Page 22 of Lourdes & the Mafia
The vicious wind whips at the silk bonnet on her head, yanking it off with invisible fingers. She gasps and reaches, but it’s already gone. Her tight coiled hair whips against her cheeks with a vengeance, and for a moment, I envy anything else that gets to touch her.
It isn’t until my magic dies and we are transported into the family dining area that sound comes back all at once. The fire crackling in the hearth, the whispers of shadows scattering away at our presence, and her every angry, beautiful breath heaving out from her chest.
I step towards the long, sleek black table and pull out a chair. The surface is lit with dozens of candles, the wax dripping pools of tears against the candelabras. The shadows cast along her brown skin seem almost romantic, yet the situation is far from that.
“Sit,” I command.
She flinches at the single word and regret immediately fills me. My intention is not to frighten her.
La vidente.
A witch of legend.
Yet she does not know her own power.
It doesn’t matter.
Soon she will.
Her chin tilts up and she glares me in the eye. She is all anger and defiance and fear. She wants to lash out at me, but I can tell a bigger part of her is intrigued with me. With us, my brothers and I.
“No,” she responds. “Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on!”
My fists tighten along the chair and I let out a slow breath. It is rare to find someone willing to challenge me, aside from Lorenzo and Kane. A smile curls my lips. I like it.
“Forgive me,” I tell her. “My name is Ramiel. You’ve already met my brothers, Lorenzo and Kane de la Morte.”
“Oh, we have,” Lorenzo pipes up, kicking out a chair for himself and plopping down in it. “Intimately.” The purr in his voice makes the woman look away from him.
Kane growls, remaining silent as he takes his own seat.
“Please.” I gesture at the chair once more. “You will be more comfortable.”
She stares warily at me, and I don’t blame her for the mistrust. Soon she will trust us. I’ll make sure of that. And if what Lorenzo and Kane tell me is true and she was stabbed before she came to be in our possession, then she has every right to fear her surroundings.
Slowly, she makes her way to the chair, her entire body trembling as she takes a seat. As soon as her bottom hits the chair, I push it in, my hands roving purposefully down the wood to graze her bare arms. I feel gooseflesh rise along her skin, see her shiver.
That brings me satisfaction. Almost as much as seeing her come did.
It’d been months, months since I’d last seen la vidente. Since I tore my way into her subconscious mind and found her hand pressed between her thighs. She’d gasped at the time and had let me curl my fingers inside her heat.
I want to do it again. She would let me if I asked, I am sure of it. Because there is one thing I know for certain and it is that she remembers everything about me.
Gradually, I pull away from her and circle the table to take my place across from her. “Now,” I say without preamble. “I would like the truth. Give this to me, and I shall give it to you in return.”
She stares at me, chewing on that plump bottom lip before she turns away to stare at a far wall. “It’s embarrassing,” she whispers.
My brows furrow together. “How?”
Her gaze snaps back to mine, and I can see a blaze of anger in her depths. Along with other things. La vidente feels deeply, it appears. She has a fire within her, one that is bursting against its cage and demanding exit, if only she’d let it.
“I was stupid,” she spits vehemently. “I should have listened to Naomi…”
“Who’s Naomi?” Lorenzo asks. “And you arenotstupid, Amore. You’re a lovely, vicious little creature.”
She coughs and turns to look at him. “That’s nice of you,” she says slowly. “Naomi is my best friend. She told me not to put an ad up on the internet, but I didn’t fucking listen.”
“Demons and whores,” Kane curses under his breath. “You aren’t making sense. Start from the beginning.”
