Black Death And White Roses (1) Mafia Romance

49. In the blood

Marco

There were some gunshots, a near-death experience, another discussion with Lorenzo that didn't sit so well, and other few unpleasant things but also some nice ones, like the fact that for a change Roxi is smiling lightly when waking up.

"I still don't possess pyjamas," she whispers, pressing her body closer to mine.

"I don't think you are cold. It's twenty-eight degrees in here," I answer and caress the dishevelled hair from her face away to kiss her forehead.

"No..."

"Then I don't see anybody in this room minding. I am joking, we can get some; I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"I don't. Maybe a bit shy. I have told you, it's been almost five years  since I had, as the psychologist lady calls it, a voluntary sexual interaction with anybody."

"Ah, Pebbles..." I sigh, leaning forward and kissing her gently on the lips.

"What?"

"I feel like saying a lot of cheesy cliches, that just aren't viable."

"Like what? Amuse me," she says and smiles brightly, with that smile of hers that appears when she doesn't take life too seriously and that I haven't seen lately.

"Ok, like, 'oh don't worry amore, we are going to make up for all the lost time', or 'you are gorgeous, why didn't the men around you notice you?'. But well, we won't, and the men did actually notice you, they were all just a real disgrace to mankind and I am sorry you met most of them."

"Oh, are you not a poet," she answers stretching out her tongue.

"I can be. Now I was just being honest."

"Come on, they weren't all awful."

"Oh, don't get me started. The only one who is actually a decent human being is your friend from the construction troupe."

"Damian?"

"Yes."

"He thinks you are okay too, after the initial reluctance passed. At first, he thought you were presumptuous and preppy, and he didn't want to leave me alone with you."

"See. Good friend."

"So today we go to that party?" she asks a bit lost in thought. 

"Yes, after therapy. Any preference for a dress? "

"No, you can choose. You have remarkably good taste for a non-gay guy."

It's so horrible and dangerous because I could actually get used to this life. And it's so tempting to ask her to stay with me but I am aware of how selfish that would be. And what else, Marco? You just don't want to hear the answer, right?
No, I sure as hell don't...

Lorenzo doesn't leave me out of sight. That means bodyguards follow me around all day long. I told him I am really, and I mean really, hard to kill when I am actually expecting a blow, like now. What I mean is that I have learned my lesson. But regardless, he doesn't want to hear of anything. He even insisted on Roxi having bodyguards while we were still lovers just to keep me out of any possible whiff of trouble and danger.

Speaking of the devil, I see his name on the phone screen while waiting for Roxi to finish her therapy session.

"Pronto."

"Boy, your friend Alexei's bodyguard just dropped by and delivered a package from the east."

"Yuri? Big, bald?"

"Yes."

"And what did you do with the 'package'?"

"Put it down in the basement to cool down. It's waiting for you."