Our Crazy Little Thing Called Love

by Liz K. Lorde

  Ignoring his comment about my name. “If chewing on glass was a sport I’d invest every waking hour into going pro, rather than spending another second in company with the likes of you.”

  He didn’t like that. “I will remember that,” he promised, and I felt a fresh stab of fear against the bone of my breast.

  Killaine lowered his weapon and motioned to his brother with his head, indicating that he wished for him to take the bloody body of Mr. Ligotti.

  Leonardo looked to me with pained eyes, and even though he had made my miserable life a shade crazier, I didn’t think that anyone should have to go through suffering alone. We walked over together to what remained of his father, and though I couldn’t see Leonardo’s face – I could feel the heat of the room change when he surely gave a foreboding look to his brother.

  We carried the father, which no matter what he did in this life or the next, he was that much on this day. A father.

  We carried him and went out into the night with Leonardo’s men.

  CHAPTER TEN

  INTIMATE AS ANIMALS

  TABITHA

  We’d moved the body into the SUV that Leonardo’s men had taken, and though the mourning son had insisted he be alone in his car, I wasn’t about to let him be alone right now.

  The drowned rarely understood how desperately they needed air.

  “I just want to be alone,” Leonardo said in a low voice as the engines of each vehicle ran.

  I didn’t immediately respond as the cold night’s air kissed at my skin. Above us were stars, and I wondered, if for Leonardo, that there was one he would look to like I had.

  Feeling a thorn find its way against my breast, I upturned my head and looked to the sky.

  “What are you looking at? We need to leave…”

  I brought my head back down and stepped forward. It was like I’d stepped into a furnace; the whole of my body becoming entranced by the closeness in which I suddenly felt. “Nothing,” I lied in a solemn voice.

  He narrowed his eyes, and it felt for a moment that there was a metal rod unseen which connected us.

  “Please,” I intimately insisted, grabbing his hand. “Let me ride with you?”

  Leonardo blinked and then looked away from me, as if the pain were too much to withstand; perhaps he didn’t want to be seen as weak or as anything other than what a crime lord should be seen as.

  Finally, he conceded: “Okay.”

  I didn’t try to force any further conversation from him for a little while.

  It seemed like the fury had left him, or, perhaps it had hidden itself away for later. The ride went by in relative silence for a good ten to fifteen minutes, every once in a while he would call his men to make certain that everything was okay.

  “I loved him,” Leonardo said out of the blue, and I turned my head. He bared his teeth when he made a turn, probably from the wound on his shoulder.

  A beat of time passed, and then he looked to me for a moment, our eyes locking. In that spell of time, I saw the knives that surely pressed against his beating heart. He continued, “I loved them both once, but Pops? He was… he was always a good man.”

  I had to bite my tongue lest I bring up the fact that traditionally a kingpin of crime wouldn’t be considered as such.

  “Our mother would always make us go to church,” Leonardo gave a laugh that I was too familiar with. The one where you hold a bit of joy in the memory, but you do it to try and disguise all the hurt that finds you – the kind of practiced act that kept you from coming to tears.”And of course, you know, we hated it. Couldn’t stand it.”

  “You’re not alone,” I assured him with a private smile.

  “Yeah,” he said, his adam’s apple shifting. “So when we’d bitched and moaned enough,” the man sighed, and I suspected that he was having trouble thinking back on his brother and his father. “Pops would play along with us. Because we would pretend that we were too sick to go – it was all bullshit, and there were a few times we ended up actually sick and having to go anyway. But yeah, he would pretend to be sick with us, and I think it was the way that he looked at our mother. He’d give her the sweetest look and she’d curse up a storm.” There was a small, sad smile on his face now – his hands steadily working the wheel of the automobile. “Mom always said that she had to pray three times as hard when we weren’t there; complained that she’d end up alone in heaven with us good for nothings going down below.”

  “Your parents really loved you, huh.”

  “Yeah,” he reflected, a strain becoming noticeable in his voice. “I should have listened to what you said before,” the strain became tighter, and his segue sent a finger of blistering heat to my chest. “How come I—“ he stopped and sucked in a quick breath of air, and the car picked up speed. “How come I couldn’t see it coming?” He asked me so desperately he had might as well had been at an altar. Leonardo looked back and forth to me and the road; his balled hand slammed against the interior of the car and a scream resonated from the depths of his chest.

  “Leo!” I reached out to touch his shoulder, and he immediately batted my hand away.

  There was silence again for a good ten seconds, and then he apologized with detectable sincerity. “I never thought he’d do something like that,” he said in a dead sort of tone, like the station of his mind had drifted to a channel of fuzz. Pain crept through my blood just listening to the man, and it brought up a slew of bad, bad memories. “He’d really hurt me before,” Leonardo continued, “Killaine, I mean. Killaine killed what trust I – I used to respect him… there were some things that he did. He as a genius with computers.”

  The Prince of Crime let out a hard breath through his nose, “But he, he never gave away that he’d be capable—“

  “He’s a killer. A sociopath. Nobody does that… not even someone from a family like your own.”

  “So what does that make me?” He turned his head and asked with piercing conviction in his voice. He wanted a truthful answer; a remedy for the soul.

  “It should be obvious,” I chided in as polite and soft a way as I could given the grave situation. “You’re the good son.”

  There was a flash in his eyes, and he winced for just a moment before looking away. He swallowed then, and I watched his Adam’s apple move. He gripped the wheel tighter and sucked in a long breath of air, letting it out slowly in an earned composure. This was a man who needed confidence in his existence, who needed total self-control.

  This was a son robbed of what little light he had in his life, and God spare the souls of those that would oppose such a force.

  “Thanks,” he acknowledged, and I sensed that there was a good chance that he didn’t believe me. “The guy that makes you his forever will be a lucky man.”

  “Marriage was never in the cards for me, heh.”

  “Shame,” Leonardo said beneath his breath, and for a magical moment we shared a look. “You’d be good at it.”

  “I don’t think marriage is something you just be good at,” a soft laugh left my lips.

  “Still,” he said, “I suspect you’d be good at it. You don’t get to be my age in this line of work without having a strong instinct,” I could tell that as soon as the words left his lips he was already hating on himself again. He gripped the wheel tighter and we cruised along the highway in relative silence for a good five minutes.

  I hadn’t brought it up because of the events previous, but I didn’t know where we were going. Part of me had already decided, that no matter what was going to happen, that I was already going to stay with him for the night. Nobody should have to endure a pain like losing family alone, and I knew that this man was the type to not keep someone close. I could see it in his eyes when I first met him, and I could feel it just being next to him now.

  “Where are we going?” I asked quietly.

  “The only safe place that we can go right now,” he explained in a barely contained rage, wincing in pain because of his shoulder. “There’s an exclusive p
enthouse that I renovated and pay good money to keep hush-hush about; top most floor of The Riz.”

  “Never heard of it,” I replied. Books and fantasies grabbed my life more so than fancy hotels or city attractions.

  “You’ll like it,” he assured, “there’s no way in hell Killaine is going to stay complacent for long. Anything you need, just ask one of my boys and I’ll have them get it for you.”

  “I’ll be okay. I’m fine with staying the night, but don’t you think I could leave in the morning?” I asked, the sound of the car against the road made hypnotic, rhythmic noises. “I don’t see why your brother would let me go and then come after me again.”

  “Like I’ve been trying to tell you,” Leonardo turned his head and flashed a wicked little smirk, sending a punch straight to my gut. “Your Dad slept around a lot, and with the right proof, you could weasel a lot of money out of him with threatening exposing you. Plus, I can tell that trash has the hots for you.”

  “Do you?”

  “What?” He asked.

  “Have the hots for me.”

  Leonardo worked his jaw in a sexy way that made me tingle between my legs. “No.”

  “You didn’t answer right away,” he’s got to be lying. But why? Am I miscalculating? I can barely even grasp the reality of that. Him. Liking me?

  “Didn’t realize I was on a timer,” he gripped the wheel and the car came down to a slow as we made our way off the highway. “Just because I kidnapped you doesn’t mean that I like you.”

  I crossed my arms over one another, “Now you’re just being cruel. Fine, I’ll tell the whole world what an asshole you were when they ask me what it was like to be picked up by a mob boss.”

  Leonardo swallowed again, and I realized too late that I’d made him think about his father.

  “Sorry,” I offered, and he shook his head, “what happens… to him?”

  “Ashes probably,” Leonardo replied, “scatter him to the wind like he always wanted. The wind will treat him better than we ever did… Maybe, if I can’t get past it, I could bury him. Selfish, but… I already feel so lost without him.”

  When we finally got to Leonardo’s place, a good number of things had gone through my mind. Most of which, was that I wondered how much the police were actually investigating me being taken hostage – if at all. There was a certain level of fear and respect that the Ligotti family commanded, and I knew for a fact from the numerous trials of which the family was involved, that they had judges in their pocket. Judges and police, at the bare minimum.

  I wanted to be home. To curl up in bed with a good book and sleep this damn night away from my head and heart. Looks like I was going to be staying a prisoner, would I really be safer here? Still, something deep inside of me ached to see Leonardo get his justice, wherever that might take him.

  When the car came to a stop just near The Riz, we stayed in our seats for a moment in the parking lot. The Riz itself was a colorful granite leviathan of a building. Forty stories in size, it looked down at me with its many black, glass eyes. The stone of the building was a striking yellow and there was something about it that just pulled your attention to it; this vague feeling that there was a world of adventure and excitement just beyond its front doors. Or perhaps, a world of horror and hushed whispers. This was a place where the rich came to have their dalliances in darkness. Something I was wholly unfamiliar with.

  Money was not a thing that I was used to. I’d long since come accustom to being poor, and anything outside of that particular level of poverty or middle class was just… off-putting.

  Bringing my gaze back to Leo, he too seemed lost in thought. He looked angry, was he plotting revenge? Or was he just coping with the new reality.

  As if he could suddenly hear my every thought, he eerily turned his head and a wave of warm needles pricked at my stomach. That look of anger softened into one of sadness, and when heartbeats passed – that look turned to hunger.

  “What?” He asked in that smooth, rich voice. In an intimate tone. His eyes danced with longing and some part of me I’d long since killed off, wanted to reach a hand over to his face and feel the smoothness of his cheek; to feel the kiss of his bones against the tips of my fingers.

  “Just…” talking became a chore, and my heart quickened in its pace. “Wondering what’s going through your head,” it felt like I was being touched by fingers of sunlight. Warmth flooded between my legs and electricity skirted all along my body, and that terrible urge to just touch the man wormed its way into every other thought of my mind.

  Leonardo breathed, and god he even made something as simple as that look absolutely exquisite. His face was darkened from the lack of lighting in the parking lot, save for the dim green lights that were scattered among the mostly empty floor. I observed him with rapt attention as I savored the way that his neck moved, the way that his nose flared, the bloody shoulder that moved and the way he leaned in closer to me.

  Wait, he was leaning in closer to me? Oh, shit.

  The raw desire coming off of him was palpable in the air. Every part of me wanted this man. But I knew the pain that closeness brought; knew that learning the secrets of people was a dangerous thing.

  “What’s going through my head,” he purred, his person moving in closer – he pressed a sensual finger to my lips, “is none of your business.”

  We shared an intimate, lustful look – and in that moment, I’d never felt more strangely alive. The heat against my pussy had swelled into something ferocious and insatiable; the desire to be filled pulsed thick through my body, and the need to hear this man groan low in my ear warmed my blood. My head felt all cloudy and subtly euphoric – so without even thinking, I accepted his intruding finger into my mouth.

  This was so unlike me. On top of that, I knew I was giving him eyes that said: Still don’t have the hots for me? Time seemed to come to a stop as I teasingly sucked on that finger, for a moment I imagined something much bigger and harder. However, the moment did not last long – we both seemed to come out of our reverie at roughly the same time.

  We both knew that it shouldn’t have happened.

  They’re just physical needs, that’s all. Natural response.

  Leonardo undid his seat belt and quietly made his way out of the car, circling around to my side and opening the door for me. We shared another look, and I swore for a second I thought my heart stopped.

  Shutting the car door, I walked in line with Leonardo as we moved like ghosts through the empty, green colored lot.

  “Sorry,” I said out of the blue. “A-about that… thing, that we did.”

  “Far as I’m concerned,” Leonardo replied, his eyes shifting to look at me. He hooked a hand through mine and grabbed me firmly, “nothing happened.”

  If this was his definition of nothing happened, it intrigued me to think about if something did.

  It took us a good five minutes and change to walk from the parking lot up to the front of the Riz.

  One of the service boys was standing outside greeting guests as they passed in and out of the many front doors of the building. Even at this time of night their foot traffic was surprisingly dense. Leonardo gave me a sad, shadow of a smirk, “Come ‘ere,” he husked and my insides melted away.

  He tugged on my hand and we walked inside, entering into a world of riches like I’d never seen in person. The walls were an elegantly carved wood, painted in a comforting cream white. There were three chandeliers in the great lobby alone, and the intricate red rug beneath my feet stretched from one end of the room to the other.

  There were a total of four employees working the front desk, all of them dressed in their company red uniforms. They each greeted Leonardo with genuine respect, and I dared to think, fear.

  “Mr. Ligotti,” the senior most employee announced with a smile. “Will you be checking your—“ his eyes went over to me, and looked me up and down quickly, “special friend, in?”

  “No,” Leo’s tone was stern, “if anybody asks I�
��m not here. I don’t care who they are or who they say they are, you call me before anyone comes topside. Capiche?”

  “Understood, sir.” The staff bowed their heads quickly and continued to help the other guests. Leonardo pulled me along towards an ornate looking elevator. He pulled out a card from his pocket and fed it into a mysterious black slot.

  He looked to me and said, “Only members of the topmost floor can use this.”

  “Cool,” I faked being impressed and the doors opened right after.

  “Just keep that bit of information in that pretty little head of yours.” We moved inside and the doors shut. “The topmost floor is perpetually under construction, or at least, that’s what the owners parrot to keep things under wraps,” Leonardo explained, waving his hand in animated conversation. Fucking all I could think about was the way I sucked his finger and he liked it. “Everyone up here, for the most part, is either with me and my crew, or part of the well paid staff. But as far as I’m concerned, the only person you trust up here is me – got it?”

  I nodded my head in acknowledgment like I wasn’t just picturing myself climbing him, “Don’t worry, I don’t even trust you.”

  He put a hand to his chest and feigned pain, speaking dryly, “My bleeding heart.”

  The elevator began its ascent, and my stomach dropped like a stone at the first motions. I didn’t want to be here – a part of me did, yes, but this was not my world. My world was a place of books and things; of rocky road and candles that smell like pink, if pink had a smell, and bubble tea – god, bubble tea while bathing.

  Being kidnapped was a real drag for my life of introversion. “Leo,” I breathed, watching the muscles of his back as he moved to face me.