Sven:

Okay, so I care about her. Not her body. Or her looks. Although that definitely helps. No. Her as a person. Her empathy. Her stubbornness. The fact that she is a coward even though she really wishes she wasn’t. She challenges me, and I like that.

A whole hell of a lot.

With the exception of a few lapses, she isn’t scared of me. I earned that. She was to start with.

So. All this said. When she awkwardly froze and stared at my dick, panicked for some reason, I picked her up off the floor and held her. Literally pulled the covers over us and tucked her into my side. Even though I am painfully hard and just got done doing a job for Boss that is leading to the takedown of a Goddamn crime family, then am planning my takedown of said boss. Now I'm in bed holding a girl while she cries into my chest for I don’t even know what reason.

I can think of a million.

“Rose?”

“Yes.” She sniffles.

“Care to share?”

“Not really.”

I snort. “See, that was one of those questions that was asked politely but…”

“I'm not telling you what’s wrong with me Sven!”

I prop up on my elbow and lean over her. “Talk Rose.”

I know she’s teetering on telling me. I just need to make her mad enough to spit it out.

“Fine!” She shoves me aside as she moves to sit up. “You wanna know! I'm worried about Lacey. Really, really worried. And I'm worried about me. And you! You’re being… nice. I don’t know what to do with that.”

She tries to leap from the bed, but gets caught in the covers and has to kick her legs around wildly to get out. Once she does, she huffs and slams the bathroom door, locking it.

I stare at the door in shock. Holy shit. She spazzed because… she’s starting to feel something for me and she can’t deal with that. Not with her dad and her conscious and the, unfortunately, the kind heart I know she has.

Holy fuck.

A slow smile spreads across my lips. See, I'm not the kind of guy scared to admit he develops feelings. See. I never do. Life’s fun. I don’t take anyone or anything to seriously. But when I do, it’s interesting. It intrigues me. Feelings are fascinating. I don’t view it as a weakness to care. I view it as a weakness to be so in denial that bad shit happens and you flip the fuck out.

Like what is about to happen to Boss.

I smirk and search the room until I find the same paperclip Rose used. It glistens in the bedroom light, right there for me. I shake my head and laugh silently as I go to the door. She’s gonna flip. I slowly pick the lock and push the door open.

“You’re not the only one who knows how to pick a lock.”

She glares at me from where she is huddled on the closet floor. Her nose is red and her eyes are puffy and swollen. She’s cute. Not a word I ever thought I’d use, let alone to describe her, but that’s what she is right now.

Cute.

“You’re…”

“You’re developing feelings for me. And you’re scared,” I stat matter of factly.

Her eyes go wide. “No. I…”

I hold up my hand. “Shh. I know. We won’t talk about it now. I want you off the floor. We have dinner with Boss in an hour.”

That gets her off the floor quickly.

“NO FUCKING WAY! He’s gonna kill me. Oh my gosh.” She covers her face with her hands. “You weren’t there. He’s so mad. He’s bringing me there so he can kill me in front of you. That’s what’s going to happen. I'm gonna die slowly at dinner in front of you!”

I can’t help but burst out laughing.

“I would have never suspected you had such a dark mind Rose,” I laugh again and move her hands from her face, holding them to her side. “No. He’s not going to kill you. Yes. He was fucking pissed as hell over what happened today, but he’s over it. Boss doesn’t hold grudges. If he doesn’t deal with it then, he figures there’s a reason he gave mercy and lets it go.

To add to that. He would not kill you in front of me. He wouldn’t dare. Boss is smart. A genius even. He knows what moves to play and what ones not to. So, all in all, no you are not going to die slowly at dinner tonight. What you are going to do is put on a nice dress, clean your face and be by my side. Boss just wants to get to know you. He thought you were just a plaything, but he’s coming to realize that is not the case, so he wants to meet you. Properly. You’ll be around a lot. Especially if I can eventually trust you to leave this damn room.”

“I can’t have dinner with him. He’s the devil.”

I laugh. “No, he’s not.”

“Are you kidding me? What about Lacey!”

I can’t help but smirk. God if she only knew how he felt about her. Yes, what he’s having to do to her is awful, but it’s destroying him in the process. He’s paying for it.

“You are going Rose. Not a choice.”

She huffs but starts storming around the closet, grabbing shit.

“An hour you said?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll end him if he brings Lacey and hurts her.”

I laugh. “Yeah, I'm sure you will.”

But I God I hope he doesn’t bring Lacey. Rose will lose it, and he will try and kill her, and I will be forced to intervene.

I wasn’t lying. After Boss found Rose talking with Lacey he called me pissed, even though I was on an important call. He told me to make sure she didn’t fuck up like that again. Then he threatened her, and I may or may not have threatened him if he laid a hand on her.

Stupid.

But I did. So I own that.

Then he realized I liked her. In a permanent way. I didn’t just wanna fuck her. He straight up asked me if she was going to be around. I didn’t hesitate when I told him yes. So he told me he wanted to start over with her. He told me to invite her to dinner, to make sure she’s behaved. He wanted to get to know her.

So that’s what led to this point.

I throw my shirt back on, run gel through my hair and sit on the bed. Rose is running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Ranting the whole time.

“Seriously. I don’t know what is my life. Like. You are all monsters. Now I'm being dragged to a dinner with a Mafia boss and you are an underboss and you gave me an orgasm and now I'm putting on a stupid dress and I'm supposed to act like I'm not mad. When I am. The sad thing is no one misses me. I have no life to get back to. You ruined that you fucking asshole. I really hate you, you know? Fuck. You know I’ve never said fuck so many times in my life. Since I’ve met you I've been meaner, I cuss more, I'm just… not as good. I'm bad. So bad…”

Laughing, I stand up. I don’t even know what the hell she’s talking about anymore. I'm still laughing, she’s still ranting when I lean against the bathroom door. It’s like Deja vu. She’s bouncing on one heel trying to get her other heel on. I walk over and put my hand on her shoulder, steadying her. She looks into my eyes and I know she’s having the same memory I am.

The first time I kissed her.

“You still kidnapped me, Sven,” she whispers when our eyes meet.

Then she pulls away and continues getting ready. I go and sit back on the bed. I grab a ball off the dresser and lie back on the bed, throwing it up and down. Finally, she comes out. I didn’t look at her before, but I do now. My dick immediately springs to life. She’s wearing a light blue dress that scoops down to her upper abdomen, the bottom goes to her mid-thigh and to go with that she’s wearing black stilettos. Her hair is perfectly styled and her makeup is done to perfection, subtle like I like it.

“Damn Rose,” I groan.

I sit up. She’s killing me. I slowly look her over, taking in her entire frame. When I look at her face I notice she’s bright red.

“You’re fucking sexy as hell. I'm not trying to embarrass you.”

“Oh. Um. Alright.”

Why is she so shy with this stuff around me? I know for a fact she’s not typically that way with men. I sigh. I really don’t know what the fuck I'm doing with her. I’ll always be a murderer/her kidnapper above everything else.

I extend my hand. “Let’s go. I like to be early.”

She takes it. Her palm is sweaty, but I leave her be. I'm dragging her to a dinner with Boss after he threatened her life. Nerves are to be expected.

When we walk in the dining hall Boss is giving orders to Gioele and Frances. Well, yelling orders at them. There’s rum on the table, but he hasn’t poured any. I’ve never seen him drink. Like me, he’s all about control.

He senses our presence the second we walk in.

“Hello, Sven. Rose. Please sit.” He extends his arms in a welcoming gesture, but there is a darkness about him today. We both have to be careful. Rose has to be fucking careful. I’ve always wanted to overthrow him to get his power, but now I have new reasons. I don’t want to feel uncomfortable in anyone’s presence anymore. With Rose around, I do feel that way with him. I squeeze her hand to reassure her and then let go.

“You look much healthier Rose,” Boss says, giving her a look I can’t interrupt. I don’t like it. The game I started is on now.

“Thank you. I wish everyone could be as healthy as I am now.”

She glares at him. Damn it, Rose. Let the Lacey thing go. I kick her under the table. Hard. She quickly looks at me. I’ve never physically hurt her but damn it, she’s gonna get herself killed before I can set my plan in motion.

Boss narrows his eyes.

“Yes. Unfortunately, life’s not fair. You should count your blessings that life is being fair to you right now Rose Marketta.”

Thankfully, Rose catches the threat and clamps her mouth shut. I turn to Boss and we have a casual conversation, but there is an air of tension. He’s planning something. Something big. I’ve been a little distracted with Rose, but I have to focus now. The game is fully on. The Castelo’s, and now the Boss is fully himself. Ready to defend his title. Starting early. Planning. Plotting. Ready to squash me when I make my move.

I won’t let him.

The second we leave Rose jumps to my side and stays there tight until we get to our room where she pulls away and looks at me with narrow eyes.

“Tell me I'm not the only one who felt that.”

The threat. The power of the Boss.

“No. You’re not,” I say, undoing my tie.

She sighs. “Sven, I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.”

Oh, I do. Calm down little Rose.

I smirk.

GAME. ON.

Round two.