Raphael had been alerted by the beeping noises. The control for the motion sensors was an app, installed on one of his cellphones, which continued to beep noisily in the glove box. Someone was snooping around in his quarters. Giovanni and Dante, his right-hand men, turned to him from the front seat, a knowing glint in their eyes. "Should I bring the phone, Capitan" Dante asked, while Giovanni returned his eyes to the road.
"No!" Raphael answered, his eyes shifted to Giovanni. "Turn the car around, take me back home. I want to find out who dares to enter my room"
"Si Capitan" Giovanni said, and made a swerve, turning the car around.
His room was off limits to everyone in the house, and none of his men and staff would dare to snoop around his room. Even the maids clean the room only when he is around to watch them, and not in his absence. He had a good idea who the snooper must be, Elena Smith. He grinned softly, his thumb tracing his lips carefully as he thought. She must be trying to find something to use against him. He certainly hadn't been wrong to conclude her last outing involved her boyfriend and the FBI agent, Barry Moore.
The cellphone beeped again, and he recognized the customized tone of the motion sensors of his secret room. Despite being aware she was closer to his secrets than ever, he remained undisturbed. He reclined on his seat. But how had she found the secret room so quickly? It had been creatively concealed in his closet. He smirked, his thoughts shifting completely to her, while he traced his lips gently with his thumb. He wasn't wrong about her, she was the perfect fit to be his woman, to be the mother of his children. She was daring, courageous and smart. He would make good use of Harry's debt, he grinned. She was just the perfect collateral.
Giovanni's thick voice intruded his thoughts. "Capitan, we are home" he announced.
Raphael dropped from the car, walking down the cobbled walkway to the house. He went up the elevator to his room, expecting to find Elena, snooping around. His eyes lit up a little in surprise, as he found Luca instead in his secret room. The younger boy was standing before the safe that held many secrets that could bring him down.
"What are you doing here" he asked, quelling the surprise in his eyes, wearing a cold demeanor. He ambled carefully into the room, looking around carefully, calculatedly checking the room over, trying to figure out where else in the room, Elena had been. He wasn't fooled, Luca wouldn't dare intrude into his room, not when he was well aware of the motion sensors. He was covering up for Elena again, as he had done days ago. The question was why! Why was he covering up for her?
"I was trying to borrow a wristwatch for a date when I accidentally unlocked the door to this room and curiously slipped in", Luca responded confidently. Another person and a similar scenario, and Raphael would have ordered the person to be given a treat of his men's knuckles, beaten to a complete pulp, and if unlucky, then killed. But he couldn't hurt Luca. He'd sworn to Katrina not to.
Raphael pretended to think for a minute, then he waved Luca to leave the room. He walked out of the room himself after, taking the elevator to Elena's room. He pushed the door to find Harry, conversing with Elena. His soon-to-be father-in-law grudgingly greeted "El Capitan", then disappeared from the room.
Elena raised her head to him, attacking him with her azure blue eyes. Her nostrils flared in defiance. "What is it this time, Mr. Mafia" she attacked.
"Nothing important" he responded. "I just came to check on my bride. That isn't an offense, I suppose", he teased her. He tried to let his eyes stay on her face, but they unconsciously strayed to her bust, and shifted to appreciate the silhouette of the near hourglass figure her gown tried to bury. The golden skin of her long elegant legs sticking from the gown preyed on his mind. He found it a bit hard to concentrate. She was the most alluring and beautiful woman he had ever seen. Wild thoughts ran through his mind just staring at her. He pulled his eyes away before she could catch him staring. He reverted them to rest solely on her face, against every fiber in his body, and the urge to look down and stare more at her exposed thighs.
"I see you are still trapped in your delusions. No wedding will be happening between you and me. I would rather give suicide a chance than marry you" she challenged. That was another thing he loved about her, her defiance, her courage to talk back at him when no one else would.
He walked closer towards her, and she receded backwards, moving away from him. He traced his lips carefully, grinning wryly. His eyes toured every inch of her face, not daring to drop lower. He walked forward and she retreated from him. He continued until he deliberately led her to the nearest wall. She was back against it before she realized she had been played. He trapped her between his towering bulk and the wall, the heat between them was enough to have a firefighter on his toes. He wanted to grab her in his arms and kiss her to his heart's content, but he controlled himself, he wouldn't let her know she had so much effect on him. Of what use is a prey that is aware of its hunter's desperation?
"You won't dare to kill yourself, signora. Your life is mine. You are my property and I am your owner. I decide what to do with your life, not you" he said softly, tracing every contour of her beautiful face with his eyes, before losing them to the blueness of hers.
"You can't stop me from killing myself, can you?" she retorted, trembling with determination. He knew she would never attempt it, and was just trying to scare him, but he didn't understand why a part of him was scared of the idea of losing her. Her eyes roamed his face uneasily, hinting at her discomfort at their closeness.
"Yeah, Signora" he agreed, nodding his head absently. "But I could make your father go with you. I bet he would be very happy to be buried alongside his lovely daughter" he grinned.
"You devil" she yelled, her beautiful face contorting into a murderous snarl. Her hand moved fast in the air and thudded hard against his cheek, sweeping his face slightly to the side. He steered it back to her, with a sly grin. It made her more murderous. Her hand moved for his face again, but he caught it midair, and held it there. The defiance and hate in her eyes made her all the more alluring, all the more irresistible. Her wine-red symmetrical lips beckoned him to taste them again, to feel their softness beneath his.
He trapped her firmly to the wall with his body. She protested, suspecting his motive, and struggling to free herself from him, but he wouldn't let her. Then he dropped low to kiss her.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a maid stepped in. Raphael turned his head to the door, his eyes full of fire. The maid had just one glance at the scene and the murder in Raphael's eyes, and she apologized quickly and bolted out of the room. Elena seized on the opportunity to push him off, running out of the room after the maid.
Raphael fell on the bed, grinning mischievously to himself, reliving the immediate scene in his head. "Try to stay out of my quarters, and not snoop around, bride. At least, wait until our nuptial night" he called after her, now realizing the reason he was in her room in the first place.