One hour left.
He hums quietly the tune is soothing coming from his deep voice as he runs his fingers through my hair.I let myself drift off; it seems surreal succumbing to sleep for the very last time.
Chapter three
A Very Bad Man
Thepoundinginmyhead forces my eyes open, in the dark room around me I can vaguely make out the outline of a body next to mine.
Wait, my eyes open?
Everything looks exactly as it did before we fell asleep last night, not what you'd expect after a nuclear attack. Memories of our time together flood in, forcing panic into my chest as I untangle myself from the man I was ready to die beside.
Why am I not fucking dead?
I'm wobbly on my feet as I jerk up from his bed, the alarm clock says 11am despite the darkness in the room. I look towards the windows, ignoring it completely when Noè props himself up on an elbow eyeing me like a fucking rat in a trap. Where there once was large floor to ceiling windows overlooking a stoic wood line is replaced by metal shutters.
"Part of my home security system."
His voice startles me, causing me to yelp as I jerk the sheet from him covering myself. A double-edged sword considering I've now exposed his nude athletic form, causing tension in my core. He smirks as my cheeks flush, raising an eyebrow at me.
Noè Arcuri, are you a bad man?" He stills for a moment, as he pulls the covers over us,“The worst."
I back up slowly, before darting to his dark living room the sound of the TV still playing softly helps guide me. The motion sensor floor lights narrating my steps towards the soft glow of the screen, my stomach in my throat. My breath comes too quickly as I reach the TV. I sit down on the large couch, knowing my legs won't hold me.
The blonde reporter standing in front of the White House confirms my fears.
It didn't happen.
People are protesting behind her, armed security lines the gate. The normalcy of it forces bile to rise in my throat. "An unprecedented last-ditch effort to invade North Korea eliminating the nuclear threat was carried out successfully last night by NATO forces. The President is due to issue an official statement later this evening. I think I speak for everyone when I say our heartfelt gratitude goes out to those involved in the mission who bravely risked their lives and saved an entire planet."
The report continues after that, but I can't hear anything. The walls close in around me, my chest hurts.
I was prepared to die; an entire nation was prepared to die.
The amount of people that evacuated, giving away everything they had… all the fucking suicides. The parents forced to cling to their children in those final hours… knowing they couldn't prevent their death. Noè reaches beside me turning off the TV as tears spill over, running down my face.
His strong hands slip through my hair, as if he can't help but to touch me, "Little doll you didn't cry last night when you thought you were going to die, why are you crying when you get to live?" I shake my head, jerking away from him. His hands look clean, but I know better. They are covered in blood; a similar pair ripped my life apart before it ever even started.
"Don't touch me." I sob, embarrassed by my actions. Humiliation and shame for going home with him, for giving him my virginity. Hate, pure unbridled hatred for feeling something when I looked into those warm hazel eyes.
For loving his hands on my skin.
I whirl around, squaring my shoulders to him.
"Olive…" He says, having the audacity to look at me with so much concern. So much hurt in the face of my repulsion.
I wasn't supposed to live, I was supposed to die. With you.
"Are you going to kill me?" I whisper, wiping the tears from my cheeks. A coldness that sends chills down my spine replaces the warmth in his eyes, "Not if you don't give me a reason to."
I nod, understanding what that means.
Don't talk.
I have no intention to, I just want to get far away from Noè Arcuri, head of the Arcuri crime family. Murderer, mafia boss and my fucking undoing.
"Clothes, I need some."