Chapter six

I have made my way to the bar while Arturo whispers away to his goons, the bartender and tequila have quickly become my best friends. I was guzzling it down by the double now, it used to burn like hell but that quickly faded into numbness.

“Un altru.” My hand flings out when the bartender is waltzing pass. He seems American, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and he keeps feeding me tequila because he is hoping to get something out of this but unfortunately, he has the devil glaring daggers at him the moment he poured the first shot.

I am just too drunk to say anything.

“I told you pretty girl, I don’t know what you’re saying.” I lift my drink lazily and he smiles before pouring the brown liquid into my glass. “What language is that? Spanish?” the giggle is it from the alcohol or it is to piss Arturo off, I can’t tell anymore. But If I was to be to marry against my will. He was going to have to work for it, this was not going to be easy.

“It is Corsican, I was Cuban.” I almost struggle speaking, and it takes me a while to get it out, I am silently hoping he will leave so I can wallow in peace without having to deal with whatever tantrum Arturo will throw later.

But to my dismay the bartender smiles wider and leans closer, I would lean back If I were not afraid of toppling over onto the floor.

“Was? What are you now?” his blue eyes shimmer in the dim lighting of the bar, I scoff and look in the direction that had been sending a burning gaze my way the past hour and a half. “I am nobody.”

Arturo’s eyes are rumbling with anger and yet curiosity, one of his goons is laughing loudly in his ear yet his eyes are trained on me, I tap the rim of my glass and the tender does not hesitate to pour another dangerously large shot.

The same time I put the glass to my lips, Arturo turns to the goon that is not seriously paying attention to what he is saying, then shockingly all five of their heads turn towards me and the bartenders that is still obliviously close.

It is like watching a den of lions plots against a baby gazelle and when I look at the bar tender again, I am sent into a fit of giggles he mistakes for flirting and laughs too. From my side view, the lions rise to full stature.

So, I do the logical thing, I scurry into the bathroom.

Arturo does not even hesitate to follow me into the bathroom, the door barely closes before he barges through. “Turo this is the ladies room.” my voice drops to a whisper, “You are not a lady.” this alone throws me into another fit of giggles. Arturo’s face blurs into two.

“Fiore, sarai la mia morte.” my eyes fly skyward and I attempt to push my mane back. “I don’t understand Italian, you scimitu.” I try to lean against the sink to ease the dizziness in my head, but I stumble, and Arturo is quick to catch me. Large arms rung around my waist. The feeling from earlier slides back into the pit of my stomach, Armani cologne invades my space and increases the lightness in my head.

“Well, I don’t speak Cuban, or whatever that is.” Squeezing my eyes shut helps nothing to ease my forming headache.

“I promise to stick to English if you do.” My drunken state has tossed me back eight years and my pinky in front of Arturo’s face, determined to seal this deal I grasp is large hand in my own and wrap my pinky around his.

“Deal, Fiore. But I’m still going to have to kill that bartender.” “He didn’t do anything.”

“You still don’t understand, you belong to me, I do not share.”

A frown is etched into my face as I am tugged from the bathroom, a once busy bar now empties except for a few blood splatters on a broken beer bottle on the counter and I am forced to swallow my vomit.

“Do you want to get married? Or is this another power move?” I am unable to filter anything, Arturo is weaving through traffic while my mind is still mulling over the last three days. It was like a puzzle missing a piece that everyone is hiding and helping me look for it. “I feel like I am going crazy, I was begging my father to let me go. To live a life beyond the organization, I am the youngest of two boys. He has an heir and a backup, I am unnecessary.” The worlds tumble out and it is like trying to catch water with a bag full of holes.

“I suppose that’s why it was so easy to sell me, I am nobody. I belong to the highest bidder, so I am asking. Is this what you want, Arturo?” I am clearly here as a power move, to what? I was not sure.

“You’ve been drinking all night; it’s best you just rest Avery.” I am dismissed and the ride is silent the rest of the way.