Dead Flower

Chapter 35

We arrived in Mexico in a matter of hours before we were driven to a large villa that belonged to Gregorio. This home, unlike his Black House was colourful and funky, I assumed he incorporated a lot of the culture of Mexico into his home and I was obsessed with it. When you walked through his villa with open walls, arches, design pieces and interesting choices of furniture, I felt like I was in heaven. It was a breath of fresh air to be some place different. 

When we got to Mexico, the sun was still up but it was beginning to set so it was close to the alleged date that we were going to have. I smiled at my glam squad that had been waiting for me in the room when I had arrived. They didn’t give anything away, which they never do but they got me dressed in a black dress with spaghetti straps and a plunging neckline. It had multiple layered fringes that moved with the wind or the slightest movement. They completed the look with black disco Tom Ford heels and left my hair loose for the night as I requested. My make-up was kept light yet bright. I had on lots of highlight and my lashes were made dramatic and they completed the look with a light pink lip gloss. 

I touched Daisy’s earrings again, always so conscious of them now that they had listening devices in them that would pick up and record everything that they heard. Which was really bad because I was afraid to toot or even go to the toilet since I don’t want to make things awkward for them and awkward for me. My team already knew not to touch my ears because I had explained only once how important Daisy’s earrings were to me and they respected me enough to never touch them. 

They never stay long enough for me to thank them. As soon as one of them is done with their task, they leave the room silently and disappear into the night, until I’m left alone and I’m looking at my reflection in the mirror. I twirled because I loved the way the dress moved with the breeze and looked like organized chaos. I looked down at my heels, taking slow struts in them because I had never worn heels like this before but this might become my new favourite style of shoe. 

I looked around the expansive dressing room and walk in closet that was adjoined to Gregorio’s master bedroom. The clothes in here were all my size and it was the style of clothing that I preferred and loved. I didn’t find it weird because I knew that Gregorio already knew a lot about me. I realised that I couldn’t stand here forever so I walked out of my dressing room and made my way into the master bedroom. I found Gregorio waiting for me on the bed and I was surprised because it’s always the opposite. 

As always he looked like a model as he casually sat on the edge of the bed, smoking pipe with a floral army green suit that looked dangerously sexy and fashionable from him. He had on a white shirt underneath and the first few buttons were undone to reveal a peak of his chest. His eyes which had been focused on the pipe, looked up at me and over me the same way that I was checking him out. I saw his eyes drink in my figure and the way that I was dressed which was very sexy because the dress reached above my mid-thigh and when I moved, the dress raised and if I wasn’t careful, it would reveal what was hidden beneath the dress. 

“Have I kept you waiting too long?” I asked him as I cocked my hip naturally and tilted my head. He stood from the bed, the pipe to the corner of his lips as he made his way to me. I looked up at him as he approached me. He held out his hand for me to place mine into and I gently placed my right hand into his large left hand. He suddenly pulled me close to him and I stumbled, letting out a surprised yelp before his hands found their way to my waist and held me even closer. I placed my hands on his chest, enjoying the feel of his muscular chest beneath my fingertips. 

He was silent, his eyes just peering into mine before he leaned down and kissed me. My eyes naturally closed as I enjoyed the feel of his lips on mine and how it felt like it had been forever since we kissed and had some time alone. We don’t ever get to just be the two of us and right now, it felt good to just be in his presence and drink him. I smiled against his lips as he pulled away from me and straightened up. I was holding onto his hand as he began to lead us out of the room. “where are we going?” I asked him as we walked through his villa that was an impressive size and I loved everything that I saw. His courtyard was in his living room and we could so clearly see the night sky from inside his home. A team of boys and girls could even play soccer in the courtyard and it would be more than enough space without fear for windows breaking or damaging interior furniture.

“We’re going to have dinner, and after that we’re going dancing.”

I couldn’t help my grin as I tried to keep up with Gregorio as we walked through the home, making our way to the big wooden doors with hand carved engravings in them, “we’re going dancing?” I asked in pure excitement as the doors were pushed open for us and at the end of the driveway were the usual convoy of Escalades and the car that we would be riding in, which today was a red Rolls Royce Cullinan. 

“Sì, il mio fiore,” Gregorio agreed as we approached the car, and the chauffeur held the door wide open for us to enter. Gregorio stepped aside and let me enter the car. I scooted across the seat to give Gregorio space as he entered the car and the door was closed behind him. I crossed my legs as I struggled to stay put in my seat. 

“I love dancing,” I told him because I did love to dance. It didn’t have to be a specific culture or anything of that sort, just any kind of dancing had me going. I would like to think that I’m a terrific dancer but I can confidently say that I’m an enthusiastic dancer. I’m no Teyana Taylor or Ciara, but I have a good move or two that I will always somehow throw into the mix. I looked at Gregorio, wondering why his pipe smelled so strange, “what are you smoking?” he was already looking at me. 

He took the pipe out of his mouth and handed it to me. I looked at it before I took it from his hands and my fingers tingled as they touched his. I looked over the dark red wood thick pipe and marvelled at its beauty and perfection and how smooth it felt. “try it.”

“Oh no, I don’t smoke.”

“Try,” Gregorio said, his voice giving no room for disagreement and I hesitantly brought the pipe to my lips. I gave him another hesitant look before I put it to my lips and took a short pull. I exhaled a non-existent cloud of smoke before I laughed at how ridiculous and pathetic that had been. 

“Okay, let me try a little more,” I tried to redeem my cool girl points and went on to smoke it again and this time I inhaled a little bit more than I did the previous time and I suddenly struggled to breathe because something felt like it had gotten caught in my chest and I wheezed, coughing. I felt Gregorio soothingly rub my back as I finally regained control and I looked at him incredulously, “what is this?”

“Do it one more time, and I’ll tell you,” he said with a straight face, his black eyes watching me. I nodded my head and this time it was a lot easier and it went down easier before I exhaled and passed it back to him. It didn’t taste like tobacco, so I wanted to know. I looked at him as he put the pipe back between his lips and he smirked, “that was marijuana,” he said with a light chuckle. 

“Oh no. Are you serious?” I asked in panic as I slapped his bicep, upset that he made me do drugs. What if I became a drug addict because of this? There’s no where to go but down now. 

He didn't respond, just chuckled and continued his smoking as I huffed and puffed and waited for the inevitable high.