Submitting to my ex's twin mafia uncles

Rachel’s POV

I walked into the sea of people in the massive college field, searching for Cole Biancardi, my boyfriend. 

The massive crowd of students leaving to begin their summer vacations frustrated my search for Cole. I threw my eyes around fervently, desperate for Cole to jump under my sight. Eventually, he did. The six-foot-two hunk of maleness that I had fallen in love with since high school stood ethereally and proud under the golden rays of the afternoon sun, his massive back to me. 

I moved in his direction, planning to surprise him with my presence. I stopped just midway, transfixed to a spot in utter shock. I saw Martha Brooks, the hottest girl in college, walk into Cole’s arms. He held her close as he had always held me and planted a kiss on her lips as he had always done me. 

I swallowed a huge lump of bitterness in my throat as I watched. A plethora of emotions swarm violently through me. There must be an explanation for this, I told myself, trying to give Cole the benefit of the doubt. I forced some comportment into myself, and I walked closer to confront them. 

Martha’s brows went up the moment I cropped into their view; her eyes rolled over me with scorn. “It was about time you found out anyway,” she scoffed, still looking me over like I was a piece of garbage that tainted her sight. 

I steered my gaze up to Cole, still desperately holding on to the belief that he hadn’t betrayed me. I refused to look in the direction of his hand, which still remained on Martha’s waist, holding her to his body with as much love and care as he once did me. 

“What is happening here, Cole? I came to tell you of the surprise vacation I had planned for us in Miami only to meet this. Please tell me this isn’t what I am thinking it is, Cole. Tell me,” I yelled. Pairs of eyes turned from their different purposes in our direction as I yelled, but I didn’t care. My world was crumbling around me. Cole was the only person I had in my life. I have lost my parents for as long as I can’t remember and had an extended family that doesn’t give a damn about me. 

Cole’s eyes were calm and unflustered as they rested on me. “I am sorry you had to find out this way, Rachel, but it can’t be helped; I don’t love you anymore. I love Martha now. The university opened my eyes to how boring you were; with you, it was just read, learn, and talk, but with Martha, it is far more than that; it is fun and sex. Unlike you, she doesn’t believe she has to save herself for marriage,” he said to me, gentle with his voice, whilst hurting me with his words. 

My hands tightened into a fist beside me as he spoke. If he had said this was all some misunderstanding and let go of Martha, I would have readily accepted him back. But he didn’t; every word he uttered became a thorn that poked my heart. 

“So you love her now, and not me?” I asked, jerking my eyes to reference Martha beside him. I controlled my quivering body, refusing to show them the turmoil going on inside me. 

“I do love her.” He grinned harmlessly. 

“I am certainly fun,” Martha declared proudly. “Besides, it is only logical that the hottest boy dates the hottest girl in school, not some lowlife,” Martha added, then she turned, dragging Cole along with her. 

“I am sorry, Rachel,” Cole yelled over his broad shoulders at me as he left with Martha. I just stood there like a statue watching them leave. I brought out the concert tickets I had bought for us for a popular show in Miami with quivering fingers. Crunching them tight in my hands. I had bought the tickets and made reservations for us in an expensive hotel in Miami with my life savings, just because I wanted to break the bridge that had been growing between me and Cole for a month now. Now they were worthless; Cole wouldn’t be coming. 

Then I thought to myself, I had bought them with my own savings and been looking forward to this for weeks now. Screw Cole and Martha for what they have done to me, but what other option do I have to relieve the pounding ache in my heart right now than drinking and partying? I threw away one ticket and held onto the other. “Miami, here I come,” I mumbled to myself, leaving for my dorm to pack my bags.

I arrived in Miami hours later and received the key to my suite. Room 401, the receptionist had told me, just as it was carved on a small gold plate on the key. I followed the porter to Room 401, and truly, it was a paradise on earth. The perfect luxury to relieve my aching heart. It tried, but not completely. Cole’s betrayal still stung at my heart. 

I showered and dressed in a simple sheath gown that revealed more of my legs. I draped some makeup on my face. Then I looked up in the mirror to see a woman that didn’t look anything like me. She was beautiful, with auburn curls that framed her face like a C, whereas I had always been ugly; she was confident and proud when I was broken inside and always ashamed of myself. I thought it wouldn’t be bad if this woman found a man at this concert or hotel who she could fuck tonight, so she could lose her virginity once and for all. It would give me some satisfaction to know that what Cole had pressured me for years about, this new lady had given freely to an unknown stranger. 

I left for the concert. I was walking down the stairs when I heard loud noises hinting at some party in one of the hotel halls. A part of me was eager to check it out, so I walked in that direction. I pushed the already opened door, riding myself into the wide, broad chest of a man. 

I looked up. The man was richly dressed in an expensive, tight-fitting suit. He was athletic, with slightly bulging biceps. He seemed to be in his late thirties and devilishly handsome for someone his age. Our eyes froze on each other for a moment. I stared into his amber eyes, and he looked into the depths of mine. There was something in his eyes that hinted of danger, something that told me he might be dangerous. My gaze dropped to cover much of his face and powerful body and I realized it wasn't just his eyes, the whole of him screamed danger. Strangely, at that moment, I felt a sort of electric jolt inside me, as if something charged inside of me. 

Then I heard people chanting around me, “Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.” I stared around to discover me and the strange man whose eyes I still felt on me were enjoying the attention and stares of everyone in a lavishly decorated hall. They seemed to have been playing some sort of game, and I had walked in on it. 

I returned my eyes to the man, only to find a strange hardness in his eyes as they lingered on me. His strong arms circled my waist and pulled me to him. The next thing I knew was his lips pressing down on my own.