XXXXIII

I'm finally accepting the fact that I would do anything for Lana.

And I mean anything.

I never thought another woman could even come as close in importance as my mother, but she has taken me by surprise a bit. As much as I hate to admit it.

My eyes study her face as she ties her hair in a tight ponytail, never straying from her for more than a second.

She takes a step away from me, venturing deeper into the night, as I look down to check the time on my watch. 12:14 am to be exact. It's already past midnight, and we have barely commenced our journey back to New York.

We need to hurry the fuck up. This day has already been hell. First of all, I scarper from my now thug bombarded club, which was a shitty idea considering they want nothing more than to take whats mine. I mean, I basically just handed my property over to them!

Lana sighs noisily, as if she can read my choleric mind. She gazes at me and rests her head on the wall for a moment. "You good?" I ask, knowing its unlikely for her to answer with anything but yes. She has barely ever let her guard down for me, and the times she does, are well... rare.

"I'm fine. I just want to go home, that's all." She debriefs.

I nod, understanding her, but don't move as the same persisting question I have had all night comes back to me.

"You never really gave me a straight answer about why you came out her in the first place. I know you better than to believe your bullshit. You didn't just come here for 'business', did you?" I question, squinting my eyes suspiciously as I wait for an answer.

She open her mouth, then retreats, before opening it again.

She eventually walks towards me, certainty scorching each individual step, before stopping just inches from me. She looks down for a second to gather her thoughts as I begin to feel the everlasting tension brewing between us.

"No." She starts.

"No what?" I ask impatiently, watching as her hand traces up my arm.

I grab hold of her waist and move with her into an alley, obscuring us from any nearby cars, or potential threats.

"No. I didn't come here just for business. I came here because I wanted to see you."

My chest explodes. The intervals of silence are too much, I'm too hot, too needy. She loosens my tie just slightly, her breath burning on my neck.

She leans up, whispers. "I can't stop thinking about the way you fucked me in that car." I pull her forward, feeling my erection grow and dig into her.

I can't take this anymore.

Suddenly, before I am about to absolutely assault her body with kisses, the honk of a car sounds. She lets go of me and darts out of the alley before I can even recover from what she has just said.

She's hot when shes angry, and right now I want nothing more than her, but I also want to protect her, which means getting her home safely. I follow her lead, careful not to be discovered, and attempt to scout out the car. My eyes barely catch sight of any light. No cars are nearby.

"Nothing. Let's just take the helicopter back." She suggests. I catch up to her. "You sure you want that? A helicopter isn't exactly discreet."

She shrugs. "Who cares if its secrete or not. It makes a statement, and we will be able to get out of here quickly."

I realise theres no point talking any sense into her. When she has her mind made up, thats that, nothings changing it.

I think back to my club one last time, knowing that by now it has probably been ransacked to the core. It's always been one of my top priorities, but right now I have something bigger to take care of.

She yells into her phone. "You think I care if you've had a long day?" She laughs, "You don't get paid to be fucking lazy, so come and pick us up now."

God, she's fiery. It burns through her.

"Thank you." She says sarcastically, before putting the phone down. "Sounds like that went well." I chuckle.

She exhales as she tightens her grip around her phone. "You're not funny" She remarks, keeping her guard up.

She fights with herself for a little while before the booming roar of the helicopter sounds from above us. I take her hand and pull her with me until we are halfway up the ladder leading to the roof.

She shivers in the cold, the clothes she has on barely providing any warmth.

He hand finds its way down her corset, attempting to salvage the now ruined material encasing her. I watch hungry-eyed, not even the striking lights of the helicopter forcing them off her.

She turns around without looking at me, and a strange feeling envelopes me - more of disappointment than anything.

"What are you playing at?" She snaps, looking down at me from the helicopter like I'm completely out of it. Her eyes flinch as I take off my jacket and step up to meet her, twisting her body so it's away from the door.

The helicopter takes off at an alarming speed, and my exhaustion begins to take over. My back thrusts against the wall and I slump down next to her.

"Here." I say, holding out my jacket knowing I should've offered sooner. "No it's fine, yo-"

"Take the damn jacket, Lana. It's not a marriage proposal." I speak, gritting my teeth.

She takes it, and I feel her eyes constantly on me as I stare ahead.

"You know I still think about the time you proposed to me." She finally speaks up, just as I am getting lost in the lights of the city.

"Shut up." I say, jokingly, still captivated by the lights. The last time I was up here, the city was engulfed in flames, but it seems as if the life has been restored.

"No I'm serious." She says quietly.

I don't reply as I feel her body up close against mine. Its too much, the space is too small. I don't know how much longer I can take this.

My mind thinks back to how Luca almost ruined me. And if it wasn't for her, I most likely wouldn't have been here to get my revenge. I obsess over revenge, more than anything. The idiots who say two wrongs don't make a right, just don't understand how good payback feels.

It feels so good I crave it.

After Luca died, I thought life was replenished, but now I find out its not. And theres clearly a bigger issue looming. This isn't about a silly group of people trying to expel our mafia, it's something much bigger, much starker.

Much dirtier.

Luca was just a play piece in this game, but now we have to find the root of all this violence, and use brute force to eradicate them for good.

We have been up here for all of five minutes, but I am so out of it today, and time is dilatory.

Lana exhales, her breath hot on my neck.

I finally heave my eyes from the lambent window, and instead turn to my side, where I take notice of Lana sleeping. She looks so vulnerable, whether that's because shes half naked or just simply fucking exhausted. It's rare to see her like this.

Every time I'm with her I'm either fucking her or fighting her.

Well, actually, thats's not necessarily true. Lately we have grown... strangely close. I didn't know how I felt about it until right this moment.

And right now I want more.

She stirs around in her sleep, her head pressed against the backing of the helicopter. I call out to the pilot "How long left?"

"We should be back at around 1" He calls back. I look at my watch, which tells me all I need to know. We have around five minutes left.

Will I be the one to put her to bed?

The question stays just that in my mind, as I refuse to answer it.

Fuck me, the amount of assumptions that will be made if anyone catches me taking her into her bedroom. And I can't just take her back to mine, that would be even worse for the both of us.

All I know is that I'm absolutely not waking her up. She's too feisty and will probably hold a gun to my throat - she's clearly capable. I look down at her once more, staring at her slightly parted lips, watching as her chest rises and falls every time she take a breath.

Hopefully she will wake up before we arrive.

Hopefully.

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