RUSSO EL MASSIMO
A Few Hours Later
"This is silly" Caramia laughed as I settled her onto a chair on the rooftop.
It was 11pm so her birthday wasn't over yet and I wanted us to have dinner before her birthday wound be over.
"What is silly?" I asked, a finger to her chin.
"It's so late, my birthday is gone already. Dressing me up for dinner is so..." she laughed again.
"An hour more. A lot of things can happen in an hour" I replied before moving to my chair and sitting.
"Things like what?" She asked.
"Cara, in an hour, loads of people are going to die, tons of women are going to give birth. People are going to get married, people are going to fall in love, people are going to fall out of love, some are going to divorce, some are going to bag their biggest contract and some are going to go bankrupt... It's all happening somewhere in the world."
"And you?"
I arched my brow as I poured the wine.
"I mean, what memorable thing is going to happen to you in an hour?" She asked.
"Dining with you is more than memorable, Sunshine"
It truly was. It was a full moon night and the moon glowing gently on her skin made Caramia look even more beautiful. Heavens... I was losing my brains for this woman.
"Can we take a picture together?" Caramia asked.
"Sure" I reached a hand to her chair and pulled her towards me.
I felt her stiffen for a few seconds before she picked her phone up.
"I know you have a cold charm but please give me a smile, I don't mind a small one" she begged, pouting her lips.
I couldn't resist leaning in and kissing her pouted lips.
"I will take that as payment for the smile"
I saw her cheeks redden and she clearly held back a giggle before taking the picture.
"It's beautiful" she smiled as she looked at the picture she had just captured.
"Yeah, I think we look good together" the words left my lips before I realized what I had just said.
Rosaline's hand dropped to her laps and she looked at me, a questioning yet soft gaze in her eyes.
"I just meant the picture looked good" I clarified or at least tried to clarify.
"Yes, yes, I understand" an awkward smile appeared on her face but clearly that didn't ease what I had just said.
I looked away from her, threw my head back and groaned.
"Fuck" I cursed lowly.
What the hell had I been thinking of? What the fuck was happening to me? Why was I actually thinking of us being something more?
"It's fine, I understand what you meant." her hands reached for my arm.
"Yeah" I looked back at her pretty face.
"So tell me what do you want the most for your birthday gift?" I asked, trying to get us over my earlier words.
"I already have it. I did want to spend my birthday with you and I almost missed that, I am glad you made me think properly"
"There has to be something else, Cara. I know you love my cock so much but certainly, there's something else you want" I replied.
She laughed softly, picking up her glass of wine and taking a sip of it before looking back at me.
"Something else I want" she mused for a while, staring up at the moon dreamily. In that moment, I was so sure the moon had to be jealous of the looks of a mortal.
"I can ask for anything at all?" She turned to face me.
"Anything at all, Cara"
"Then... I also want an island. One that I can spend the rest of my birthdays at. Even if we are no longer like this during my next birthday, I want to be at that island, knowing fully well it was a gift from you. And I will celebrate every of my coming birthdays there" she smiled widely.
"Alright. Three."
"Three? I don't get?" Her brows arched.
"Three would do, right?" I asked.
"Russo!" She gasped my name.
"No, three is way too much. I just need one that..." I grabbed her by the chin and kissed her on the lips, letting my tongue lick her lips before sliding into her mouth.
The taste of the wine with the taste of her was so intoxicating that I felt the urge not to break the kiss at all. I let my tongue glide over hers and she let out a soft moan as she let her body relax.
I broke the kiss.
"When you get something for your birthday, you should take it all with pride. And don't even say thank you because whatever you get on your birthday is what I owe you."
She looked into my eyes and the softness in her eyes made me clench my jaw. That softness was getting to me more than it should. I pulled away from her and grabbed the bag by my side.
"I will have the process of getting the islands in place." I dropped the bag onto her laps.
"You got something else? How did you get something when we weren't even talking?"
"I knew we would be fucking by the end of today" I patted her hair gently as she pulled out a box from the bag.
She looked at me with a beautiful smile on her face before opening the box.
"Oh my! It's a diamond jewelry set! It's so beautiful!" She gasped and looked at me.
"Russo..." She cooed my name and dropped the box on the table before jumping onto me amidst giggles and chuckles.
She threw her arms around me and I couldn't help chuckling.
"Thank you!..."
"Oh heavens, Cara. Anyone who sees how excited you are over diamonds would think the Massimo family has gone broke over the years."
She poked my chest playfully and laughed.
"Really, it's so beautiful. Did you see the design? It's so pretty..." She said and I felt a sense of pride swell inside me.
I just might have stayed up a bit to do the design myself before handing it over to the jewellers.
Her fingers swept into my hair, gently running through my hair.
"I love it" she whispered and hugged me, dropping her face on my shoulder.
"And again, I... I am sorry I believed that you were going to hurt me. I should have known better"
I wrapped an arm around her waist.
"It's okay, Sunshine." I whispered.
It was okay for her but it wasn't going to be close to being fine for McAlister. That stupid old man has always been against me but I had always brushed him away as he couldn't do a thing to me anyways but this time, I will be brushing him away differently. Brushing him off into his grave.
AUTHOR'S POV
"Are you okay?" Melinda asked as Rick dragged his feet into the home she shared with Tim.
"Yes, I am good" Rich groaned even though it was obvious that he wasn't close to being good.
"Hey man, you don't look good at all" Tim remarked as Rick moved into the living room and threw himself onto a couch.
"You were supposed to be back hours ago with Rosa, what happened?" Melinda asked.
"Well, I don't really know what happened" Rick shrugged his shoulders.
"You look roughened up, really roughened up." Tim pointed out.
"Yeah, I got tied and I had a gun pointed to my head and then I was locked up in a room for a few hours before I was released" Rick explained.
"What the hell?" Melinda gasped.
"You got kidnapped?" Tim asked.
"Well, not exactly."
"Just explain this to us clearly" Melinda demanded.
"I got to Rosaline's home and her uncle ordered for me to be tied up" Rick started.
"What? For no reason?" Tim asked.
"Yes and then he somehow threatened Rosaline with my life to tell him something. I know he hates me but I don't know what exactly I did to him to have him point a gun to my head to get some information from Rosaline." Rick held back on the details of the exact type of information Russo had been demanding from Rosaline.
"Oh my! That man is dangerous" Melinda said and sat next to Rick.
"You are right, Mel. I am going to go call Rosaline and be sure she is fine." Tim offered.
"Yes, alright love"
"Is that really what happened?" Melinda asked in a quiet tone immediately Tim was out of hearing distance.
"You think I am lying?" Rick raised a brow at her.
"No, of course not... I am just bothered about Rosaline's uncle even more at this point."
Rick sighed deeply and threw his head back. He was also concerned about what he had heard. Rosaline had mentioned Russo El Massimo being responsible for her parents death. Could that really be the truth?
Rick also could not help but notice that whatever atmosphere had been in the room at that moment had not made the both of them seem like just uncle and niece. They had seemed like they had been... A bit closer than that?
The way Russo had called her Caramia and the way his eyes had fixated on her at certain times and the fury on Rosaline's face.
Something was wrong but Rick could not exactly get it yet.
"Rosaline" he whispered her name. He would find out everything soon, he was sure.