THIRTY THREE

DAMON

“If anything,” the man called Grayson continued with his gloated talk despite the look of disbelief that rested on my face, “in whatever you do in this life, you must make sure you get laid as often as possible. Enjoy the touch of women as much as you can, my dear boy!” My back arched slightly as he slapped my shoulder, delight on his face. “Women are created for our pleasure.”

As I watched his lips capture the morsel of food he brought to his mouth, the disgust within me appeared on my face.

Why would anyone have such a view about women? Grayson sounded happy to say that women are his playthings. He didn’t even regard Selena’s presence at the table. She is a woman after all.

Without turning, I tried to decipher Selena’s reaction to Grayson’s ridiculous words. She sat very still and all that came from her side was the clanking sound of cutlery meeting the hard surface of a plate.

“Mr. Grayson…” I had no intention to let him get away with his reckless view of women. “I have to call bullshit on your statement.”

“What?” The man wore surprise on his face instantly. It was as though he didn’t expect me to retort or challenge him. His upper lip curled in an ugly manner as he asked, “Bullshit? Oh, you must be one of those virgin boys who have not experienced a real fuck.” His ridiculous deduction was followed by deep laughter.

“Women…” I sat up properly. That posture was meant to give me some kind of confidence as I proceeded to reply to the tough Mafia Don who was not smiling widely at me anymore. “… are as human as men are. They are not our playthings. They have lives of their own. They get to make choices of their own. If by chance one of them makes the decision to stay around men like you, you have to respect that decision. If they allow you to rough them up during sex, respect them regardless. You should know your limit, Mr. Grayson, you are not a god in any way.”

“What?” Grayson exclaimed, his nostrils visibly flaring as his forehead deepened with a frown. “How dare you? Do you know who you are talking to?”

“Grayson…” It was Selena’s father that spoke. “You went too far with your comment. The boy is right. Everyone, regardless of their gender or their life circumstances is to be respected.”

“Respect?” Grayson laughed bitterly as he got up slowly, his fists formed in my view. “We are Mafia Dons, we do not respect anyone,” he said, his teeth gritted as he stared at Mr. Danniman.

“So,” the older man who I could still picture fucking Camilla put down the fork in his hold, “are you trying to say that you don’t respect me?”

“I-”

“Oh. I guess you don’t.” Mr. Danniman reached for a napkin and gently patted the sides of his mouth, a hint of elegance in his action. Then, his pale face wore the look of dread as he pinned his gaze on Grayson, “Seeing how you find it easy to speak ill of my daughter’s gender, you must indeed lack that respect. I invited you into this mansion for a dinner party but you chose to ridicule my daughter, that’s how I have decided to interpret your words.”

“When did I ever mention your daughter’s name? I respect The Dangerous Dame as much as I respect you, her father.”  As I reached for the wine cup in front of me, I scoffed a bit loudly than I intended. Grayson darted his attention at me and his anger grew. “You!” He pointed at me. “You are the one that lacks respect. You spoke back to me, a man you can never be.”

I looked up at him. The man in front of me might be a Don, but the more he spoke, the more I found myself less scared of him. “Mr. Grayson, you are getting something wrong. I never want to be like you.”

“Oh! Oh, Oh!” The man chuckled deeply after seconds of daring me with his haunting gaze. “What a bastard! You sure know how to run your mouth. Dangerous Dame,” he directed his attention to Selena who had been surprisingly silent, chewing her food as though she could not hear the quarreling beside her, “is this man an example of the people you recruit? He has a foul mouth. People like him-”

As though a mini-earthquake found the roots of the long table, the furniture shook strongly for seconds. As I stared at Selena’s palms, I wondered if they felt hurt. She hit the table a bit too hard.

Slowly, with that evil look that makes me scared, on her face, she got up.

“Grayson,” she called the man, her voice hardly loud yet dreadful just like the look on her father’s face. “How dare you ruin my dinner?”

“You are-”

Her head snapped in Grayson’s direction in a rather scary way. I could liken that motion to how a possessed soul would act when it finds another soul to prey on. Even the hollow look in her eyes made her look possessed.

But I could tell that the look in her eyes was her clouded anger which was now causing her to pull at the table cloth a bit too hard.

“How dare you talk back to me?” she hollowed. “Oh, wait? You must see me as a plaything. Your plaything. You must really want to turn me into your pleasure toy, that’s why you find it easy to speak ill of my gender, in my presence! In my mansion! In my territory! Are you nuts?!”

The silence that followed her outburst was insane. Nobody could move. Not even the workers who were about to bring in the dessert. Being the closest to her, my ears picked up her heavy breathing.

My eyes twitched instantly as I sensed Grayson move gently.

“Listen…” Selena continued, her voice returning to sounding tender yet with that hint of anger. “I don’t want to ever see you in here.”

“But…” Grayson tried to argue.

“You dared to talk to my man recklessly, how dare you?” she spat. “Get out of my sight.” Grayson didn’t move. “Now!” she screamed and some men rushed toward the man and pulled him away from the table.

Wait a minute…

Did she say her man? Did she refer to me as her man?

“I knew something was going on between them,” I heard one of the men who silently watched the earlier outburst say.

Wait…

I placed my right palm against my chest. The pounding I felt made me certain that I didn’t imagine it.

But why?

Why am I feeling this way just because she called me her man? She was just talking, it’s not like she has feelings for me either. So, why is my heart betraying me and feeling things I didn’t want it to feel? Selena would soon become a distant memory once I deal with The Pretties issue. Our deal will be done by then… both deals.

And, since I don’t see Selena ever asking us to get into a serious relationship, I had finally decided to go along with my physical needs and enjoy every erotic moment we share. It was not part of the plan to feel a thud in my heart because of a simple statement she said.

“Let’s go,” I heard Selena say. As I looked up, she had her hand stretched toward me. I grabbed her hand, but my inner self was still in jeopardy.

Soon, we made our way past the stairs, and as our feet turned to the right, we walked down the corridor until we reached the last door on that floor. After I managed to calm the excitement in my chest, I closed the door behind us.

“That certainly went well,” she said sarcastically as she jumped onto the large bed that wore sheets that matched the plain colour of the walls. “That was insane, wasn’t it?” she asked me as she stretched her body until she was lying on the mattress, her back arching gently as she reached for the headboard and stretched some more until she appeared to be satisfied. Then, she took off her shoes which made thudding sounds as they hit the ground.

I was about to walk out of the room to find somewhere else to sleep when she stopped me.

“Don’t go. Stay with me,” her voice was gentle.

“We are not going to have sex, right?” I had a feeling that if she jumped on me, she would use our coitus to ease her anger and things could go wrong… I think.

Selena chuckled as she turned her head to the side so she could look at me. Her lips wore a cute smile as she said, “I just want to fall asleep with you beside me. I usually sleep with a gun underneath my pillow.”

“What?”

“I want today to be different.”

“Do-” I glared at the pillows on the bed as my throat felt a gulp. “Do you have guns there?”

“No.” She laughed. “My room is elsewhere. I just use this one sometimes.”

“Oh,” I uttered.

“Damon, come on.” Her hand patted the bed. “Let’s sleep. Tomorrow is another day that’s so close.”

Well, as long as things don’t get steamy and all we do is sleep next to each other.

While I walked toward the bed, I got rid of my shirt. Selena made an amused noise as I stayed at the edge of the bed.

I was about to put it back on when she hurriedly said, “Don’t. Leave it on.”

“You are already ogling at my chest, Selena.” I had no intention to put it back on either, so I tossed it to the end of the bed and soon after getting rid of my shoes, I was resting beside her.

“Your chest is designed in a way that pulls my attraction. You can’t blame me.” The sheets rustled as she shifted until she was facing me. I did the same.

“Are you feeling okay? Grayson was-”

“I have heard worse. Nobody believed that I would ever lead Damish Gang, so they discouraged me with their words so many times. Even my father didn’t believe in me.” She laughed gently but what I saw was different. For the first time, she wore some kind of sorrow in her eyes.

Gently, I placed my right hand on her head. She didn’t complain as I began to pat her. “You have done a great job, Selena. You have done a great job.”

Her eyes closed and suddenly, she wrapped her arm around me. I was indeed startled, so much that I didn’t know how to react at first. But, as I felt my chest thud once again, I closed my eyes as well and decided to ignore that rapid beating.

My fingers ran through her hair as I stayed still, waiting for sleep to come.

But, as I waited, I realized something.

Having Selena in my arms might make my heart beat like crazy in a way I didn’t like, but within that ruckus, my mind felt peaceful. I felt like I was in a place I could call home.

Damn…