Eros: A Game Of Wits (A Mafia Novel)

37. A Possible Ally

Hello, my beautiful people!

I know it's been a while and I'm grateful to all of you still being here!

I won't rant about why this update took ages, just gonna say that I had an operation and for the first month or so I was left to recover. Now I'm coming in strong!

So here goes!

***

The sun wasn't even peeking from its hiding place when she fled the house; her house. She wasn't about to leave in the dead of night, but she wouldn't chance yet another run-in with this bipolar man. She has had enough of those contretemps.

Florence was ambivalent as to why he would choose to make his plans about paying her a visit known. Despite the girl's confusion, she thanked whatever high power was at play for this. At least she was given the cutting edge of knowing he was coming.

She drove her car barely at the peak of the speed limit, going against time. She wasn't about to be stopped by police but would not risk bumping into the devil himself while on his way to 'visit' her either.

She left the house in the frenzy she created yesterday searching for her passport- which she never found. Books, documents and all sorts of stuff remained on the floor in a chaotic jumble, not bothering with them at all. She couldn't deal with the emotional coercion that Jason left behind every time. So, in the end, she merely hurried upstairs, packed a few essentials, made her arrangements and went to sleep immediately.

How did it come to this?

The answer, as simple as it was, had many branches connected. One thing led to the other, that was the problem. Florence saved his life, yet Jason wouldn't trust her. He clashed with her in her own home even though she had taken care of him and offered him shelter: a stranger. Then the man somehow became protective- he regarded her in a patronizing way. But after the kiss... that's when he turned obsessive with everything concerning her. The more she shoved him away the more imperious he would become. He shoved his way into her personal life. And, finally, turned contemptuous after his encounter with her cousin.

It was partly her fault. She had allowed herself to feel at ease around him and, on rare occasions, she viewed him as she would her friend- at first, that is. One thing was for certain- he didn't want her friendship, but something else. And that something, she was not willing to give- not to him. She couldn't even regard him as a friend anymore.

It wasn't utterly because she didn't feel attracted to him but because she wasn't ready to do such a thing. The way he looked at her each time though... it was enthralling, his eyes captivating and beckoning to her to the point she would forget herself. His hazels dominant yet with a doleful glint present in them all the time- it was something that always managed to draw her in. He reminded her of a young boy pouting with sad eyes, begging for her love.

"Was that what Jason secretly craved for?" She wondered softly, her voice breaking the silence inside the vehicle.

His image became so vivid at that moment that she all but forgot she was driving.

She shook her head. She didn't really want to think of the past. Part of her refused to let go of all the times he was gentle, yes. But it did not mean she would forget the occasions when he went overboard, stepping into her personal space and assaulting her- both mentally and physically. It doesn't work that way and she would not put up with it, no matter who he was.

She was clear by now that 'no' was not in his dictionary unless he was the one speaking it. There were times he relented and times that he did not. Foul language he would not have, and denial was not an option, so what then? Avoiding all confrontation looked impossible. One way or another she would have to force her denial through that thick-skinned head of his.