48 Hours
highlight_author
Natalia Ava
highlight_reads
239K
highlight_chapters
23
Chapter 1
ALEXANDER
My eyes set on the most beautiful girl in the cafe. She was sipping her cappuccino just like everyone else, her eyes glued to a book, immersed in a novel she was reading.
I take in a deep breath as I stand in line and wait for my turn, but my eyes remain locked on the brunette only a few feet away. I keep an eye out to see if she is waiting for anyone.
My turn arrives and I order a black coffee that gets prepared in a few seconds. I thank the cashier and casually make my way towards her.
“Lovely day, isn’t it?” I say when our eyes meet.
Her doe brown eyes meet mine and I feel my insides tingle. I could get lost in those brown eyes.
“It is,” she says with a small smile.
“Are you waiting for anyone?” I ask, tapping the chair in front of hers.
“Not really, but you know what they say about strangers.” She places her cup down and leans in with her elbows on the table.
She was wearing a black sweater that slipped off her shoulder, matching it with silver bangles in her pierced ears. Black-framed glasses sit on the bridge of her nose. She closes the book she was reading and the cover shows a shirtless man with a woman in a satin black dress, resting on him.
“You’re into romance, I see.” I gesture for her book, with a nudge of my nose.
“You are not giving up. Are you?” She sighs and motions with her hand for me to take a seat.
I take the seat, making sure not to drag the chair on the ground.
“I am Alexander, Alex for short. And you are?” I ask while taking my first sip of coffee.
“Tia.” She responds softly with a small smile again.
“You are not from around here. Swedish?” Tia asks me.
“German, actually,” I respond, with a chuckle.
“Ah. What brings you here?” She wraps her delicate fingers around her cup. She wears a small ring on almost each finger.
Interesting.
“Business does.” I give her a wink.
Tia rolls her eyes.
“You are Italian?” I ask.
“No, I am from Mars.”
“You make jokes like that all the time, liebe?”
“Depending on who I am talking to.”
Suddenly a man approaches her from behind.
“What are you doing on my side of town?” he asks her.
The man was tall and broad. He carried alpha air around him. I knew who he was.
“Business,” Tia says to him.
His eyes divert to me.
“Vogel? What the fuck are you doing here? My father despises you and your family.” He yells at me with some discretion to avoid the eyes of people.
“Romano, lovely seeing you,” I say with an eye roll.
“This is what you are doing now, Lorenzo? Making friends with Germans?” Alessio asks her.
“You shut your mouth, Alessio. I did not even plan to meet with him. Wait, you are Alexander Vogel?” She turns to me with a frown.
“Yes, I am.” I give her a nod.
Alessio bends down and whispers something in her ear.
“I will never ever need the Romanos in my life,” is her response to him, and he shrugs and walks away like he never appeared.
She now looks irritated that Alessio Romano exposed her.
“Lorenzo, do you want to go somewhere else?” I offer.
“Do not use my name like that in this area. You do not know who could be lurking.” She stands up and heads for the cafe door.
I follow behind her as she stomps away.
“Get lost, Vogel. I will never associate with you.” She turns to me with her eyes blazing.
I step back and she walks away.
I’m Alexander Vogel. I get what I want in the end.
***
An entire month of waiting and convincing. I am finally here standing in front of her doorstep, with a bouquet of red roses and a card that says, “Will you be my Valentine and more?”
Martina opens the door, and she comes out in a dark, tight red dress with her hair flowing on her shoulders.
“Wow,” is all that comes out of me.
“Roses? Red ones too? They are overrated, Alexander.” She gives me a sweet smile as she takes them from my arms and sniffs them anyway, watching her as her cheeks develop a tint of blush.
“And a card too? You must be desperate.” Martina laughs and opens the card.
“Hmm, I will think about it. If you impress me today, I might just let you into my bed.” She palms me lightly, which makes me groan.
“Tia, do not tease me. You have already seen what my fingers did to you just a few days ago.” I practically growl but still feel so much love for this woman; out of nowhere, the universe made me love her.
“Oh, I know what your fingers are capable of. It is if you can keep up with my libido.” She laughs and links her arms with mine after I offer it.
We walk towards the horse carriage I have got us for the day. The horse’s name is Lola. A white horse with long hair.
“She is gorgeous!” Martina hands me the bouquet and starts petting the horse with lots of affection.
“I knew you would love her.” I smile.
“What a man does to impress her just to have her.” She talks to the horse, but I know it is directed at me.
“We men do the impossible to have the woman we want.” I place the roses inside the carriage and stand next to Martina.
“I wonder if men stay like that for the entire time of the relationship,” she says as she starts to make her way to the seat.
“You implying you want to stay with me?”
“Depends.” She gives me a little wink and I take a seat next to her.
I tap the driver’s shoulder so he can take us to the destined place I have decided for today.
I look at Martina as she has her head turned, watching the scenery unfold in front of her.
The chubbiness of her cheeks showing with the smile she has on her face. Her lips just perfect. Not too big and not too small. They are just right.
I could look at this woman inch by inch and not get enough of her. It has not been long since I have known her. But she has rubbed off on me. I want to be her king and she my queen. I could say I love her even.
Lost in my thoughts, I do not notice Martina has laid her head on my shoulder, snuggling against me.
“I guess you are warming up to me then.” I chuckle, resting my head on top of hers.
“Maybe just a little bit.” Her response comes out softly and I smile like an idiot.
After many minutes of waiting to get to our destination, all a person could hear was the sound of the gallops of the horse and the wind.
I help Martina down when we arrive and keep my hand in hers as we enter the restaurant.
“Fancy place you chose,” she tells me.
“Fancy place for the fancy girl.” I give her a wink.
“Can you be any cringier, Alexander?” She scrunches her nose at my comment, but laughs.
The waiter opens the door for us and I place my hand on the curve of Martina’s back and let her go inside first. I bring my hand to her ass and give her a little squeeze.
“Thick.” I whisper into her ear as I take her to a table.
“Thank my genetics for that,” Martina says after taking a seat.
“Thank you, Martina’s genetics. God bless your ancestors.” I look up at the sky and laugh when I do so.
She laughs too.
The waiter comes by and hands us our menus, then tells us he will be back when we are ready.
“I will be having a medium-rare steak, Martina. What will you have?” I ask her.
“If you think I am taking a salad you are dead wrong. Hmm, I want a chicken Caesar wrap and on the side I want a plate of fettuccine.”
I look at her quite amused. Women tend to order salads on dates.
“What? Never seen a lady eat before?” She raises an eyebrow.
“Not really, the women I have gone out with before tend to eat nothing but a salad.”
“Well, I am not other women. I am Martina. I am me. I eat when I feel like it and I do not when I do not feel like it. If a day I feel like having salad, I eat that. If I want to eat nothing but carbs to get these wide hips, I eat that too.”
The Martina attitude surfaced and it somehow made me smile.
Maybe turned me on even.
“It is why you are a special woman.” I place my hand on top of hers and stroke it.
“Grazie.” She bats her eyelashes at me and that makes me laugh.
She is fun to be around. I love her energy. I want her forever.
“Now, I do not feel like getting tipsy or drunk. Some tomato juice with Tabasco sauce shall suffice,” Martina says.
“Are you human?”
“No. I am the She-devil.”
I give her an eye roll that she does not notice and call the waiter over.
I tell him what I want and she tells him what she wants.
“Dessert? Do you guys want that?” the waiter asks.
“I want a chocolate fountain with a big plate of all types of berries.” She smiles softly at him.
He nods and leaves.
“Are you taking advantage that I am paying?” I chuckle.
“Nope. I make twice as much as you. But I want to treat myself. You are free to not pay.” She leans back in her chair, giving me a small view of her cleavage.
“You take everything to heart,” I point out.
“I do. I prefer honesty over everything.”
“Then you want me to be honest and tell you I feel like fucking you right now?” I see her cheeks brighten up a bit.
“Sure.” She rolls her eyes and takes a sip of water.
I call over the waiter, asking him how long the dinner preparation will take.
“About 30 minutes, Sir.” He responds with a bit of a sorry face on him.
“Oh, do not be sorry. I need to go do something. Thank you.” He leaves with another nod and I look at Martina.
I look at Martina and hold her hand.
“Want to go on a bathroom adventure?” I try to hold back my laugh.
“Adventures are my thing.”
She gets up when I do and we walk to the bathroom.
We head over to the bathroom and quickly choose a stall, pushing her inside along with closing the door and pushing her against it.
My lips find hers and I devour them, her moaning into my lips when I pinch a nipple that’s poking from her dress. I suck on her top lip, then the bottom one. I let my teeth graze her bottom lip and that sends a smile to her face.
“You like that?” I whisper while I kiss her neck.
“Mhm...”
My fingers find the hem of her dress and I start to pull it up to her waist. I graze her thighs and when I reach her hip I realize she is not wearing anything underneath.
“You naughty girl, you planned for this.” I breathe and cup her pussy.
“No, do I need to justify why I am not wearing a thong for you? I did not want to,” she says into my lips and her fingers undo my belt.
I take my belt off while pressing myself against her.
“What are you doing?” she asks while I wrap the belt around her wrists.
“Stimulating pleasure,” I say after securing the belt around her wrists and slip my pants down.
She looks over at the tint of my boxers and back into my eyes.
“Condom,” she says.
I find the pocket inside my jacket and get out the silver-foiled packet. I tear the top off and slip my boxers down.
I roll the condom down my erect dick and let it poke her stomach.
I cannot read her facial expression well, but I guess she is waiting for me to dive into her to give her the pleasure she deserves.
There is just silence between us. Other than our deep breathing, and practically hearing her wetness when my fingers touched her pussy, everything was silent.
I let my fingers continuously stroke her until she starts to buck her hips against me. I am a man who quickly cums. I do not want her to not feel satisfied.
I bring my wet fingers to her lips and smear her wetness there. Her face is flushed and I could not love it more. I lick her lips, wanting to taste both her lips and wetness at the same time.
“Beautiful,” I murmur and then start moving my dick against her wet folds, not entering her yet.
“Ugh, can you just go in,” she mumbles.
Hearing her say that, I bring both my palms to her ass and lift her up against the door.
I let the tip of my dick come in contact with her opening and I slide in. She closes her eyes in response and wraps her legs around me.
I start to go in and out of her while rubbing her clit.
“Fuck, you feel so good. I have been trying to imagine what you feel like for the past month. God, you are perfect.” I keep the pace going and start to feel the strain in my back, waiting for my release.
I quicken my pace and quickly stroke her. That begins to let out moans from her.
“Uh, Alexander.” She presses herself harder against me.
“Don’t stop, keep rubbing me.”
So she is feeling more pleasure there?
I keep going until I cum and groan next to her.
“Happy fucking Valentines,” I say, squishing my face into her breasts.
MARTINA
At midnight, I stand outside on my balcony, inhaling that salty air. I wrap my fluffy robe a little tighter around me when I feel a breeze that sends a shiver down my spine.
The sound of crashing waves brings a little calmness to the chaos happening in my head. I close my eyes and count from ten to one, until my nerves settle.
I see one of my guards walking down on the sand, making sure nobody unwanted is here.
“It is a little late to be out here, boss.” Mahone, my bodyguard, comes from behind me and leans forward on the carved railing next to me.
“I told you, outside of office hours it is ‘Martina’ for you.” I chuckle softly and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
“It is always office hours for me. I made it my priority to do so.” He looks over at me and I can feel his small smile.
I met Mahone at a restaurant shooting. He was my waiter that night, seven years ago. I woke up in a hospital bed with him holding my hand. I made it my quest to make sure he is by my side at all times.
Since then, he has been.
“If you were not there, you would not be here and you would have a normal job,” I tell him, turning my body to face him.
“It is our choice how we want things to happen. You chose this path and I happened to choose it too,” Mahone responds.
“Cannot believe you have still stuck around after all this time.”
“What is really going on? You have that look in your eyes,” Mahone asks.
“The day like today, seven years ago, I dumped Alexander. Ask me again what we told the world instead of the truth.” I slump down on my outdoor sofa and grab the glass of cranberry in front of me.
Mahone looks at me waiting to continue.
“I said ‘Our families refuse to join together and I cannot carry an heir to your family. You are not Italian, remember that. Sharing power would be a problem.’ But what was the real truth?
“He cheated on me. In broad daylight. Bastard did not even think of cheating in a bedroom. On the beach. My beach! I shot that bimbo afterwards.” I am fuming even after all these years.
Every time I had to shoot someone, I would just need to imagine his face in front of me and I would have no remorse towards the other person. Every time I decide to hurt someone, I would just need to imagine him.
Alexander. The German bastard.
Suddenly, I feel Mahone take the glass away from me.
“You’re going to break it between your hands,” he says softly.
I rub my temples and sigh.
“Why haven’t you been seeing anyone for the past years?” Mahone asks me quietly.
“To what? Put them into my life? Then they leave because they cannot handle a proper woman? Leave because they find out there is just too much danger and completely disregard my feelings?”
My voice cracks in the end and I clear my throat to cover it up.
But Mahone knows better.
He sits next to me and pulls me to his side, letting me sink into his warmth.
“Let it out if you need to. It doesn’t matter how old you are,” he whispers into my hair.
Twenty-seven years old. That’s how old I am.
I sniffle.
“Maybe it is just hormones taking over right now.” I chuckle sadly, knowing that it isn’t the case.
He doesn’t say anything, and I feel him run his fingers through my hair.
Mahone suddenly lets me go, leaving me confused as he stands up.
He slides his jacket off and comes back to the couch and lays down, putting a pillow under his head.
“Lie with me. Let us watch the stars.” He says softly, putting a hand in front of me.
I put my hand gently in his, then rest my head on his chest and a leg over his crotch.
Mahone was such a comfortable place for me, always has been for a long while now.
“Have you ever wondered why I was a waitress at the age of 30?” He asked out of the blue.
“Of course I knew why. I ran a background check on you.” I chuckle.
“Yeah, well I was fired from that company because I punched a guy for harassing a woman.” His fingers go to my hair and he starts running his fingers through it.
“That is how messed up our world is, Mahone.”
“How many people do you trust here?”
“Depends on where that person’s status is in my mind. I do trust you the most. I wouldn’t have you here if I didn’t.” I look up at him and see that stubble on his chin.
Without thinking, my fingers reach for it and I start grazing it. Mahone doesn’t say anything, but tilts his head ever so slightly and studies my face.
“This is wrong,” I whisper, and now my thumb starts caressing his bottom lip.
“But it feels right for you, doesn’t it?” he whispers back.
My eyes fall down to his lips and I see him part them slightly.
“I do not want to do this to you.” I continue whispering, and I feel my lips getting closer to his.
“I want you to do this to me. If it helps you forget.” His lips are only mere inches away from mine.
“I cannot hurt you. You will hate me forever.”
“Maybe a one-time thing doesn’t hurt.”
“What if it kills you?”
“Die knowing I am protecting a beauty with a heart?” His lips started brushing mine.
“I do not have a heart, you know that.” I press my lips to his and I hear him sigh, as if he has been waiting for this moment all his life.
He sucks on my bottom lip, turning us over to hover above me. His hand gently strokes my collarbone and starts pushing the fabric of my robe off my shoulders.
The moment is cut short when I hear Matteo barge in, the only other guard allowed indoors with me at night. Yes, I also know my men from their footsteps.
Mahone freezes and I hear him swallow.
“Boss, we got a problem up front.” Matteo clears his throat and my eyes widen.
Mahone quickly gets off me and I see him adjust his pants.
“Where is my gun?” I quickly start walking inside my house, tying my hair into a bun and discarding my robe, leaving me in my shorts and crop top that I sleep in.
“Did you get a name, Matteo?” I ask as Mahone hands me his spare gun.
“No, all he said was he personally knew you and had to speak to you. His face was covered and he seemed to be armed.”
I remove the safety from the gun and slip into my sneakers.
“Who is standing with him?”
“Carlos, ma’am.”
“No one knows me personally. Tell Paolo to meet us up front.” I’m stomping my way to the front door with both Mahone and Matteo by my side.
The sound of the gravel crunching underneath me is loud enough to wake me from my sleep, if I was asleep.
I reach the front gate and glare at whoever the figure is that is standing all in black.
“Who the fuck are you?” I point my gun at him.
I wasn’t always civil, but everyone wanted a piece of my power. I could never be safe.
The figure turns around and smiles at me.
“Been a long time, Martina.” I snarl involuntarily at his voice.
He takes his mask off and looks at me.
“Go to hell, Alexander.” I knew better than to shoot him at this very moment. I knew he wasn’t alone. He could be alone physically, but he has always kept a mic somewhere on him.
“Another chance, liebe. Bitte.” Suddenly, Alexander is on his knees.
“Per favore?! Per favore?! Tu es uno malato bastardo. Vaffanculo.” I glare at him, pointing the gun straight at his heart.
“You wouldn’t kill me. You don’t have the guts to do so. If you did, you would have done it seven years ago, but you’re weak.”
Without a second thought, I shoot his knee.
“The only reason you are alive is because of me. It’s so they do not come after me.”
He is still on the ground groaning from pain.
I shoot another bullet through his thigh.
“Un uomo innamorato, non tradirebbe mai.” I poke his body with the tip of my shoe.
“Take him to the hospital, Carlos,” I order.
“What do I exactly say?” He looks at me nervously.
I look around me for a moment and crouch down to Alexander’s level, who’s still whimpering and groaning.
How is this man a boss again?
“Buona notte.”
Using the back of the gun, I slam the side of his head with it, making him fall unconscious.
“Give me your shirt, Carlos.” I look up at him.
Only been here a few months. A newbie. Still learning.
Poor child.
He takes off his shirt and hands it to me. For a moment I admire the tattooed snake on his chest.
I dip parts of his shirt into the pool of blood and put some on my fingers, flicking some in random places.
Mahone and Matteo watch. They know better than to intervene. They know how much I calculate in my mind every consequence. They never intervene until I say so.
“There. Put it back on, Carlos. If someone asks, you say you got into a fight and you were trying to fight off the man who was trying to kill this poor soul down here. Make it believable.” I smile up at him as I get up.
“Yes, ma’am.” Carlos nods and carries the half-lifeless body in his arms, putting him in his car.
“Paolo, clean this up per favore.” I hand Mahone his gun back and I walk back inside my house.
After reaching the bathroom, I run a bath to sink myself in for the next half hour of the night or what is left of it. I wash my hands first to get all of the blood off and suddenly I vomit into the sink.
“Martina?” Mahone asks, coming behind me.
I wipe my mouth and lean on the counter.
“Do you want me to stay?” he asks after a few minutes of silence.
I nod my head and he starts slipping off the straps of my top and places a soft kiss on my neck.
Maybe a one-time thing doesn’t hurt too much.
