Sneaking into his heart

Chapter 3

Lucia

"You're indeed good at seducing men, huh?" Adriano remarked in a scathing tone. "You got my underboss totally wrapped around your little finger."

I canted my head. "Is that a compliment?"

Oh god, Lucia, what the hell are you doing provoking this guy? He's a mob boss who could kill anyone in a heartbeat. Still, my mouth seemed to be working quicker than my brain.  This guy infuriated me to no end, especially his flawless, seductive features which were messing with all my senses.

His bottomless eyes seemed to boil over. "You're appreciating being called a b***h?"

I shook my head. "I'm just flattered you think I'm good at seducing men."

There... I'd done it now. Sparks were flying from him, to the point that I could feel the scorching heat of his anger burning my skin. But still, the undertone of his statement could only be interpreted as meaning he was also attracted to me. And judging by his anger, it seemed like my guess was spot on. The only problem was that the feeling was reciprocal. It was the first time I felt myself reacting like this to a man.

His hand suddenly shot out, gripping the back of my neck in a choking hold. "You're trying to outwit me, Lucia?"

I should be worried he'd strangle me to death, but all my mind could latch on was how the places his skin touched mine seemed to burn, the heat sending pleasant shivers through my whole body. His eyes also grew more intense as his thumb started rubbing small circles on my skin. I had to shuffle on my heels from the overload of sensations now rippling through me. My eyes grew heavy-lidded, my lips parting slightly from my deep breathing. His gaze lowered to them, his expression growing lustful. My whole body was burning now as I stood there, lost in this moment with him. Suddenly he seemed to catch himself, then roughly shoved me away. I stumbled backwards, needing to grip a chair to stabilize myself. My heart, however, was still rampant in my chest, refusing to calm even with my deep breaths.

Damn it Lucia! How could you allow yourself to get swept up by this guy! Do not forget he is Chris's murderer. The thought sobered me somewhat and I risked an annoyed glance back in Adriano's direction. He was also glaring daggers at me as if the very sight of me repulsed him. I had to make an effort to return the scathing look right back.

"Answer my question!" He barked, his voice roughened; whether from emotion or anger, I wasn't sure.

It took me a while to remember what he had asked me. "I would never dare, boss. I apologize if my words made you uncomfortable." Right as the words left my mouth and I realized their implication, I mentally slapped myself. I usually carefully selected my words before uttering them, but with him, I couldn't help speaking my mind.

It all happened in a shot, with such suddenness, I couldn't properly register the movements. One second I was still standing in front of Adriano, then the next, I was pinned to a wall with his hands squeezing the life out of me.

"Do you have a death wish?" He gritted, his face so close to mine, I could feel his hot breath fanning over me.

I returned his scathing glare with my own, not bothering to hide my fury. When my vision started to blacken, he shoved me away, causing me to land in a heap on the ground. My hands on the floor were pulled into tight fists as I tried to catch my breath.

"Don't try me, b***h!" He spat at me. "And get one thing clear... I f*****g hate women like you and would never fall for one such as you."

My hatred for this guy had just skyrocketed. I had to keep my gaze lowered so he wouldn't see the purely venomous look I currently had. I slowly got back to my feet, making an effort to calm myself before I dragged my gaze back to his. Compared to his previous cold exterior, he appeared more frazzled now, like a ticking bomb waiting to explode.

"I understand." I murmured in a smooth tone which couldn’t be further from my raging emotions. “And you can rest assured. I’m not interested in anything beyond a professional relationship with you. I apologize if my words were misleading.” Who’d want to get involved with that obnoxious asshole anyway?

My words seemed to further infuriate him, but thankfully he didn’t try to approach me again. He turned his face back towards the monitors, his hands pulled into tight fists.

“I want to get this over with soon so I won’t need to have you in my sights anymore.” he turned to me, his expression back to that condescending coldness. “For this reason, I’ll overlook your brazenness for this time. If there’s a next time I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

I had a scathing retort on the tip of my tongue, but forced myself to swallow it back.

I sighed. “Shall we get down to business, then? Is it about Jason?”

He seemed displeased with my way of speaking to him, but did not comment on that. “Since you were smart enough to uncover him, I want you to take care of resolving this situation. You can think of it as a compensation for withholding the information from me.”

I couldn’t help myself from retorting to this one. “It’s unfair to punish me for not saying anything back in that room. If I did, I would have ruined your plans to reappropriate the drugs and I probably wouldn’t be breathing right now.”

“You have a point.”

“My decisions were made with due consideration.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Should I take it you don’t want to take on this task?”

“That’s not it.” I murmured reassuringly. “I’ll be more than happy to accomplish this but… I want some compensation if I’m successful.”

“Name it.”

I sighed wearily. “I’ve been rapidly rising in ranks since working here, but there’s been no improvement in the last two years.”

“So you want to be promoted...” he continued in my stead.

“Given my accomplishments, I believe I’m more than deserving of it.”

His lips raised in a cynical smile. “Indeed, you have a point.”

“Granted.” He announced after a few seconds of deliberation. “If you’re able to successfully bring all the stolen drugs back, I’ll give you a much higher position.” He then approached me until he was standing in my space, those mesmerizing eyes boring right into mine. “However, failure is not an option.” He didn’t bother explaining further, the meaning behind his words clear.

“Message noted.” I then turned my gaze towards the screens. "I suppose you'll let him believe he's off the hook first."

He nodded once. "We'll let everyone believe we are suspecting you. They all saw you getting taken away by Ryan, after all."

"Nice…" I remarked praisingly. My eyes then turned to the feed of the underground parking. "Which vehicle is his?"

"The black Rolls Royce. I've already had a tracker placed on it."

I smiled in appreciation. As much as the guy was annoying and my worst enemy, it felt nice collaborating with such a perceptive and meticulous person.

"If you need any help, apart from the guards closest to me, you can have your pick of anyone here."

"I only need two of your people as witnesses… since it's obvious you do not trust me."

A corner of his lips lifted slightly in amusement. "Overestimating your abilities might cost you dearly."

I tempered down the irritation mounting from his derisive comment. "I naturally know my limits." I remarked nonchalantly. "Mind letting me go through all the information you have about him?"

He wordlessly walked a short distance away, retrieving a small folder among several others stacked on a table. I couldn't help noticing one of them had my name written on it.

He shoved the folder at me. "Everything’s in there."

"Thanks." I mumbled, immediately going through its contents, reading details I already knew. Still, I scanned all the contents to know which other secret information I held but shouldn't divulge. I could feel his gaze burning through me the whole time, an unwelcome distraction which I tried my best to ignore. I couldn't wait to be freed from his stifling presence, so I quickened my reading pace. Once done, I placed the file on the table in front of me, looking at him expectantly. However, he remained unmoving, keeping his gaze trained on the screens. When I maintained my probing gaze on him, he cast a dismissive glance in my direction.

"For effect, I need to wait some more before announcing that we caught the mole."

I knew that but why did I have to wait here with him? Wasn't he also impatient to no longer have me in his sights? I couldn't get this guy's train of thought. The seconds dragged by with the room plunged in an uncomfortable silence. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a feed projecting an image just outside the room. Ryan was standing close by the door, appearing restless.

“You’re worried about him?” Adriano asked, still in that disparaging tone.

“He’s the one who seems worried.”

“And that unsettles you?”

I sighed, my lips pulling up in a strained smile. "I don't get how that is of any significance…"

"Just answer the question." He barked.

I threw my hands up in surrender. "Yes, it bothers me." I lied. "He's my friend after all."

Ryan was indeed a nice guy, being nothing short of considerate towards me from the start. However, I could never bring myself to feel any sort of compassion, much less love for anyone in this place filled with ruthless killers. Even though I have now become one of them, this was all for my revenge. I turned to face Adriano, who currently appeared to be bubbling with rage.

He suddenly advanced towards me, his eyes deepening with evil promises. I had to pull on some otherworldly strength of will to keep from cowering away.

"Go and meet him then." He sneered, gripping my forearm to forcibly pull me towards the door.

Once it was wrenched open, I saw Ryan hastening in our direction, but he barely had time to take a couple of steps before I was roughly shoved towards him. He readily reached out to me, preventing my fall.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his concerned face right in front of mine, peering closely as his hands held my upper arms firmly.

"I'm fine, thanks." I mumbled, then turned to glare at Adriano.

He didn't bother looking at me, instead keeping his attention on Ryan. "Guide her to one of our cars and send Cory and Ben to accompany her. They'll be tailing the culprit to retrieve the drugs."

"But sir…" Ryan started protesting, but his words were cut short at the withering glare Adriano sent his way.

"You've been getting annoyingly defiant lately, do you not want your job anymore?"

"It's not like that, boss. I apologize." He mumbled, his gaze lowered. "I'll make sure to properly follow your instructions without protest from now on."

"You'd better." Adriano said in his most threatening voice. "Get back here within 5 minutes. We need to address the crowd again." With those words, he turned back towards the control room and slammed the door behind him.

As soon as Adriano was out of sight, Ryan turned to face me. "Are you sure you're okay? Did he do anything to you?" He appeared beside himself with worry.

I gave him a reassuring smile. "I told you I'm a big girl and can take care of myself. Stop this useless worrying."

Seeming to not hear my words, he went on remorsefully. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, even though I promised."

I shook my head. "Like I said, there's no need to do all these things." I then glanced down the corridor, my eyes connecting with Adriano's close guards. I knew them both pretty well. Liam Dixon and James Ross… two of the most lethal killers who have been in Adriano's employ even before he snatched the title of Don. Liam is known for his sniper shooting skills while James was currently known as the strongest killer in the world. Liam had a strong muscular body with a handsome face complimented by his short blonde hair and blue eyes. Both looked intimidating but James gave off the feeling of being even more unapproachable with his overly towering physique and buzz cut black hair. His grey eyes appeared almost dead most of the time, his expression always remaining stoic.

I gave a nod of acknowledgement to the both of them, then turned back to Ryan. "Shouldn't we be heading to that car already? You wouldn't want to get back here late, right?"

He sighed, then grabbed my hand, leading me away. As we walked off, I reached out and gently extricated his hand from mine. He glanced sideways at me, his expression appearing slightly hurt, but didn't make any comments.

"You should avoid provoking him." He said after some time.

I looked at him in disbelief. "When did I ever provoke him? He's the one who lashed out at me for no reason as soon as he saw me. I really made an effort to be polite, you know."

"You have to admit that you did add some slightly snide comments just to spite him." He raised an eyebrow at me, daring me to argue.

"That was just me defending myself." I railed. "He was being unfair and I could only take that much."

"That's just the way he is." He explained wearily. "Just try and ignore it and do not provoke him again. Otherwise he won't make your life easy."

"I'll try." I said with a sigh. "I wonder how you're able to stand him everyday."

He snorted. "I'm just used to it. And he's not usually as short-tempered as he is right now. Maybe he's just tense because of all the things recently, with that traitor and all."

I personally didn't think that was the case. Adriano didn't strike me as the type to get pissed because of some stolen drugs. No, his attitude was this hostile only because it was me. Was it due to his instincts warning him that I shouldn't be trusted? Anyhow, I needed to show him my worth and earn his trust so I can get closer to him. Only then will I be able to strike him. I smiled with satisfaction internally. My revenge was just within reach… finally, after 12 years of striving. However, there was one minor setback. It seemed that I was attracted to Adriano. As much as I hated him and his snide comments unnerved me, my body seemed to react in unexpected ways just from being close to him. And there was no denying that he was also attracted to me. I could see it in his smoldering gaze. This was something I certainly didn't expect. I needed to make an effort to prevent our relationship from crossing the professional barrier. I didn't want to get involved with him and it wouldn't prove necessary for my revenge.

"Lucia?" Ryan called, snapping me from my thoughts.

I turned to gaze at him quizzically.

"We're here." He announced, motioning towards a black Audi. We were in the same underground parking, but this compartment appeared smaller with several pricey vehicles neatly parked.

"This is Don Adriano's personal parking space where he also keeps some spare vehicles." He then walked to a far wall where several keys were hung and retrieved one of them, handing it over to me.

"Thanks for guiding me." I murmured, heading towards the vehicle.

"Wait!" He said, grabbing my arm.

Frowning, I turned towards him, catching the conflicted feelings raging in his eyes. "I wish I could accompany you… this mission will be quite dangerous, especially since he only allowed you to bring along two guards."

"He said I could take as many people as I wanted. I was the one who only asked for two guards. They will be more than enough."

"Are you sure?"

At my nod, he released a small sigh. "Be careful." He said solemnly, his blue eyes boring into mine.

"Thank you, I will." I said reassuringly, then got into the vehicle.

He leaned slightly so he could peer at me. "Wait right here… I'll send the guards over and I believe Don Adriano will have already handed them the items you might need."

"Understood." I nodded.

"Well then, I'll wait for your good news." He cheered, patting the car hood once as if in encouragement, then walked away.

As soon as I was alone, I allowed myself to release a tired sigh. Having to constantly steel my emotions and keep up a pretense sure felt taxing. I had finally entered the lion's den today and had to confront the fiercest monster. Our first interaction was quite fiery if I do say so myself. But in the end, I got exactly what I wanted. As long as I successfully accomplished this task, which I will without a doubt, I would be able to get closer to Adriano.