章 23: Chapter 23
GISELLE
"We need to talk, Nicholas."
Nicholas paused mid-sentence, the frustration and rage on his face disappearing. He raised a brow at me when I closed the door behind me, his watchful eyes following my every move.
"We need to talk about tonight," I added when he stared at me expectantly.
"I'll call you back in a few minutes," Nicholas said to whomever he was talking to on the phone before he hung up. "Go on," he urged, placing his phone down on the desk.
There was something about him sitting behind his enormous desk that sent a chill down my spine. Right now, it very much felt like I was in the devil's lair, and it didn't help that Nicholas turned up the air conditioning to arctic.
Goosebumps peppered my arm, and fear pooled at the bottom of my stomach. The speech I practiced on my way here vanished from my brain, and I was suddenly tongue-tied.
"Do you have something to say, Giselle?" He looked impatient now.
"Actually, I can come back later. I interrupted your conversation."
"You knew that when you came in. You wanted to talk about tonight. Let's talk."
Since he insisted…
"You knew, didn't you? You knew my father was going to marry Cara off to Eduardo." When he said nothing, I continued. "That was what you were hiding from me the other day, wasn't it? Why would you do that?"
My anger from earlier returned, and I stormed over to where he sat, glaring down at him. "Cara would have been married off to Eduardo, all because you didn't tell me. Why the hell would you do that? I thought you had morals."
"Are you done?" Nicholas asked. He was unfazed even after my outburst.
"Unbelievable." I wasn't ready to talk to him now, or I feared I'd lose my temper and dig my ice pick heels into his eyes.
He caught my arm before I could walk away, rising to his feet. "Are you done?"
"With you? Always. Let me fucking go," I hissed, glaring up at him.
"You came here to talk, and that's what we're going to do." In a split second, I was on Nicholas's desk, and he stood between my parted thighs. "What did I say before we left for the party?" He asked, capturing my eyes with his.
All I could breathe in was his spicy cologne as his hypnotic eyes bored into mine. I was so lost in them I didn't even realize when my mouth moved to answer his question.
"Don't do anything stupid."
He shook his head. "No. The other thing."
"Not everyone will appreciate my temper and sharp mouth?"
"That's the one. You put Eduardo on your back."
"I don't regret what I did," I admitted, letting him see the honesty in my eyes. "I fought for my sister. Is that a crime?"
Eduardo was a few years older than my father, and Cara was eighteen. Anger had washed over me, and I acted upon it.
Don't do anything stupid.
I did something stupid. I slapped a mafia don; one who was notorious for holding grudges, but he deserved it. He was a bloody pervert, and I wouldn't let him ruin Cara's chance at living a life away from the Family.
"You know damn well it isn't."
"So, why are you mad at me?"
Nicholas lowered his head, chuckling to himself before he raised his head. "I am not mad at you because of what you did. I'm mad because you don't know when to stop. Maybe, just maybe, if you'd kept quiet after slapping him, I could have salvaged the situation."
"I know I fucked up by slapping Eduardo tonight, but as I said earlier, I am not sorry. I do agree with you, though. Things went too far, and I didn't stop myself before then. Eduardo, on the other hand, got what he deserved."
Nicholas shook his head at me. "You're not gonna budge on that, are you?"
"No. And don't think I've forgotten about what you did. You could have saved Cara, but you chose not to."
Nothing happened after I took Cara away, and I wasn't delusional enough to think they were terrified I'd slap them like I did Eduardo. It was all because of Nicholas.
"It's not as easy as you think it to be. Eduardo will retaliate, and it will not be against you alone."
"What do you mean?"
"Family business."
That didn't sound good. "Is it going to affect the lives of your family?"
He didn't have to respond. His eyes said it all. This was why he'd been reluctant to do anything to help Cara. He had his family to worry about, and one little decision - in my case, a decision made in anger - could trigger a war between two Families. A war that would endanger the lives of his uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, and nieces.
Guilt enveloped me. God, his little nephews, and nieces.
Knowing how a despicable person Eduardo was, he'd probably been thinking of a way to start a war between the Five Families. I'd given him access to Nicholas's family, and in our world, he had a justified reason for coming after Nicholas.
"This is more than me slapping Eduardo, isn't it?"
"Eduardo has been poking at everyone, yes."
"And slapping him gave him all the ammunition he needed against you."
"You catch on fast. Little advice. Don't put your hands on Fabiano. You can't escape that one. Not even if you're bearing my family's name."
He tried to pull away, but I grabbed his hand, holding him in place.
"Can Cara stay?" I asked. "I know I didn't ask this at the party, but I want her to. She has nowhere else to go. She's only safe here."
"Yes, Giselle. Cara can stay. Is that all?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"You can let me go now," he said, with a pointed look at my hand still holding his.
"Uh?"
"You said that was all, didn't you? I have shit to sort out." He raised a brow at me. "Unless there's more you wanted to talk about?"
"Yes. I mean no. No! I'm done talking. I swear I'm not crazy," I added when a confused look crossed his face. "Fuck, I'm messing this up," I mumbled to myself.
Before I could overthink my actions, I grabbed his face in my hand, pulling his head down before pressing my lips against his.
I half expected him to break the kiss and send me out of his office, but a second had barely passed before he grabbed my waist, pulling my body against his as he devoured my lips.
I didn't know what I'd been expecting when we finally shared our first kiss. This hadn't been a part of my plan when I walked into his office, but I couldn't help myself. The thought arose, and I went with the flow. It was proving to be one of the best decisions I'd ever made in my life.
Hell, I hadn't been expecting him to kiss me back, but this was more intoxicating and consuming than a kiss had the right to be.
I ran my hand through his silky, dark locks, pulling his chest against mine with my other hand. He quickly took control of the kiss, slanting my head to the side to deepen the kiss.
His lips were warm and firm at the same time, while his hands wandered up my torso. His thumbs teased my nipples through my dress, driving me wilder by the minute.
Just as quickly as it started, the kiss ended when Nicholas pulled away from me, lowering himself back into his chair.
"Go to your room, Giselle. I'm done."
He was done? I sat on his desk with my legs still parted, staring at him dumbfounded, my brain still clouded with lust.
"You're done?" I asked to make sure I heard him right.
"Yes," he replied, making sure he didn't make eye contact with me. "Just go."
"No."
Apparently, the voice in my head that told me to kiss him wasn't done tonight, and perhaps, if my lust-addled brain wasn't in charge right now, I'd fight against what I was about to do.
But as I said, lust was in control, and I had zero fight in me.
クリエイターの想い 
_s_barbie
_s_barbie I've been unwell for some days, hence the pause in updates. Not a hundred percent yet, but I'm already working on future chapters. Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote <3
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