War of A Rose

War of a Rose • Chapter 6

Gabriele

Women paraded themselves around the room. Some were dancing with each other, and some to themselves. Some were drinking, and others stood quiet. All of them worked towards the same goal. They were trying to get my attention, and I would give it to them. Just not in the way they desired.

I wouldn't make them feel special or loved. These women weren't anything more than a quick fuck. A way to relieve the stress of my day. Liliana was the only woman who had piqued my interest in a long time, and she wasn't even here. Yet I couldn't shake her big brown eyes from my mind.

I imagined which girl she would be in this room. If she would be one of the ones who danced or the silent flirtatious ones who stood innocently waiting for a man to approach them. Those brown eyes would have been innocent, but her body couldn't help but sway to the music. After keeping an eye on her for weeks at a time, I've seen the way her entire demeanor shifts when music fills her veins. I watched her in the clubs back in the city. Whenever she had a job, I would accompany her.

Aside from our men keeping tabs on her, I've not seen her since we left New York. Our last encounter was definitely one to remember. It was a day before my flight, and Lia asked me to pay a visit to Liliana's apartment.

It had been a week since her last job, and my cousin wanted someone to watch her when she wasn't working. Usually, it would have been one of the lower-ranked men, but Lia asked me to stop by and ensure there wasn't anything going on.

I hadn't planned on speaking to Liliana. She wasn't even supposed to know I was there, but she had just returned from the market with her groceries.

I turned my back to her as she passed me on the street. When I thought I was safe after she passed me, she whipped back around, "Gabriele?"

I rolled my eyes while turning to the blonde. "Liliana," I mirrored her surprised tone.

"Why are you outside my apartment?" She shifted the bags in her hands.

"It's nothing that pertains to you." Without meaning to, my tone came out harsh. Not that I was worried about hurting her feelings, but I hadn't meant to sound so rude.

Her brown eyes shifted, and once more, she adjusted the large brown bags. "Okay, Gabriele."

"Well, are you going to help a girl out or not? Didn't your mother raise you to be an honorable man?" I knew her words were to poke fun at me, but she didn't know who I was or that it wasn't my mother who raised me but my aunt, Rosalia's mother. She was the only mother I had known since I was a boy.

Liliana spoke with no mind sometimes, and if she weren't careful, it would get her in trouble. Surprisingly, her thoughtlessness didn't seem to bug me. She had a pretty face, and that was enough to keep me from caring too much about the words coming out of her pretty little mouth. I knew she didn't mean to offend me. Not everyone in this society would take the time to notice or care about that, though.

Without saying anything else, I take both bags from her and follow her upstairs to her apartment. It was small but nice and well-furnished. Of course, all thanks to Rosaelia. I noticed that she didn't do much to decorate it with her own personal touches. It looked exactly the same as it did when Rosaelia moved her in.

"The table is fine," Liliana motioned toward the small coffee table in the center of the room. At her request, I set the bags on the white table and made my way to the exit. Her voice called out after me, "That's it? No coffee or anything?" I stood in my place. I was completely taken off guard. Was she offering to get coffee together? Before I could even respond, she shot her hands up, "Oh, not as a date!" Heat spread across her cheeks, and a loose strand of her blonde hair fell free from the twist clipped at the back of her head, framing her beautiful face perfectly.