Of Mobsters and Men

Chapter 30

Raelyn

"It was nice spending the day with you, Raelyn. I even learned a few things." Caterina said then giggled at the end. "I need to go home now, Stefano should be coming anytime soon." She said grabbing her purse. She hugged me before waving and leaving through the door.

Why was it so urgent for Caterina to go home?

She was acting more strange the longer we were in this house. Her bruise also kept reappearing in my head. It couldn't have been an innocent accident. I'll ask her about it when I get the chance.

One hour turned into two hours, then three. It was almost midnight and there was still no sure sign of the man that was supposed to be taking me out tonight. Caterina told me Stefano would be coming soon but I guess there was a change of plans I wasn't aware of.

When it was almost one in the morning, I decided to undress and wipe off my makeup. I was becoming tired and obviously Stefano had forgotten he was taking me out or was out of his right mind. I didn't feel like going out anyway. I just felt like snooping around the house and finding other interesting things to dig my nose in. I needed to remind myself to get new pajamas. These scanty dresses and robes did nothing to conceal my body and I preferred comfort.

I sat at the side of the bed Stefano slept on. I sniffed his pillow that smelled of his addicting cologne before pulling open his drawer. At this point I was just bored and looking for something to keep me occupied. I was actually surprised to see the King James Bible sitting inside the last drawer. I wondered when he had the actual time to read it. Then again, I wondered when the last time I read mine was.

Before I could reach in and pull it out the drawer, I heard approaching footsteps from the stairs. My eyes widened and I sat up on the bed. The door opened forcefully with Stefano coming in through. My jaw almost dropped from soaking in his appearance. Strands of his hair were out of place, he had a sunken look in his eyes, and just looked not himself.

I almost couldn't recognize him. His white shirt had an abundance of blood splatter on it that was seeping through his shirt and possibly sticking to his skin. He had blood smears on one side of his face and there was a tear in his shirt from the side. Still, he looked victorious and not stirred.

"Stefano...what happened?" I asked him, gripping the sheets tight. I wanted to go up to him but he didn't look approachable this moment in time. I was even scared myself.

"Forgive me for not following through with taking you out this night." Was all he said to me as he gave me a brief glance before storming into the bathroom. He looked pissed off and angry. That shower he was about to take would do us both good. The smell of old blood would disappear and the steam would calm him.

I couldn't fall asleep with how I saw Stefano.

Stefano came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Just like always I turned my head and pretended I was occupied with something. Usually, he'd turn from whatever he was doing, to watch me step out the bathroom in hopes I didn't leave with a towel.

He said nothing to me as he slipped on boxer-briefs and got in the bed. I accidentally bit down on my bottom lip. I thought he would be rolling onto his side of the bed but instead he crawled towards my direction and towered over me.

"Are you...alright?" I asked him as calmly as I could. Instead of answering me, Stefano claimed my lips and massages his lips over mine, rather urgently. I couldn't keep up with his demand, but I at least tried.