Chapter 2 My Rotten Luck {Rosie}

It’s been two weeks since my amazing mistake.

A really big fucking one.

The truth didn’t just hit. It bitch slapped me. Hard.

I saw it the morning after, when the sun finally crept high enough to spill across his back. That was when I noticed it.

The massive tattoo.

The large tiger inked on his flesh. Blood red eyes that still flowed dangerously in the daylight.

My stomach plummeted.

I nearly fainted.

La Zanna Rossa.

The deadliest, oldest mafia in Italy. My father’s sworn enemy. The Zanna Rossas and Lupi Neris have been at war for decades now. Painting Italy red with killings, bombings and ruining lives.

I ran away from home, left the mafia life behind and five years later, where do I end up?

In the bed of the deadliest among them and judging by the size of his tiger…. Fuck. He might just be the leader.

And not just the deadliest.

My family’s rival.

I pressed my hand to my mouth to stop myself from making a sound.

Am I cursed?

I almost couldn’t leave. He was a monster, every time I turned, he awoke and we began all over again. My body ached as if i’d been shattered, pieced back together, then broken once more.

No difference really.

Sometimes I could still smell him in my hair or hear that breathy chuckle of his that made toes curl in anticipation.

There was no way I could forget the way he sounded like a villain no one should love, yet everyone secretly would. One whose morals were gray, heart frozen but damn when he spoke, he captured me wholly and his actions ... .The way he stroked my hair until sleep claimed me, or how he grazed his fingers over my freckles when he thought I was asleep.

He didn’t look like it but he was lonely. Miserable even. Quite poetic for a girl whose world was brought upside down by the men sworn to protect her.

My idea of love and romance was colored red. It’s a surprise so maybe it shouldn’t surprise me that I allowed him to get so close.

Closer than a stranger should ever be.

Oh well.

It was back to reality. Back to boring Elizabeth Grant.

I sighed loudly as I began my annoying daily routine and carefully added my contacts. I paused midway when the sudden memory from that night resurfaced.

“Your eyes, they sparkle or I might be really wasted,” he murmured drowsily before he nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck.

Fuck. Him. Again.

Two weeks and I still could not get him off my mind. “You’re getting late, Sei in ritardo!” I shouted in frustration.

Last month, I’d fired off job application to anyone foolish enough to read them, and against all odds, someone had replied yesterday.

I needed to meet with the CEO for the interview by ten o'clock sharp. This was eight and I was not near done because I was still day dreaming.

With a groan, I forced myself into my pencil skirt and pink blouse. Who would have thought I would struggle for a job post. Practically speaking, I didn’t have the experience and I don't think I actually qualify for the post of a personal assistant but I was desperate. My rent was overdue and waiting tables weren't cutting it.

Finally, I was done. I grabbed my resume and headed out with my hopes high in the sky.

By the time i slid into the cab, I was scrolling the company’s email again. “Helios Dynamic….”I read out loud.

The name ringed a bell.

Quickly, I began my search for the company. Yes, I know. I should have done this before applying but I wasn't the one who applied, it was my friend, Gracie who works as a cleaner there that helped me out. I’m surprised they picked me, considering my lacking resume.

Okay, I could see why the company was familiar, I've heard the name come up a lot of times on the news.

Helios Dynamics is a global defense technology and arms conglomerate known for her cutting edge military drones, AI surveillance, and missile defense system.

Ugh.

All I could read was chaos, danger and war wrapped neatly in corporate jargon. I wasn’t new to that world.

At the bottom of the article, a healdine; “Kieran Ferrara: The billionaire tycoon behind the world’s most powerful defense empire” under the post showed an image of-

The car jerked to a stop. “We are here.”

I quickly gathered my stuff, paid him and got out of the cab. When I turned to face the building, I whistled. It was all glass and cool sleek steel skyscrapers that stabbed at the sky. It was intimidating, a modern fortress.

In the elevator, I caught a faint scent of citrus and black current and it immediately triggered the memories I was trying my hardest to forget. Who was I kidding, I could still feel him everywhere. His bite marks are just starting to fade. In the heat of the moment, we didn’t even use condoms.

I remembered clearly.

“You like what you see?” I slurred after he spun me, face to the soft mattress and my ass in the air where he could see the tatto by the arch of my lower back.

He swallowed and quickly began taking off his clothes. He didn’t speak much, he didn’t have to. His actions were very loud and when he did speak, it was to bark out commands.

“Leave on the heels,” he said in a raspy whisper. “Spread yourself for me, open wide, good girl.” and when he reached my hymen, still intact, he changed completely and offered to stop but i begged him like a fool and boy did he take his time. It wasn’t until I was soaking the sheet, did he slowly guide his abnormally large sized dick into my drenched cunt.

My thighs shook, it was too much but I could not back down, not after I had begged for it. “C-condom.” I whimpered. Reminding him again before he went too deep but instead of stopping, he leaned down and took my nipple into his hot wet mouth, going deeper until I accepted all of him. He released my nipple with a bop sound and looked in my eyes without moving. It was too intimate but I could not look away.

Suddenly, I caught a strange emotion in his green eyes even if it was just for a split second. I caught it and it was painful. I opened my mouth to say something but he sealed it with a searing kiss and slowly began drilling me. “Don’t worry, Anis,” he said into the kiss. “I’m clean and I can’t get you pregnant.” Before I could understand what he meant, he picked up pace, punishing me in the sweetest and hottest way possible.

“Mrs?”

I jerked out of my trance with a shocked gasp. Fuck.fuck fuck. I nervously placed my stray hairs behind my hair, looking around to figure out where I was. I was standing in front of a female receptionist whose face squeezed in disgust. I wonder how long she had called me.  I smiled apologetically.

“Are you here for the interview?” she asked, not looking at me but her laptop.

I inhaled deeply and exhaled before responding. “Yes, I am,”

She nodded and typed something on her system. I took a quick look around the lobby, my heart was about to burst out of my chest. This was my first time doing this and I didn't know what to expect or how to behave.

“Here, take this,” I looked back down to see her outstretched hand holding a wet wipe. I frowned. “The last PA got fired because she cared more about her looks. Clean that shit on your face off,”

She was rude but I was grateful she was kind enough to warn me beforehand. I muttered a small thanks and collected the wipe from her. When I was done, she looked up to inspect, gave me a nod of approval then told me to go inside. “Mr. Kieran is expecting you,”

What?

The words crashed through me like a missile.

My heart sank. The CEO himself?

Shit. shit. Shit.

Despite my panic and raging anxiety, my legs moved and my upper body refused to cower. Sometimes I could not tell if my father’s pride was helping me or ruining me. I can do this, I can do this.

The moment the door opened and I stepped into the office, I was hit with the very familiar scent of oakwood and crushed berries. This can’t be happening. My legs began to shake, the hairs on my skin stood erect. I could not move.

“I believe you have to be seated for us to begin,” he drawled lazily like he was already tired of my existence.

That voice.

It was definitely him!

I remember the words he said to me that night after our fourth round and we were ready to sleep. “Please don’t leave. I’d very much like to keep you.”

But I left cause I had work the next day and I didn't want to spend another day as Rosie.

This was so fucked up. There was no way I could do this.