THE MAFIA'S SECRET LOVER

-- The rain was cold. Elias Reyes pulled his old jacket tighter around his slender body and hurried through the dark alley behind his art school. It was past midnight. His shift at the cafe had just ended and he was tired. He was 21, but he looked smaller. He had a pretty, delicate face, soft black hair that fell over his eyes, and a small waist that made his old t-shirt look loose. People always thought he was fragile. And he was. "Should have taken the main road," he whispered to himself, hugging his sketchbook. Then he heard it. A groan. Elias stopped. In the corner of the alley, next to the trash bins, a man was lying on the ground. Bleeding. "Oh my god!" Elias dropped to his knees. The man was tall, even lying down. He wore a black expensive suit, now torn and covered in blood. His face was handsome — sharp jaw, dark hair, but pale from blood loss. He looked about 29. "Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" Elias touched his shoulder. The man's eyes opened. Cold, grey, terrifying eyes. Like a wolf. "Don't... touch me," the man growled, his voice low and dangerous. He tried to move, but he couldn't. Elias didn't listen. "You're bleeding a lot. You need a hospital." "No hospital," the man said. "They will find me." Elias looked around. The alley was empty. This man was in danger. Despite being scared, Elias couldn't leave him. "I live two blocks from here. My apartment is small, but I can help you. Please." The man stared at Elias — at his pretty face, his wet hair, his thin body shivering in the rain. Something in his cold eyes changed. He grabbed Elias's wrist. Strong, even when injured. "What's your name?" "E-Elias. Elias Reyes." "Elias," the man repeated, as if tasting the name. "If you help me, you will belong to me." Elias thought he was delirious from blood loss. "Okay, okay. Just come with me." It was hard. The man was heavy and tall, almost a foot taller than Elias. Elias put the man's arm over his shoulder and helped him walk. His slender frame struggled, but he didn't give up. His small apartment was cold and messy, full of paintings. He laid the man on his small bed — his only bed. "I don't have medicine. Only water and towels," Elias said, running to get them. For two hours, Elias cleaned the wound on the man's side. It was a knife wound. He had no idea how to treat it, but he tried. He pressed a towel hard to stop the bleeding, his small hands shaking. The man never shouted. He just watched Elias the whole time. Watched his wet lashes, his soft lips biting from concentration, his slender waist as he moved. "You are so small," the man whispered. Elias blushed. "I'm not that small..." "You are. Fragile. Feminine. Like you were made to be hidden." The next morning, Elias woke up on the floor. He had fallen asleep sitting next to the bed. The bed was empty. The man was gone. Only blood on his sheets. And a black card on his pillow. It had only a name and a number. *DAMIEN CROSS* Elias didn't know that name. He was just an art student. He didn't know that the whole city feared that name. At school that day, he told everything to his best friend. "Girl, are you crazy?!" Milo James shouted in the art room, his blonde hair bouncing. Milo was Elias's only best friend, loud, bubbly, and beautiful. "You brought a bleeding hot mafia man to your house? You could have died!" "He was hurt, Milo. I couldn't leave him," Elias said softly. Milo poked his slender waist. "With this little body, you think you can save a grown man? You need a man to protect YOU." That afternoon, as they walked out of school, a black expensive car stopped in front of them. The window rolled down. It was him. Damien Cross. Now clean, in a perfect black suit, looking like a god. Handsome and terrifying. Next to him in the driver's seat was another tall man in a suit, cold and serious. "Elias," Damien said, his grey eyes dark. "Get in." Elias froze. Milo whispered, "Oh my god, he IS hot. But scary. Elias, who is he?" The driver — Luca — looked at Milo and frowned. "Don't stare." Milo smirked instantly, "And who are you? Mr. Grumpy Bodyguard?" Luca ignored him, but his ears turned red. Damien got out of the car and walked to Elias. He was so much bigger. He cupped Elias's delicate face with his big hand. "You saved my life last night. Now your life is mine." And in front of everyone, in front of Milo and Luca, he pulled the small, pretty Elias into his arms and kissed him. *END OF CHAPTER 1* ---