A woman's company
Luca's POV
It was murmured for a brief second, but I almost couldn't feel anything but those lips on mine.
I barely had time to relish them before she pulled away.
My eyes, which had shut from the impact on mine, flew open.
She didn't leave.
And she dared to tease me?
My hands moved up to her waist, drawing her closer to me. That kiss aroused something in me.
It was just a teaser... Yet it was enough for me to want to devour the entire thing. Placing my hand under her chin, I raised it, I then moved closer and kissed her.
Not the short peck she gave me, no... Something deeper.
I only meant to fully relish her lips, but suddenly something set in amidst the kiss.
Passion.
I drew her even closer, increasing my pace on her lips.
They felt to me like a drug. I wanted more.
The part that drove me crazy was that Aria kissed me back.
She didn't just stand there, neither did she try to pull away.
She fucking kissed me back. With the same passion, the same fire I kissed her with.
Finally, I pulled away after noticing how breathless she was.
My lips hesitated leaving her, but it had to.
Her big big brow eyes stared back at me, filled with confusion... Shock, and another thing I couldn't quite name.
Multiple thoughts ran through mt head.
The one I was the most suspicious about kept on ringing over in my head. 'Why did she kiss me? '
But this wasn't the best time to figure that out.
I released my hand on my chin, shoving it into my pockets, then returned my gaze to Jillian Winroll, the mafia lord I had been talking to.
I noticed the gasps and stares from the guests, but I couldn't care less about them at the moment, my hands around Aria's waist tightened.
Jillian had his lips up into a smirk.
He wasn't surprised, just amused.
"Let's continue, where do you say the..." I resumed my talk with him, Aria still by my side.
The man didn't comment about what I said before Aria's arrival; about me leaving, neither did he say a word about Aria to her or me.
He just resumed his thoughts.
For the rest of the party, no matter who I spoke to, Aria stayed by my side. Not voluntary of course.
The girl looked as though she was being forced to do the worst thing on earth... Stand beside me.
She attempted to leave multiple times, trying to push my hand away from her waist while still keeping a small smile on her face that had already begun to falter.
But I didn't let her go.
I couldn't.
Not until I found out why she kissed me.
A part of me knew it was dangerous to have her by my side as I spoke to my allies. What if she left after hearing everything we had discussed?
She could sell the information to any of my multiple rivals, information that they could use against me.
So...
I was also sure of one thing as the night went by.
Aria was not leaving my side again.
The night was long, and with Aria by my side, it felt even longer.
I had practically begun counting down the seconds until I could have her lips on mine again.
No...
Not in a romantic way.
But, just her lips...
That kiss was the first one I ever had that I felt something other than lust for the other person.
After talking to the guests, I retreated to a corner, but not without grabbing a glass of wine with one hand, the other still holding Aria.
The waiter offered her a glass too, but she kindly declined, her lips stretched into a tight smile.
She looked tired. I released her waist, and a sigh left her lips.
Aria leaned on the wall, her face squeezed... She looked both confused and frustrated.
I didn't want to ask as I saw her face, but I was curious.
She could lie... What was I thinking, she would definitely lie to me.
But I wanted to hear it.
"Why did you kiss me?"
Was this part of her escape plan? Did she just make this plan up?
What was the actual plan, anyway? To make me fall for her? Love her?
Did she know that if that happened, nothing... I meant, absolutely nothing would take her away from me?
If I fell for her... If she planned for me to fall for her, then it would be a horrible strategy.
Because her security would be tighter, and I would make sure she could never leave, because... She could be used against me.
So what was it?
What was she fucking planning?
Why did she kiss me?!
My brain was hot.
So many thoughts, options just kept popping in. I was dying of curiosity inwardly, but I managed to keep a straight face to her.
Aria shrugged, then she pulled her lips into a smile. "Nothing sir, I just realized that you would need a woman's company. Most of the guests at the party had one."
Her voice felt so fake.
I hated it when she lied. Especially because I could tell it was a lie.
"Really?" I decided to play along, leaning beside her by the wall. "So why were you trying to leave my side the entire night?"
Aria blinked. Then she pointed at herself, feigning innocence. "Me? I never tried that."
"Maybe it was because I was trying to stretch, standing for too long has its bad side."
Stretch?
I scoffed shaking my head.
Her lies kept getting worse.
Another waiter passed by my side, and I grabbed another glass of wine, finishing the first one in a single gulp then I dropped the glass on the tray, twirling the other one in my hand.
Again, the waiter offered Aria a glass, but she shook her head and turned it down.
My lips pulled up in amusement.
She was scared of something... I could tell.
She was scared that maybe I would drug her drink and drag her to bed. Or maybe she would get drunk and spill out things she wanted to stay hidden.
Or maybe it was both.
I wasn't sure. All I knew was that she was scared of something.
Whatever it was... I wouldn't put it past myself to not do it to her.
Especially the first one.
I was interested since the second I saw her on the altar. But she was off limits, anything I would do to her, if it didn't hurt her, then there was no use doing it.
My sole aim is to torture her.
But that kiss...
It ignited a fire in me I didn't know I could ever have, and if care wasn't taken... It could use both.
"We're leaving," I mumbled, gulping down the last glass of wine.
I heard a low grumble leave Aria's lips, but she pushed herself from the wall, murmured, and began walking towards the exit.