Octavius

xxxi

FINLEY

Octavius Gevonese was a menace to society, and teenage girls all over the world. Tall, elegant, eye-opening and unattainable to others. Not to mention, he ruled over New York with an iron fist.

        The mere whisper of his name was like lethal poison that burned through the hearts of millions. Penetrating, and clear amber eyes that made grown men weep, and women burned with seduction. Yet I only found comfort in his arms. I only found love.

        Living with Octavius proved more difficult than I had originally thought. He was always busy. Talking on the phone in Italian, traveling with Fabiano every week but he always made time for me. Always. Every night he walked through the door, he always gave me his immediate undivided attention.

Sweeping me into his strong arms, and planting a kiss on my lips, and listened to my rambling about the day.

        And in the night, he possessed my body with his gentle touches, and shattering kisses, focusing on a new body part to worship.

I wasn't the best cook... I was horrible at anything that required the stove and Octavius couldn't create a decent meal as well without the help of Fabiano. He was Octavius' personal cook, and chauffeur.

        We quickly settled into a pattern of takeouts for dinner, choosing a cheesy Disney movie to watch and I would often fall asleep in his arms halfway through the movie.

He didn't mind. He never minded my destructive bathroom habits: the fact that I forget to flush every time, I left the bathroom door open when I was tinkling, and he was constantly finding pieces of my hair down the drain and around the sink.

        He never complained, only cleaned up after me.

        Sometimes it was hard to believe that such a beautiful, crudely man belonged to me—that he loved me despite my past... despite everything. That he didn't want anyone else but me and then I realized I didn't care, he was mine, and I didn't want to compete with anyone. Ever.

"You're terrible at this, little boss," Cosimo chuckled deeply, and I passed him my bad hand of poker cards. Cosimo, Beastie and I had been playing poker for the past thirty minutes to pass the time yet I was terrible at poker even for a beginner.

        "I'm sorry." I frowned, anxiously twisting my fingers. I had often watched Octavius play with others, peeking from the comfort of his arms but he was terrifyingly exceptional at poker, sparing no mercy to others.

        A small pout settled on my lips as I shoved a twenty dollar bill into Cosmio's prosthetic hand. "Ah, come on. Don't give me that look. Beast and I went easy on you. Imagine playing Silvio, I doubt he'll have any mercy."

        Cosimo placed the twenty dollar bill with the rest of my money I had willingly gave him.

        My curious gaze flickered over to where Silvio was sitting on the couch, flipping through the inky pages of the book he had been reading for the past hour.

        Whenever Octavius was out of town, each of the guys had to watch—babysit me, and it was Silvio's night to babysit me but Cosimo and Beastie offered to hang out with me as well.