Did My Heart Just Stutter?

Luciano

“Violence…” I said with a smirk as I held my hand out to the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I didn’t bother to stand, no, that would give her an option to hesitate, and I needed her to know right from this moment that she was mine. I’ve never had my heart stutter before. Being raised all my life to become what I am today never allowed for such feelings. I am Don of the largest Mafia family in this country, my heart should not stutter. But as this dark angel placed her tiny, soft hand in mine, that’s exactly what it did. I didn’t hesitate. Once I had her hand in mine, a slight tug and she was falling right into my arms. The hand I wasn’t holding came out to land softly on my shoulder, and I guided the one I held to my other shoulder as I slipped my arm around the small of her back, settling her on my lap in one perfect, fluid motion. She’s tiny against my body. Delicate. Breakable. But her eyes are fierce, and they hold fire.

My sister, Stacy, had told me about this girl working at one of my other clubs. She hadn’t said much, just that she appeared to be running from something… or better yet, someone and needed help getting out of there. I initially agreed because I needed more dancers, but when I had my PI look into the girl, Lilly Ontario, he couldn’t find anything. Not a single trace of her ever existing anywhere. And that intrigued me. Usually, even people under a false identity are an easy case for my guy, but this girl stumped him. I’d called Stacy back this morning after Lilly arrived to talk to Kevin. I needed to know more as I watched her through the security cameras in Kevin’s office. She was simply too breathtaking to ignore. Stacy had told me she met her with nothing but the clothes on her back, needing a job. She said after Lilly’s first shift, she offered her a ride home, since it was too late to let her walk anywhere, and when Lilly pointed toward a park, she realized the girl planned on sleeping there. Stacy couldn’t allow that, so she took her home and let her crash on the couch for a couple of weeks, until Lilly had enough cash to get a room at some shitty motel on the wrong side of town.

There wasn’t much more of importance Stacy could tell me, other than her clothing and shoe size and as my mind tried to work out this pretty little anomaly, I found myself at the mall, picking out everything I could imagine her milky skin slipping in and out of. It’s usually a job I hand off to Kevin, but this girl did something to me… and I felt inclined to be the one to choose everything she’d wear against that soft skin.

“Oh... um, Mr. Donatello…”

She was clearly thrown off by the sudden movements, not sure what was happening. Good, I thought. She’ll need to learn to trust me. She was blushing, soft pink in her cheeks, and oh man, it looked so good on her. I wondered what I could do to keep her blushing like that.

“Violence. I’m hoping you found everything you needed in the dressing room.”

“Uh, yeah, Sir. Thank you. It was all more than enough. And thank you for the club transfer.”

She was wiggling that tight little ass in my lap, no doubt nervous because of my men and me, and I needed to move her quickly before she felt just how incredibly hard I was getting. That probably wouldn’t be the best first impression.

Luca, my best friend and right hand, was smiling at her like the bloody golden retriever he is, and she was shifting her gaze around the room, unsure where to look. It seemed she settled on the floor. I made a mental note to break her of that habit. This girl would learn to hold her head high in any room with me.

“Hmmm,” I hummed. “Let’s get you situated on the stage then. My sister asked that I take good care of you, so whenever you work here, your only stage will be in the VIP. I won’t have you downstairs with the rowdy crowd, okay?”

“Yes, Sir. I understand. Thank you.”

“I'm Luca, by the way!” he said as he held out his hand.

“Are you going to swing me around and pull me onto your lap too?” she replied with a little bite.

Luca looked at me with those stupid, pleading puppy-dog eyes like I might actually let him and I narrowed my eyes in warning: back off.

“Of course not,” he said. “Now that would be a rude way to introduce myself, wouldn’t it?” He winked and nudged me.

I rolled my eyes and let the girl stand. I watched as she adjusted her outfit and stepped back toward Kevin.

“Ready to dance, Violence?” Kevin asked, offering his arm again, the arm I wished was mine. Fuck, really? That’s possessive of me...

She nodded and turned with him toward the stage. I just sat there, watching that cute little ass strut away. Such perfect curves. I looked at Luca, who was doing the same thing, and smacked him on the back of the head.

“Hey!”

“Keep your eyes to yourself!”

“It’s literally a strip club, Don and she, well... she’s something special to look at.” He wiggled his eyebrows, then rested his chin on his hands, still watching her.

I couldn’t say I blamed him. She really is something special.