started as, a way to cope with the world around him. I undo my seatbelt gripping his hand in mine, so he has to stop.

"They won't stop at you, they'd kill everyone."

He nods, "It was a selfish decision, but I don't regret it. I've spent years trying to play nice and get along with them for all our sakes. That's changed now, they threatened you directly. I'll give them one last shot to take the deal and when they don't, I'll slaughter every last one of them."

"Do they still do that? The trafficking?" He nods his eyes downcast as if he's responsible for it. It almost takes shape, an invisible and impossibly heavy weight bearing down on his broad shoulders.

"It's not your fault. What you did, it was a good thing." He looks at me, shock clear in his hazel eyes. As if it had never occurred to him, he could do something innatelygood.I give him a small smile, my hand still clasped on my stomach.

"I hope they say no. I want you to kill them all."

The corners of his mouth pull up until the smile spreads over his face as he leans in capturing my jaw, kissing me gently. Savoring me. I hate that what I said was true. I want them to hurt, I want their suffering. The ones they've taken advantage of deserve nothing less. It all feels so… personal. I know he'll give it to me, that Noè Arcuri would give me anything I asked for.

"I'll make sure Rem and Liner hang back out of sight, but you are to go nowhere near your apartment or so much as take a bathroom break without them knowing about it. Do you understand Olive?" I take a deep breath, wanting to say no. He's got enough on his plate without me being extra difficult, although the idea of that bitchy girl following me around almost makes it a fight worth picking. Much rather be paired with Buffy or Kurt but I know better than to tell him that.

"Yes."

He nods, satisfied with my answer, "Here's the keys to the SUV, they'll drive you back to the compound after your shift if I'm still tied up with the meeting."

He kisses me again, deeper this time. So deep he practically steals the air from my lungs, and I never want him to stop. He hesitates before stepping out, like I'll disappear the moment he leaves. When he leaves the SUV, he lingers close, keeping a hand on me as he instructs Rem and the man, I'm assuming is Liner to give me absolutely zero privacy for the rest of the day. Noè implores me once again to tell Marie and Tom I can't work here anymore but I refuse. I owe them too much; I don't want to be dependent on him anyway. I've already lost my apartment, I've got a negative balance in my bank account, I need something that'smine.

The second time I try to walk inside Noè stops me, his grip tightens on my wrist making excuses to keep me there a little longer. I'm officially fifteen minutes late for my shift. I turn to him, gripping his sculpted face tightly in my hands, "Relax Al Capone I'm not going anywhere."

He scowls at Liner and Kurt struggling to hide their laughter. Rem just rolls her eyes, at least she's consistent.

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