Chapter 22 A STEP INTO THE WORLD OF THE MAFIAS
One of his men arrived at the fitting room with a first aid kit and he began unboxing its contents immediately.
“You should get the wound treated at the hospital.” I warned, genuinely concerned about the state I had put Rafael in since I was at fault for the most part, but he had tried to make me believe I wasn't.
“First aid comes first and besides, this… will be a mark for bonding between us.” He smiled.
This man can't be serious.
Almost everything or anything could pass as a joke for him.
“You're impossible.” I snorted.
Rafael began to say something again, but this time, he got me confused for a brief moment until I realized he was calling the names of his men in an introduction.
“He's Luke…” he started, referring to the man unboxing the tools for the first aid treatment.
The man; Luke quickly stopped what he had been doing, turned at me, and bowed subtly before returning to his work.
“Marco, Davis, Sasha, Max,...”
“Hold on!” I interrupted him sharply. “You don't expect me to learn all their names at once, do you?”
“Yes, I do. You'll be needing them all, so you can call on any of them whenever you want help or when I am not there with you.”
“All of them?”
Rafael took a step back in his mental field of thought, then he continued, but this time, he was laying out an order for his men.
“You all will have to wear your name tags when you're around Vanessa.”
“Yes, boss!” They all said in one accord.
“Why are you doing this?” I whispered to him quietly just so it stays between us alone. I was a little embarrassed.
All he did was smile, get up to his feet and begin unbuttoning his shirt.
I did the honors of quickly looking away but I soon found myself trying hard to not steal glances at him as he undid his buttons.
I knew it was inappropriate, but I was also curious to find out what a man in the mafia's body looks like underneath his clothes.
I had seen references in numerous websites, public posts, and movies, but nothing beats a real life experience.
Finally, he slowly removed his shirt, gentle and careful not to force anymore constriction to the pain from the stab and when he tossed the shirt aside, I was bewildered as I stared at his frame from behind.
His skin!
'Goodness!’ I marveled in my thoughts.
I was surprised that my hands instinctively covered up the shameful act of letting my jaws drop wide.
My imaginations and expectations that topped charts crumbled in an instant.
I had imagined him with thousands of inks inscribed on his body and many other terrifying images that made many Mafia bosses look extremely terrifying, but oddly, this man has no single ink job done.
He was totally clean.
His broad shoulders were perfect and his muscles were well toned even from behind.
I could hear him smile— the absurdity of this was loud, but I was aware of this.
“What are you so surprised, Nessa?” He asked, turned around to face me.
“I— I…” I suddenly found myself stuttering, not sure what to say.
After all, I had just realized he had caught me staring at his body.
How disgraceful. I thought.
“Were you expecting a wild tone to my body? Tattoos?”
I began to retract my step away from him slowly as he moved closer to me.
His blood was dripping out of the stab wound, but he was unbothered. He'd rather speak to me first than do the needful.
I knew for sure he wouldn't trade that moment he had to tease me for anything in the world.
He suddenly grabbed my hand, pressing it against his chest as we stood that way.
“My body belongs to you and you alone, Vanessa, so I cannot make any modifications to it unless you allow it.”
“What?” The unbelieving word escaped my throat.
“Do you want me this way if you want to see my own body inked?”
I pushed him away, setting myself free from his grip on my hand.
“Just shut up already!”
Again, he started grinning, raising his brows in mock defeat.
“Whatever you say, ma'am.”
He turned back at Luke who began treating his wound with urgency. I stormed back into the fitting room to get my dress back on and when I got out of the fitting room, Rafael was just getting off a phone call.
He handed the phone back to Marco as soon as he noticed my presence. His eyes settled in me for a little while and I wondered if anything had happened.
“What is it?” I asked, growing a little uncomfortable with the strange stare he seized me up with and it seemed he had gone mute.
He nervously licked his lower lip before finding the words to say.
“I'm sorry, Vanessa… you'll have to ride back home alone.”
“Why?” I asked again.
“Something came up at one of my businesses and it requires my attention.”
The mafia's business. Rafael's business. There was no harm in learning about how the mafia's run their business if I wanted to deal with Rafael and perhaps I could find a link that would aid my escape from him in the future.
Determined to get myself involved, I said,
“I'm coming with you.”
“No!” He refused without thinking twice.
“Why not?”
“It's men's business which is very dangerous for Vanessa.”
I moved towards him, ready to pull a pitiful card on him. Before I reached him, I took up his shirt and he understood what I was about to do.
He opened his hands for me to drape the cloth over his already fixed body. As I stood before him, buttoning his shirt up, I spoke to him softly.
“You think it's dangerous for me because I'm a woman?”
“I know it is.”
“But you will be there,” I continued, looking into his eyes. “I don't like it when I'm alone in your mansion. I do not like it here when I'm alone. I do not know anyone here aside from you and you know that.”
I prayed my deceptive act was smouldering enough to make him change his mind.
“Vanessa…”
“Please?”
How long can he continue to refuse me? Definitely not for long and he didn't fail my expectations.
“Alright.”
While my lips cheered him on with the warmest smile, my heart was grinning out loud at the bold step I had just taken.