Page 23 of Who I Crave To Be

Dude has ties to the Mafia.If one of the neighbors reports me for criminal damage he can use his pull to make sure none of it sticks and if he doesn't, well.I’m the one holding the gun aren’t I?

I smirk to myself, stepping back into him as his warmth comforts me as I take aim and shoot.

The grounds shake with the raw feel of thunder beneath our feet as the first tank explodes.Flying twenty feet in the air and splintering as a ball of fire is born.

The next explosion happens before the billowing fire from the first even kisses against the ground.The world around me burns and my gaze dances within the flames.I step closer, close enough to feel the heat against my face as I close my eyes and become engulfed within the inferno.

Soft lips find my neck and I shudder, overwhelmed with the multitude of sensations consuming me, and I’m infused with a power that lifts me from the ground I stand upon.“It’s you, Vienna.You have always had the power, you just refuse to use it.”

“Are you sure about this?I’m supposed to be the best kept secret of a dirty weekend.You know people at this party,” I ask, trying to hide the nerves that tremble within my vocal cords.

After the shooting range, Deano showed me a dress he had delivered and told me to wear it.I thought maybe we were going for another meal, but when we got into the Bugatti he told me we were going to a party instead.

I’m dressed like a goddess, in something that is clearly made for red carpets and top-secret premiers.I’m wearing a champagne, satin gown with a low-cut back that exposes the expanse of my skin.It gathers into a type of shawl that sits on my lower back, trailing down into detailed embroidery that stops along the curve of my ass and feathers out into more satin material until it breaks away into more detailed embroidered lace in the train of the dress.The bodice is embroidered as well, the straps thin lace entwined with smaller, scattering diamonds.I’m pretty sure it cost more than my entire house and week’s worth of groceries.But I’m not complaining, I want to be buried in it because it’s so beautiful and probably the most expensive thing I’ll ever wear.

“It’s a birthday party for my cousin and yes, I’m sure,” he replies easily as I jolt forward in my seat and catch myself at the last second on the dash before I spin to face him in horror.

“Your family?Deano…” I trail off, not knowing what to say.

This was only supposed to be a fun weekend, one that was simple.But meeting his family when he has never even taken another girl to dinner before?It creates a riot in my core.

“We have done the adrenaline thing, we have done the self-empowerment thing, now it’s time for real power.For you to know what it’s like to truly have it.”He turns to look at me, his ocean eyes darker and thick with emotion.“I promised you everything didn’t I?A weekend full of adventure, one that you would never forget?Let me give you everything you crave, Vienna.Just take it baby.”

I gulp, turning to stare out the window as my nerves sink the heart sitting within my chest.It’s easy to fake being someone else when nobody knows you.They don’t know if who you pretend to be, is actually who you are.But he is asking me to walk into a den of lions, dressed in sheep’s clothing and expects them not to scent the prey.

The DeMarco’s don’t feign power, they’re the embodiment of it.

They don’t play make believe from their real life, because they can have everything their hearts could possibly desire.

Just as soon as the fear creeps in, I beat it away.I wanted this, I wanted it because deep down, I’ve always known that everything I crave is an extension of myself.Given the means to have it all, I would take it all without so much as a short hesitation.

I wanted to play the game, I accepted the deal and now, I’ll take everything Deano wants to show me.Because tonight is our last night together, and the thought of leaving him behind pains me more than I ever thought possible.

We pull up at the docks, the docks that house multi-billion-dollar yachts.I have to pick my jaw up from the ground when he escorts me to a yacht over 135-feet in length and lit up with low lights that make it stand out against the stark night and exudes absolute beauty.Low music drifts from somewhere inside the cabin as we walk the length of the yacht and pass a clear glass pool that sits at the back of the yacht and toward the stairs.

Deano takes my hand in his, before placing my arm in the crook of his elbow.He holds me to his side, offering me one last reassuring look before I nod and together we start making our way up the stairs.There are people everywhere, all standing around in expensive looking tuxedos and ballgowns making idle chit-chat.Deano commands the room, any room, at the best of times.Yet, when we walk, the crowd parts like a wave on the shore, making room for us without pause as if Deano was the king to be respected and I was the prized queen they all wished they could have.

Like I’m not somebody who is beneath them.

I guess tonight, I’m a better actress than I thought.

The cabin is bathed in low lights and a blue glow.It leads out to the back of the boat which I guess is the dock?

Back port?

How do I freaking know?

I’ve never been on a damn Yacht before.The cabin is huge, larger than what it looks like on the outside and has doubled as some kind of dance floor where the elegant sway back and forth.

It’s like I’ve been transported to another time and place where the tempo is forever mellow, moving at the sensual pace of a privileged life.

Deano leads me right into the center of it as those who were here a moment before, slow dancing, move off to the side in favor of watching us instead.

Bryce Fox’s “Coldhearted” begins to play and Deano pulls me into his chest and tucks me away in the defined curve of his frame.

We start to move in a dance of our own, regal with fluid grace.Neither of us need to lead or follow any instruction because it’s like our bodies just know one another.When he moves, I move.When I decide on a path, he follows.We spin and twirl to the lyrics of the song as some of them begin to settle within my heart.The room falls away and all that is left is me and Deano as we place one of our hands together, moving without touching and never breaking focus.I’m captured within his ocean blues as the tempo changes and he catches me, bringing me in close before spinning me out wide and dipping me low to the ground.

My lips part, thigh caressing his hip and the air around me thickens.

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