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  “Jay, you little minx. Get back here.”

  “Sorry, boss. No can do. Sleep well. And see you tomorrow.”

  And those were her last words, before she bolted out of the room, leaving him stranded, partly naked and so fucking mad.

  “The fuck, Jay. Just you wait. I’ll get you for this,” he yelled, before calmly thinking of a solution. And when he did, a smiled played on his lips. “You’re mine tonight, Jay. Whether it’s here in this hotel, or in bed at home.”

  And with that, he tugged himself up and reached for the phone in his pocket.

  Chapter 11

  Bitter Chocolate and Memories

  My first taste of chocolate was bitter. That was the very first memory I had of the beautiful, decadent dessert.

  I was five then, staying in the hospital after the accident that took away my ma and my memory. During one of my recovery sessions—learning how to walk again—I saw an advertisement on television for this new dessert shop that was about to open up.

  An assortment of cakes swept past my eyes in those thirty second ads. One stood out among the rest, and that was the beautiful chocolate cake, decorated with an angel on top.

  Something as beautiful as this cake must taste so delicious and sweet. From that moment on, I had a sudden craving for that beautiful decadent dessert.

  I’d always asked my sister, Amelia and Pa to buy me one because my birthday was coming close, but they always refused, saying it was too expensive. When I heard one of the girls who shared my room was going to have her birthday party here, which included a chocolate cake from that store, I thought I would be lucky enough to get invited and my fantasy of eating that beautiful delicious cake would come true.

  Unfortunately, I wasn’t asked to go.

  I’d asked why since we’d shared the same room and were quite close. She turned back to me, her pink peachy lips twisting sarcastically, “Because you’re plain. Your brown hair is so boring and ugly. Like the color of mud. And you have freckles on your face, like black sesame seeds. You’re not beautiful. You’ll embarrass me. Only beautiful people are invited to my birthday party.”

  I cried that night. I never thought about how I looked before. My brown hair wasn’t so plain until she mentioned that it was so boring to look at, like the color of mud. And my face... was it so unappealing that I would disgrace her if I were invited?

  On the day of the farewell party, I slipped into her party room to marvel at the cake, at least to satisfy my fantasy of seeing that chocolate deliciousness in front of my eyes.

  My heart swelled in happiness at the beautiful sight before me. Those swirls and chocolate flakes with a white angel atop three levels resting majestically on the stand, just like the television advertisement.

  That cake was gorgeous, beyond anything I could imagine in my whole young life. And without thinking of what I was doing, I’d grabbed a small slice just to satisfy my craving…and possibly as an act of revenge against that girl for calling me sesame seed face.

  My wee heart was thumping like mad from the adrenaline of what I’d done. I quickly ran back to my room and hid under the blankets, afraid someone would catch me if they found out I’d stolen some.

  After listening for a few minutes and hearing no footsteps coming in to reprimand me, I turned to look at my beautiful piece of chocolate cake in my hands. My little heart wept upon seeing the beautiful dessert all crushed in my hands.

  Dark-brown stains colored my palms, like mud, like the color of my hair. I licked my fingers then, wanting to at least savor the taste of that cake. Big fat tears dropped from my eyes, my shoulders trembling in disappointment.

  My beautiful chocolate cake. Why did it taste so bitter? Why was it not sweet as I’d imagined?

  Throughout all of my nineteen years of life, since the time I was five until now, I’d discovered beautiful things were only an apparition, artifacts that could only be admired from afar.

  And that was what Giovanni was. He was a man who was so beautiful, so captivating to look at, but if I got a taste of him, I was afraid he’d be bitter, like my first taste of chocolate cake.

  I didn’t want to get hurt again. I didn’t want my beautiful fantasy of him to shatter, like that fantasy of my chocolate cake. Maybe that was why I’d run away from him. Inside, I’d wanted him, too, but I knew if I let myself sink into his alluring web, I could never regain my sanity.

  Fantasy and reality merged, and soon my mind drifted off to sleep, with one thought remaining.

  I don’t want to shatter my beautiful illusion of Giovanni. Let him be my captivating Adonis forever.

  “J ay, I’ve come for my revenge.”

  I bolted upright. Something woke me up. I stammered around, blindly searching for my light switch. I scanned every nook and cranny of my closet-sized bedroom, determined to find the source of the disturbance, but I found none. Everything was still and quiet.

  I pulled the small curtain aside and gazed up at the half crescent moon and the billion bright stars illuminating the black curtain backdrop of the night sky.

  It was beyond midnight. Probably one or two in the morning. Giovanni must have calmed his heated loins by now.

  I really shouldn’t have tied him up to that bedpost and scrammed like a thief in the middle of the night. Giovanni must have wanted to slice my neck. Maybe he’d decided to get rid of me for good. All I was good at was brewing coffee, anyway. But hopefully, that should be enough to keep me alive. For now, anyway. I didn’t want to join my ma up in heaven. I still hadn’t found Pa, or Amelia, yet.

  To say I was mad with Pa for what he’d done by washing his hands of me and handing me over to the mafia boss as collateral, was an understatement. Each day I was left feeling disturbed as to why he would do such a thing. Then those words would pluck at my mind again.

  Because you’re plain. Ugly brown hair. The color of mud. Sesame seed face. The plain daughter.

  I bit my lip, trying to block those painful words from entering my mind. I’m beautiful. I’m beautiful. I’m not plain. I’m not plain, I told myself this.

  So be it if I lived in my own world of illusion, faking and not believing what everyone saw in me as the ugly swan. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Everyone exhibited different skills, abilities, and personalities. And that was the true color of beauty.

  Shaking my head, I shifted those sad thoughts from my mind, readying to nestle back to sleep, when something underneath my blanket moved.

  Whoa... whoa... holy cow, help me. I flung my arms out to grab onto something, anything, to protect me from being dragged under the blanket, but I wasn’t fast enough, or strong enough.

  I slipped easily between the covers, eyes shut as I struggled and fought back, only for strong arms to imprison me with a solid leg braced between my thighs.

  A silhouette of a man hovered above me, and my heart contracted. I was about to scream when hard lips clamped over my mouth, silencing my cry.

  The kiss was brutal, tearing at my lips with pain and pleasure. That tongue intruded on my personal space, solidly battling for control. Heat flared from my core, burning up the entirety of my being. I collapsed against the bed as soon as those lips pulled away, completely exhausted, but with a strange humming of excitement within my veins.

  Haggard breath fanned my ear in the darkness, followed by the cupping of my chin and caressing of my sensitive bruised lips. “Jay. It’s time for my revenge.”

  My body shuddered in anticipation and fear.

  Giovanni!

  “J ay. It’s time for my revenge.”

  Giovanni didn’t let his little bunny open her mouth again. He sealed off her scream in time by kissing her brutally, putting in all the emotions he felt during the last few hours. His anger, his surprise at her leaving him stranded while he was still hard, and his desire for her, burning so strong he saw white light behind his eyelids.

  Sucking away her oxygen, he pacified her, pinning her farther to the small, hard mattress, and cursed himsel
f to hell for letting his little Jennifer sleep on such an uncomfortable bed while he nestled at night in a bed of heavenly feathers.

  He moved off the bed, bundling Jay up in the blanket and carrying her into his bedroom next door. As soon as his legs hit the bedframe, he laid her gently on his mattress, and flung the blanket off her.

  His little Jennifer, lying there nestled in the middle of his heavenly bed, looking so desirable and fucking gorgeous with her swollen, bruised lips in a pout, and hot heated eyes gazing at him with lust.

  Without waiting another minute, he smashed her lips against his again, wanting desperately for that deep penetrating warmth to engulf him again while his head spun with ecstasy.

  Giovanni smirked between the kisses. To say she didn’t want to part with her virginity, and yet, here she was, subconsciously rubbing her body against his.

  “Boss. Boss…” She panted after his intoxicating kiss. “How... how... did you get out? And why are we in your bedroom?”

  Giovanni cupped her chin and brought his lips close, leaving just enough space between to blow a warm fan of heat onto her face. Her skin flushed even further.

  “Jay, you sure have the gall to leave me stranded. I’ll give you that much. Now, how should I punish you?”

  “Please don’t kill me,” she responded automatically. “Or eat me,” she said, as an afterthought.

  Giovanni laughed, taunting.

  “Let’s see. If I really were to kill you, what would be a good way to finish you off? Cutting you up into bits would be too messy. Shooting you with a gun would be too loud. We wouldn’t want to wake the others now, would we?”

  Jay shifted her eyes. He knew she was thinking about his underlings, Bobby, Health, Jonny, and Finnie, staying in the rooms below theirs.

  “Then how would you propose to finish me off,” she uttered with fear, or perhaps desire.

  His lips twisted sardonically, fingers trailing to wedge into her mouth, watching her as she subconsciously sucked his finger, taking it in one little bit at a time. “How about I just eat you up instead? One little piece at a time, devouring you until I’m sated.”

  She flung his hand away. “Boss, I really think you—”

  “Hush, Jay. Don’t talk.” He stopped her. “Or I’ll start with your lips first.” And when his little Jennifer didn’t offer another word, Giovanni smiled and continued with his narration, this time fingers trailing down to caress her nap, the junction where her pulse ran hot. “That’s very good. Now, where were we? Yes, I want to start with your lips. But maybe I should go for your neck instead. Did anyone ever tell you that you have such a pale peachy neck, good enough to drink blood from? I really want to drink your blood.”

  Jay tossed her head to the side, cutting him off from that throbbing pulse, his target. “I’m sure my blood would taste bitter, boss. Please don’t drink it.”

  A frightening jealous look crossed his eyes. “Has any fucker bitten your neck, Jay?” he shouted, fear drumming through him at any old geezer touching his one true belonging. “Tell me, Jay. I’ll kill that fucker, slit his throat, and bury him six feet under.”

  “That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it, boss?” she said quietly, eyes still not making contact with him.

  Giovanni smiled wickedly. He pinched her chin and tipped her face to meet his. “What did you expect, Jay,” he told her. “I’m not a nice person. Like I told you from when we were younger. I’m in the mafia. I kill people for a living.”

  “Like an assassin.”

  “Worse than an assassin, Jay. I’m the boss of those assassins. So, tell me now. Have you got any boys you stashed away in the closet?

  “Goose egg, boss. Zero.”

  “You’re so straight forward, Jay.” He caressed her supple cheek. “Now, let’s see. Where were we again? Oh, yes. I was going to suck your blood.”

  “You’re a vampire, boss. A mafia vampire.”

  “Yes, a mafia vampire, one who’ll suck your blood dry, until you can’t offer your blood to any other man.”

  “As if any man would want me. Like you said before, I’m ugly and you would sooner sleep with a pig than sleep with me.”

  Fuck! Giovanni almost bit his own tongue. How could he have forgotten his own words?

  Okay, maybe he was a bit harsh when he first saw her. But her image was imprinted deeply inside his mind, and he could still remember every single detail of their first meeting, to this day. She was that beautiful girl, upon entering his door. Her chestnut hair, flung back and unbound, shimmered so vibrantly and innocently on that first sight. She’d reminded him of his little Jennifer even back then. But the reason for his brash comment was because he had to inhibit his dick from playing up, hence the word ugly came out of his mouth.

  “Jay, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And I find you beautiful and delicious. I want to eat you tonight.” He attempted to correct his mistake by telling her the truth this time. Instead, she gave him her ultimatum, which pissed the fucking hell off him again.

  “But you can’t eat me tonight. Or ever.”

  “Don’t tell me about how you’re not ready to part with your virginity, again,” he growled. “You’re going to lose it someday. Why not lose it with me?”

  “It’s not just about my virginity,” she snapped back, fire spitting from the pits of her emerald eyes.

  His little, bunny. God, how he fucking wanted to tame her. But he needed to sweet talk her first.

  “If it’s not because of your virginity, then what is it?” He tamed his questioning by a notch, asking her nicely for once.

  “It’s because...” She started, eyes cast off to the corner of his room again, avoiding his eye contact. “It’s because...”

  “Because of what?” He cut her off; irritated that one simple question from him had her thinking so hard.

  “It’s because I’m scared,” she shouted out, face flashing scarlet.

  Giovanni laughed, so hard his taut abs shook. “Jay. Fucking is the basic instinct of human nature. And it’s a fucking great experience. If you don’t try, you’ll miss out for the rest of your life.”

  “Well, I prefer to miss out on this beautiful experience, then. I don’t want my illusion of you to shatter.”

  “What?” Giovanni caught on to the word illusion. What the fuck was his Jennifer talking about? “What illusion, Jay? What are you yakking on about?”

  “Chocolate cake. You.” That was all she said.

  “Shit, Jay.” He shook her, wanting her to elaborate on her answer. “You’re talking in a riddle, here. Speak English.”

  “When I was in the hospital, recovering from the accident, I wanted to eat chocolate cake for my sixth birthday. I became fixated on that chocolate cake. I even dreamed of it, thought of it constantly, wondering how a young child like me could get to eat something so beautiful and delicious—just like that cake I saw on T.V. When I heard the girl who shared the same room as me was having a birthday party, I went too, without an invitation. I just wanted to see what that beautiful cake was like with my own naked eyes, to see why I found it so fascinating.”

  Giovanni listened on, immersed in the story of his little Jennifer. “What happened next?”

  Jay turned to him, a sad look on her face. She fluttered her eyelids slowly, then launched herself onto his chest, almost knocking the fuck out of his breath. She cried, tears wetting his shirt. “I stole her cake, boss. I stole her cake. I ate it, and it tasted bitter. My beautiful chocolate cake that I’d been fantasizing about tasted bitter.”

  Whether he was a stupid fuck or Jay was wailing about some shit he couldn’t make sense of, he asked her for clarification again. “Jay—”

  “Don’t you get it, boss? You’re my chocolate cake. The chocolate cake I cherished with all my life.” She jerked her face from his chest, her flushed cheeks stained with fat tear drops.

  At that moment he didn’t give a shit about him being some stupid dumb fuck. His Jennifer looked fucking delectable he’d wanted to pin he
r against the bed, yank her nightdress up, and thrust himself deep inside her. But that mention of him resembling a chocolate cake—was that her way of saying she wanted to sleep with him, too?

  “Jay—”

  “I was wrong, boss.” She lunged at him again, voice trembling with pain. “It was wrong of me to steal her cake. That’s why my beautiful chocolate cake tasted so bitter. And now, all of a sudden, you saying that I’m your Jennifer, and you want to sleep with me… I’m scared, boss. I’m scared that I’ve stolen you from the real Jennifer. It’s true that I’ve lost my memory, and I might be your real Jennifer, but until I could prove to myself, and you, that I’m really her, I’m afraid that you’ll never be mine, that you’re an apparition and I’ll never get to taste you.”

  “Let me get this straight.” Giovanni mentally took a step back and assessed this information. “You’re saying I’m your chocolate cake. And you’re afraid that if you get to taste me, I’ll taste bitter because you’ve stolen me from the real Jennifer.”

  She nodded meekly.

  “Fucking God, Jay. My little fucking bunny. Why do you have to be so fucking adorable?” He attacked her neck, nipping little kisses on her sensitive skin, wanting so much to leave his mark on this girl, to prove to the whole world that she was his.

  “What... boss, didn’t you listen to what I was saying?” She pushed him back.

  Giovanni planted a devilish smile on his face. “I heard it, Jay. Loud and clear. Now you listen to me. I’m your chocolate cake. I’m right in front of you. You can taste me. I’m not going to go anywhere. If you promise to be my lover, I’ll never let you go. Does that satisfy you?”

  She looked unsure. Something shifted in her eyes and he knew her mind was working overtime. “Boss, you said something about a necklace before. So, if I’m your Jennifer, why don’t I have it with me?”

  Fuck! That was a damned good question.

  “You’re changing the subject, Jay,” he replied curtly, quite annoyed at her counterattack. “And I don’t know. That necklace may be the evidence that proves you’re my real Jennifer, but more importantly, I know for sure, in my heart, that you’re the real one.”