Totally Intoxicated

by Wanitta Praks

  Who was I kidding? Of course, I wouldn’t come back. Not when he was suffocating me with his bear-back hugs.

  I bolted out of bed.

  “Be quick, Jay, or I’m coming after you,” he threatened me from under the bedcover.

  I poked my tongue out and quickly picked up a white shirt. Well, his white shirt to be exact. I couldn’t find my clothes among this mess on the floor.

  Last night, due to our vigorous exercises, all of our clothes were scattered on the floor. Damn, Giovanni destroyed them all. He owed me another set.

  Donning his shirt, I rushed to the hallway bathroom and did my business, making plans already to creep back to my closet bedroom after I was done. There was no way I was going back to his bedroom. The beast was just waiting for his little prey to return before he would attack me again.

  As soon as I finished my business, I washed my hands and was about to exit when...

  Hell! I was gobsmacked by my personal appearance. I looked like a golden bride on the night of her wedding. I was literally covered in bite marks, kiss marks, or whatever marks Giovanni liked to imprint on my body. If he were a wolf and I was his mate, I would assume he’d marked me so no other men could get a taste of me...

  Of course, this was just my fantasy talking.

  I stayed and examined my body further. God, what had he done to my face? I was glowing; a radiant aura I’d never seen before in the mirror. It was almost like I was no longer stressed with life. Guess morning exercises really did have some benefits.

  Talking about stress, it wasn’t like I was never stressed with life. It was just I didn’t know how to show it. Who knew I was this good at hiding my feelings? When Pa and Amelia ran off with Giovanni’s three million dollars, I was up to my eyeballs in stress. Luckily, Giovanni took me in as his maid, or should I say his lover now, as collateral.

  “Jay, are you done?”

  Giovanni’s voice snapped me back to reality.

  “Boss, is that you?”

  “Who do you think it is? Do you have another lover hiding in the closet?”

  There he goes again. All he could think about were foolish thoughts. As if I could have another lover when my dream of having him in bed had already come true.

  “Do you need to use the bathroom? I’m almost done,” I said to the door.

  Although, thinking about it now, why didn’t he just use his own bathroom.

  “No, Jay. I want you out of that bathroom and into my bed. Now! No compromise.”

  “Then another minute,” I bargained.

  “Thirty seconds. And that’s all I’m giving you. Or else, I’m smashing the door down.”

  I giggled to myself, the image of the mafia boss smashing the door. It was so hilarious I chuckled out loud.

  “What are you laughing at? Open the door, now!” Giovanni banged at the door again.

  I tsked at the door and shook my head. I quickly washed my hands and peeked my head out. From head to toe Giovanni was naked, and my gaze just happened to land on his banana. Or should I say, his male anatomy.

  “You like my dick too much, Jay, so for that, let me give it to you.”

  “No, Boss. It’s okay.” I quickly brushed him off. But he wouldn’t let me go. I tried to wiggle out of his embrace, but nothing I did could withstand his strength. The man was a legendary brute. He held on to me like a damned clamp. “Boss, I’m serious. You’ve already had your fill. Please let me go. I have an exam today.”

  “Not before completing your morning duty.”

  “Of course, I wouldn’t forget to make you and the guys coffee.” Face all scrunched up against his hard chest, my eyes looking upward just to meet his gaze, I gave him my million-dollar smile. “Now, if you could be so kind as to... Ahhhhh...”

  I was jerked out of my sentence. Giovanni, that devilish mafia boss, actually touched me, in my lady spot.

  “Boss, where are you touching me?” I screeched in surprise.

  “Your—”

  “No, Boss. I don’t want to hear it. Now, let me go.” I fought him off. But my strength was no match to his. I was trapped, right in his embrace.

  “No fucking way,” he growled next to my ear. “You are one fucking adorable bunny, especially when you wear my shirt. From now on, that’s your new pajamas. I’ll fill up your closet with all my shirts, and you’ll wear one every night for me.”

  “No need, Boss. I don’t want to wear your shirt.” With my legendary slippery eel technique, I’d managed to squeeze out of his embrace, making a small sprint to my closet bedroom. But with his quick stride, he caught up to me in no time.

  Jerk. Snap. Shut. And I was right back in his bedroom, stuck between a rock and a hard place. The hard place was the wall behind me. And the rock...

  Well, the rock was his banana, right in front of me.

  “It’s your bloody fault for wearing my shirt. Now my dick is hard, again. Who’s going to take responsibility for my state? You’d better do something about it.”

  “No more, Boss, no more. Let go....”

  Why did I even beg for mercy? I already knew he wouldn’t listen to me. He literally tackled me onto the soft fur mattress and made love to me again. This was our morning exercise. By the time we were done, I was totally fizzled.

  Chapter 4

  Calling for Attention

  There was an air of mystery and anticipation at the dining table that morning. I could sense it because the guys were eyeing me weirdly as they were sipping their coffee. Under their little pretense of chitchatting about nonsensical things, they were brimming with energy. But the one who was flouncing around with excess energy to spare was Giovanni. The reason was simple. He’d literally sucked out all my energy from last night and this morning. All under the guise of morning exercise. I was so exhausted right now; I didn’t think I could perform well on my exam today.

  Three times, we did it. Three times!

  What else must I do as lover to the mafia boss?

  Cooking, cleaning, making coffee, I was an expert in these fields when I was his maid, but this...

  Damn! What had my life turned into?

  Just a few days ago, I was a virgin. I didn’t even know what a kiss was, let alone experienced one. Now, not only was I kissed and grabbed in inappropriate places, but I also was thoroughly made love to by the mafia boss, almost every morning and night. How long can my strength prevail?

  “Haha. Looks like Jenny and Boss seem to be getting along fine.” I sent Bobby the evil eye for laughing at me just because Giovanni had me sticking to his side like a freaking ham sandwich.

  “I have an announcement to make.” Giovanni’s baritone boomed across the dining hall, silencing us all.

  All four pairs of eyes were immediately on him.

  No. They were actually on me.

  I grew flustered and shrank back behind Giovanni.

  I’d never really liked being the center of attention, and so, while Giovanni was busy announcing whatever announcement he was about to make, I took the liberty to flee from the scene.

  But Giovanni and me, we were like magnets. The more I pulled back, the more he pushed into me. And that was essentially what happened. When he sensed me pulling back, he pushed forward, and I ended up colliding into him. In the end, I lay flat on his lap.

  The guys laughed.

  And I just completed the perfect act of a fool.

  How embarrassing!

  “Boss, what the hell. Let me off. Let me off.” I fumbled, trying to get off him. But I was literally caught. Hook, line, and sinker.

  “Ah-hm! Now for my announcement.” Giovanni cleared his throat, completely ignoring my request and instead, grabbing me and repositioning my body until I was sitting on his lap, like his perfect little lover. “From now on, Jay is my lover. You louts can’t demand her to do anything, and especially chores. Nor can you touch her. You got that? If I see any one of you so much as touch a single strand of her hair, you’ll be dead meat.”

  I gulped back my fe
ar. This wasn’t some form of announcement. This was more like a death threat to the guys.

  But the guys seemed to take it in full stride. They laughed and chuckled at each other, congratulating their boss.

  “About time, Boss,” Finnie said.

  “I knew something was up when Boss went mental the other day when Jenny disappeared,” Jonny added.

  I switched my attention to Giovanni. “Did you go mental when I disappeared?”

  Slap! Giovanni gave his love to Jonny with a slap on his head.

  “Sorry, Boss. Shouldn’t have said that,” Jonny muttered and went back to his breakfast.

  “Damned right, you shouldn’t have.” Turning back to me, he said, “I didn’t go mental. Just pissed that my coffee machine ran off.”

  “So, now I’m your coffee machine again.” I watched him through shrewd eyes. I loved seeing his pissed-off face, because I knew in this little fight between us, I was winning.

  “You sure know how to talk back, Jay. Let’s make that mouth of yours do something useful.” He pinched my chin and inched forward.

  “You’re right, Boss. Here, have some toast.” And with that, I jammed the toast in his mouth before he could do anything more embarrassing in front of the guys.

  Giovanni’s eyes lit bright with black fire. I knew he’d have his revenge with me tonight for disobeying him. But at least I could have my fun with him now. No way was I presenting this mouth to him so he could chew it off again. This morning’s kiss had left my mouth all swollen.

  “Great. Jenny’s been upgraded from maid to lover. Boss, when are we going to get upgraded, too?” Bobby asked.

  “Enough, you numbnuts,” Giovanni barked at his underlings. “Now, get moving. Time’s ticking. Go make me some money.”

  The men scrambled out of their seats and out the door. This alerted me to my own problem, too.

  It was almost nine a.m. My exam started at eleven a.m. I had to get my butt moving or else I’d be late for it. And who would be to blame but me. I might even have to repeat a year if this kept going.

  “That’s a good point, Boss. Well, then, I have to go now. Or else I’ll be late.” I scrambled off his lap.

  He caught my hand before I trotted off, held it, and led me outside to his sports car. When I gave him a querying look, he said, “You’ll be late if you take the bike. I’ll give you a lift.”

  “Oh, how kind,” I said, getting into the car. He followed suit. “But only up to the bus stop. Your car is too flashy. I don’t want to bring attention to myself.”

  “Why don’t you like attention, Jay?”

  “It’s not that I don’t like attention, it’s just that I don’t like that kind of attention. You know, the kind when all eyes are on you because you have materialistic stuff. Then everyone wants to be your friend. That’s all fake. It’s not real. I don’t want that kind of attention.”

  “You’re my lover now, Jay. You’ve got to get used to it. That’s the privilege of being rich. It brings that kind of attention.”

  “Like I said before, I don’t want that kind of attention.” I emphasized my point again. “I want to ride my bike to school like before, do all the normal things like before. Just because I’m your lover, it doesn’t change anything. Just because you’re rich, it still doesn’t change anything. I’m still me. I’m just grateful that I have a roof over my head and food to feed my belly. Living every day like this, getting to smell fresh air like this, it’s enough for me.”

  Giovanni scrutinized my every word. “So, you are saying that you’re the kind of girl who doesn’t seek attention, who doesn’t thirst for money?”

  “Well, it’s not like I don’t seek attention and I don’t thirst for money. Money is just a monetary value, isn’t it? If I have enough, I’m happy. I don’t need truckloads. There are other people in this world who need it more than I do. For me, I’m happy with just having enough.”

  Giovanni leaned forward and cupped my face. With slow precision, he caressed my cheek and spoke. “I have a lover who doesn’t seek attention, nor does she thirst for money. Here’s a question I’d like an answer to, Jay. If you are none of those things, then what do you want? What kind of attention do you seek?”

  “You. I want you and your attention.”

  Giovanni was taken aback by the simplicity of my answer.

  But it was true. Right now, nothing could make me happier than just having him by my side and basking in his attention.

  “You want me and my attention?” he asked again, to confirm that this was what I wanted.

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  When he fully registered the meaning of my words, he grinned until he couldn’t contain the joy anymore, then he threw his head back and laughed.

  “Oh, Jay. You sure have a way with words. Every day you grow more adorable. Do you know what I want to do to you right now?” he asked, his eyes intensely staring into mine.

  “What?”

  “I want to kiss you. I want to give myself to you. I want to give my full attention to you. Do you want that?”

  “No. Not right now.” I jerked back to fasten my seat belt.

  “Why the hell not?” He growled, disappointed that I had changed my mind. “Didn’t you say you want my attention?”

  “I have a perfectly logical reason for my answer, Boss. So, don’t go pissy on me.”

  “What is your damned logical reason then? Care to explain?”

  “It’s because if you start to kiss me, then it’s going to go on for ages, and then I’ll be late for my exam. And I don’t want to be late for my exam. So, no. I don’t want your attention right now.”

  “Fine. I’ll make sure you get enough attention tonight,” I heard him muttering under his breath. He turned the ignition, pressed the foot pedal, and the car zoomed to life.

  Ten minutes later we were stuck in a traffic jam. I was counting down the minutes. If the car wasn’t moving soon, I’d be late for my exam. Luckily, it started moving again, and by the time we reached the bus stop, a block away from my exam venue, I was happy that we had plenty of time to spare.

  “Thanks, Boss. See you at home.” I grabbed my things and was about to bolt out the car door when Giovanni called out.

  “Jay, wait. You forgot something.”

  I stopped in my tracks and turned back to him. “What did I forget?”

  “This.” And Giovanni kissed me.

  I was so dumbfounded; all I could do was sit there like a mannequin, with my backpack slung over my shoulder while he had his way with me.

  Teeth against teeth. Tongue colliding with tongue. His fingers thrust into my hair, while his palm cradled the back of my head like a precious doll. Then he manipulated my head to angle our kiss even deeper.

  Oh my Lord. This was my drug. I was literally sucked into this spellbinding kiss which Giovanni had bestowed upon me. I clung to him for dear life, because, my God, I knew I’d fall if I didn’t.

  The kiss left me flushed and blushed, not to mention my lips were now all bruised.

  “That’s what you forgot, Jay. I’ve given you my full attention. Now, get out of here. And make sure you pass that damned exam.” He pushed me out the door.

  That damned brute. Kissing me then kicking me out the door, leaving me all agitated and flushed. Now how was I to concentrate on my exam today? But I was still happy, because when I called for attention, I got it.

  Chapter 5

  Apology

  “ A hhh... I can’t believe I’ve completed my exam.” I laughed and looked up at the clear blue sky. “Crispin, don’t you love that feeling when you’ve done the best in your exam? My God, I think I did well. Did you answer question three? That was a bit tough, but I think I did all right.”

  “Yeah. It was all right,” Crispin mumbled quietly, walking straight ahead.

  Oh, what have I done! Crispin was still mad at me. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be this quiet. And Crispin being quiet was just odd. It didn’t suit his character. I must have hurt him
at the amusement park a few days ago when I took off with Giovanni without telling him.

  Who’s to blame but me? I should have texted him or something to let him know I was fine. I was such a bad friend.

  I watched as he got swallowed by the crowd of students coming out of the exam hall. His shoulders drooped like a sad cat. Poor Crispin.

  Maybe I should say something. Anything to cheer up his awful mood. But what should I say?

  “Crispin?” I ran after him. “You still mad at me?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “Look. I’m sorry. Somehow, my landlord found me, and we came to a compromise, and I went back to my apartment.” I spewed out my explanation before he could say a word. “Can you forgive me?”

  He didn’t say anything but kept walking farther.

  Something in my heart constricted. I felt guilty. Guilty for treating him like he didn’t matter to me.

  But he does. Crispin means more to me than simply a good friend. We’ve been together through thick and thin. More thick than thin, actually. He’s like my brother from another mother.

  The longer I watched him walk farther away from me, the more my heart constricted, as if his heart and mine were linked by an invisible thread, the friendship thread. This thread was slowly breaking. I couldn’t let this happen. Not between us. So, I ran after him.

  Backpack slung over one shoulder, I pushed through the thick crowd of students milling around the archway that intersected our main exam halls.

  I saw his brown head bobbing among the crowd. Stretching my arm, I caught him and pulled him to the side, to a quiet corner where we could talk without interruptions.

  “You still mad at me, Crispin?” I asked pathetically.

  I was scared. I didn’t want to lose Crispin. There were so many instances I had to lie to him to get myself out of situations. And it all boiled down to my relationship with Giovanni.

  I didn’t want Crispin to know about my other life. Well, not yet anyway. I didn’t think anyone in my circle could accept my decision to become the lover of the mafia boss, the most fearsome man in the whole of New York City.

  “No,” he said, looking away. His face held a somber expression.

  “Look at me and tell me you’re not mad at me, ’cause otherwise, I’ll think you’re still mad at me.” Okay, I didn’t want to cry, but at this point who was I kidding.