Chapter 4 Edward Cullen and Dangerous Men

Milena Lima

I hear a knock at the door and turn around to see María holding a small fish tank with both hands.

“Can I come in?”

I nod, trying not to laugh at how hard she’s struggling to carry it.

“What is that?” I ask, hurrying over to help her.

“Your gift.”

I frown as I take the fish tank from her and set it on the bed. It’s full of water, heavy, and…

“There’s a fish!” I exclaim, surprised.

“Well, of course. If I gave you an empty fish tank, it would be a terrible gift,” María shoots back, joining me to look at the tiny blue fish swimming in the cramped space.

“But why are you giving me a present? It’s not my birthday.”

At least, not according to Milena’s identity.

“For your promotion!”

A short laugh escapes me, amused by the way María is interpreting the situation.

“What?” she asks, arching an eyebrow.

It’s been two weeks since I started working at one of the Bellini clubs. But tonight is the reopening of an exclusive gentlemen’s club, a place even more luxurious and expensive. David announced that the best dancers would be transferred there, with double pay, and everyone got excited about the opportunity.

I was chosen yesterday, but María wasn’t.

Honestly, I think that has more to do with Robert than with her talent. María is one of the best.

“I’m only going because of the money. If I can save a little more, maybe I’ll be able to pay my bills on my own and you can move in with Robert. I know you two want to be together, and I hate getting in the way.”

“Robert’s fine living with his brothers.” She waves a hand, lying through her teeth. He’s dying to move in with María. “But back to what matters,” she says, pointing at the fish. “His name is Edward Cullen.”

“You gave my fish a name?”

“You didn’t even want a fish, and now you’re complaining that I named him?” she huffs, incredulous, but then she smiles. “I called him that because I know you’re obsessed with Twilight, the dumbest teenage movie of all time.”

María rolls her eyes, and I raise a finger immediately.

“Do. Not. Speak. Of. Twilight.”

“Okay, okay, no need to get worked up.” She lifts her hands in surrender. “There are worse movies.”

I stare at the blue fish swimming around in the tank, and my throat tightens when I think about his name.

I read and watched everything related to Twilight because of my mother’s obsession with it. She even made sure to name me after the story’s protagonist.

My mother and I were best friends, and whenever the day was cloudy and she had time off, we would sit in the living room and marathon the movies.

Edward Cullen.

My mother definitely would have given a fish that name.

I’m still hurt by her. A lot. But I miss her so much that sometimes I let myself forget certain things and think only about the good memories we shared.

“What are you going to wear?” María changes the subject, and I’m grateful for it.

I show her the red, sensual dress David gave me when he told me I’d be transferred, and María nods approvingly. It’s extremely provocative, but beautiful.

“I heard all the Bellinis are going to be there. Maybe you’ll catch one of their attention. They’re tall, tattooed, gorgeous, and hot. Any girl’s dream,” she says, but then her expression turns serious. “Except mine, of course. My dream is Robert.”

Uh-huh. Sure.

Not that my friend’s boyfriend is ugly, but I saw Otto Bellini once from a distance, and the man is unreal.

Still, for all his beauty, he’s just as much of a manwhore, because I found out he’s already slept with every dancer from my old club.

Except me.

And María, of course, but she’s at peace with that.

After all, she has Robert, right?

“Just don’t sleep with Liam, please,” María goes on with her advice, and I keep having fun with it.

“Why? Will he make my first time traumatic?” I ask jokingly.

“Quite the opposite. He’ll fuck you so well you’ll get addicted to his tattooed body, and once you’re hopelessly in love, he’ll break your heart,” she says seriously. “Liam will bend you into a thousand positions and make you come two thousand times, but he’s an asshole and he doesn’t care about anyone. Loving a man like that is basically begging to suffer.”

“For a woman in a relationship, you sure know a lot about the Outfit bosses,” I tease, making her blush.

“I’m in a relationship, not deaf. Gossip spreads, and I like listening. Knowledge is important.”

I burst out laughing, and María goes to grab something from the living room, returning seconds later with a little container of fish food for Edward Cullen. But something is making me curious...

“And the other brother?”

“Dan?” she asks, and I nod, feeling something strange just from hearing his name. “He’s dangerous.”

“More than the others?”

“It’s different.”

“Different how?” I ask, surprising myself with my own curiosity.

“He’s a lot more violent.”

“And the others aren’t?”

“They are, but Otto and Liam usually kill with weapons. Dan kills with his hands,” she explains. “He’s a murderer, controlling, and lethal… people say he has a lot of rage inside him, so he became a fighter and a street racer to let it out. And Dan Bellini always wins. The gossip says he wasn’t even fifteen when his father made him head of those activities inside the Outfit. He’s the youngest, but he seems way older than nineteen.”

“He’s undefeated?” I ask out loud, the question sounding more like surprise.

“Yes.”

“And what’s he like in bed?”

Okay, apparently my tongue is moving faster than my brain.

“For someone who wasn’t interested in the subject, it looks like the youngest Bellini has definitely caught your attention.”

“Forget it,” I mutter, annoyed with myself.

That is none of my business.

She crosses her arms and sighs, studying me carefully.

“Remember when I told you it seems like Dan has rage inside him? Well, the rumor is that he fucks with that same rage.”

“BDSM?” I ask.

“Aren’t you a virgin, girl?” she teases, and I roll my eyes.

“I’m a virgin, not a Neanderthal cut off from the world and information. Knowledge is important,” I throw back at her, and she laughs.

“I don’t know if it’s as intense as BDSM, but the women who’ve slept with him say the sex is intense... that when he’s done, you’re so exhausted your body begs to sleep for a week straight. But he’s not gentle or affectionate. He has sex to blow off steam, just like he does in fights and races, so the woman who ends up in bed with him serves the same purpose as a race car or an opponent in the ring: release.”

“Right,” I reply, turning my attention to the dress on the bed. I’ve already wasted too much time caring about things that have nothing to do with me. Now I need to focus on my own life.

“Despite all that...” María trails off, and I look at her again. “I think Dan is going to be a good husband, you know?”

“Why?”

“Because he’s so protective and careful with the Don’s niece, the one everyone calls the diamond of the Outfit.”

“Are they engaged?”

“I think they’re more like siblings... but he’s always close to her. So I believe that when he gets married, he’ll be even more protective of his wife. Can you imagine being loved by a mobster?”

“It sounds dangerous,” I answer, trying to calm my heart.

If I had accepted my fate, and if the plane to New York hadn’t crashed, I’d probably be married to a mobster by now.

“It probably is. And wonderful too,” she jokes, sitting on the bed and sighing. “Those men who hate the whole world but fall in love with you... that has its appeal.”

I press my lips together to keep from laughing at my friend, and she throws a pillow at me.

“Hey! Stop making fun of my imagination! Dreaming is free and unlimited,” she shoots back, laughing too. “Besides, I know men like them would never look at women like us.”

“And why not?”

“Because they marry princesses, not poor dancers who work half-naked in clubs. They want us to fuck, but it’s the mafia diamonds who carry their children and their hearts.”

“You forgot one thing,” I say, and María looks at me curiously. “We may be poor dancers working half-naked in clubs, but there’s something we have that mafia princesses never will.”

“What?”

“Freedom.”

María agrees with me, and we change the subject, turning our attention back to getting me ready for the night.

Despite the excessive curiosity that took hold of me every time she talked about the youngest son of the Outfit’s Don, I shake my head to get rid of those thoughts.

Because Dan Bellini represents rage and violence, and that is exactly the world I fought so hard to escape from.