They stared at each other, misinterpretation of the circumstance in their heads. Anger and longing fuelled his veins. Fear and pining fuelled hers. But none could take a step towards the other. Sirens whirred around wildly and after another laboured heartbeat, Dante Maroni turned from the only woman whose life is like the prettiest leash to his, whose existence gives his a purpose and he embraced the darkness behind him. She wasn't what he thought after all. He wasn't what she thought. But it didn't really matter what they thought because they were too lost in each other to desire another. Lose all. Gain Everything. Gain all. Lose Everything. No in- betweens. What happens when a Mafia Lord has to act as a pretend bodyguard to get information only he can? He dons a super advanced mask during the day and has to bear with the sight of the woman he desires, the one he has searched and hunted after for years. She is an arm's length away but his 'boss' has his eyes on her. Tension. Sparks. Burning Tension. Flying Sparks. And a Gnawing Unbeatable Desire.
Some things don't come to us when we want them or based on what we do to earn them but in the most unexpected of ways and paths.
He is a man on a mission and it might take more than an army to stop him. But who needs an army when there is just one person who has the power to change the course of this mission. She can either be his rise or his downfall...she can be anything she chooses and he won't mind, so long as she is by his side.
"Everything is ready boss" Massimo said to Jacob reassuringly, his masculine voice echoing in the almost empty room.
"Have you checked that there is no other person in this restaurant that might interrupt us?" Jacob asked as he faced his new personal bodyguard.
"Yes sir, I have and news reaching me is that she just arrived and should join you soon" Massimo said as he placed two fingers on the device on his ear to get proper reception of communication from the guards upfront.
"That is quite fast! She is being freaking official even when I made it clear this isn't a formal date.
Ten minutes extra wouldn't hurt anyone, Viviana" Jacob said out loud as he patted his hair to final perfection, touched his suit for the millionth time and looked around for anything that could be out of place.
He noticed a vase with flowers and he decided that its location wasn't normal.
As he tried to rearrange it, the clicking of heels was heard and as it drew closer, it distracted him as he knew who it was and the vase fell off his hands.
Being super alert, Massimo caught it a few seconds before it could hit the polished tiles.
Her sweet voice lightened the atmosphere as she thanked the doorman for opening the door for her.
"Thank you," She said with a warm smile.
She was in a black dress that was a little distant from her knees and possessed no sleeves. The dress hugged her body properly and molded the pliancy of her skin. It embodied her to perfection.
Her jet black hair was gelled in a slick fashion and styled in a perfect high ponytail and her lips glossed a light red. Her neck spotted a tiny silver necklace with a tear-drop pendant and her silver heels with red bottoms matched her small chic silver purse.
TWO men stood by the table she walked towards.
One of them is her boss, the main reason she is dressed up.
He had emphatically pleaded on her choice of dress, even offering to get her something for a dinner date she termed as 'randomly common'.
She really didn't want to be with him but her best friend, who is very concerned that she might end up alone, endeavoured to make sure she showed up.
The second of the two men is one who knows her...knows her almost too well and has turned the earth upside down in search of her for the past five years, four months and six days but to no avail.
The world seemed to be moving in slow motion as she kept her casual smile on and strutted towards the table.
Dante could not believe his eyes were on her...his Viviana.
He thought he had lost her for good but here she was coming towards him...but not to him.
She wasn't the nineteen year old he had fallen in love with then, she looked everything gracious, like a thoroughly brewed femme fatale specimen.
Though her brown sparkly orbs still twinkled and her brightening smile still stayed unfazed, it was clear that she is almost like a different person in the way she carried herself.
The vase he had caught in his hand slipped as he seemed to have minimum control of his mind and body anymore and her name, fell out of his lips softly, like a deep yearn. It is a deep yearn.
"Viviana"
Jacob and Viviana's eyes that were about to meet turned to him immediately.
Jacob's face was a mask of anger while hers filled with surprise at the sudden noise.
The only sound that was available some seconds ago was the soft music that a band at the farthest corner of the room played.
"What do you think you are doing?" Jacob's voice boomed and resonated within the walls and the room.
He shouted for two reasons.
The minor reason was because that noise had taken Viviana's eyes that were on him and the major reason was to impress Viviana.
He wanted to contain the aura of an 'alpha man. Such like he had read on a few minutes ago.
But do alpha men read on how to become one?
Or does being short of being an alpha man make a man less masculine?
Dante felt like torturing the person he had to address as his boss for shouting at him and majorly for having anything to do with someone like Viviana. Three vivid ways of making the shards on the floor have an unrecoverable impact on Jacob Bianchi's life flashed in Dante's mind but he reined himself in. He had to.
He possesses and wields the power to make every Bianchi crawl on their knees and chew every damn broken piece of the vase...but he couldn't...yet!
On a mission to acquire something very important and one mistake could shatter all the hard work of his life and the painstaking and excruciating sacrifices it took to get to where he is.
'No, not now'
Dante's nostrils flared under the mask he was wearing to disguise his identity.
This mask alters his true facial identity and makes him look like a totally different person.
Quickly bowing his head slightly he said, "I'm sorry boss, I'll have this taken care of now".
"You better!" Jacob said as he shoved his hands into his pockets, set his lips in a warning straight line and then he walked to Viviana who was already by the table.
She mentally rolled her eyes at Jacob's gimmicks.
He had ordered one of his newly gotten Mercedes to come pick her. He had rented a five star world class restaurant for the whole day and hired The Santiago Brothers - the highest paid band players in Italy to play in the restaurant.
She was still not intrigued in the least and instead, she was already tired of the day and longed for the comfort of her bed which she stood up from very few hours ago.
Was it because of Jacob Bianchi who is one of the promising heirs to the Bianchi Conglomerate or is it mainly because of a certain individual whom she cannot forget no matter how hard tries?
She already knew the answer.
'Fu** you for leaving me this way Dante. Really! Really fu** you' She thought as she smiled harder at Jacob and his new bodyguard who was standing a few steps away.
He was speaking to a staff member but he had his eyes on her.
His eyes were bloody imprinting on her skin and she couldn't tell how she felt about it.
Let the day just end... even though she had no idea that the next day will be the beginning of something she wasn't seeing.
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