A Mafia’s Obsession

CRYSTAL

The bright light beams almost blinded my vision. Right before my eyes was a brightly lit restaurant. It was a very fancy and picturesque building.

My day had been interesting just like yesterday. Leonardo took me to the beach and then to the movies.

Now I was right outside a fancy and classy restaurant. Was this a date though?

Probably not… I thought to myself.

Watching the waves bang against the rocks, the salty water splashing on my body got my spirits high.

At one point, Leonardo carried me across his shoulders and against my will towards the waters. I can still vividly recollect how I hit his shoulders, begging him to put me down.

I was super scared of ocean waters.

Acquaphobic… I was acquaphobic.

Leonardo laughed at me so hard.

Well I got my revenge back by tossing him a hand full of sand.

The movie we watched was a Romcom.

At a point I felt so uncomfortable sitting next to Leonardo and watching various kissing scenes.

Now I was right here in this classy restaurant. Leonardo and I had truly spent a great deal of time together in this past couple of days.

I peaked a glance at Leonardo and realised how much he had intrigued me these past couple of days.

I saw him as a cold hearted, selfish, toxic and rude human who did not give two fucks about how his actions affected other people.

But now, I don’t know what is going on with him; this sudden change of attitude, but he is being anyhing but how I usually saw him as right now.

He was being very kind, playful, boyish, caring… the likes.

With every passing hour, minute, second and nano-second, Leonardo’s attitude was evolving, and in a good way.

I can never be more stunned than this.

I and Leonardo walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. The place was fairly busy.

I quickly took a cursory glance at the restaurant wisteria calligraphic writing of its heading placed at the top.

It was so mesmerising to look at.

“Gattina is always looking stunned”Leonardo chuckled.

My gaze moved to him and I gave a sheepish smile, tucking my hair behind my ear.

Leonardo opened the door for me, letting me step inside first before he did.

The clattering sound of plates and cutleries hit my ears. They weren’t much atleast, just mild.

Italian music played in the restaurant, drowning the sound. I watched how various male waiters dressed in black trousers and white shirt served the people.

The decor of the restaurant wasn’t overly posh to feel out of place.

It had wooden tables and chairs. Even the bar was wooden.

Scented red candles and mini jars of roses were placed on each table, making it look so lovely. Fairly lit lights adorned the restaurant, creating beautiful beams as it hit the marble floors of the restaurant.

Roman statues were also deposited at some corners of the restaurant. It was very scenic.

I still felt like a fish out of my water because I wasn’t used to all these.

Back home, I was mostly used to eating on the floor or off the kitchen counter.

A man hastily approached I and Leonardo. He looked like he was in his mid thirties.

His dark hair was let to fall and sleeked backwards. He was claded in the dress code of all the waiters I had spotted. The only difference was that he had a black bow tie and black suit.

In his hand, held two menus.

He gave me a friendly smile before turning his attention to Leonardo.

I watched them both converse in Italian, the man listening to Leonardo whilst writing down some things in the menu.

I had no clue what they were saying.

Probably Leonardo already made reservations for both of us.

The man then jutted with his hands for us to follow him. He led us quite a distance from the front of the restaurant, away from everyone else.

We climbed an iron staircase just like the one Leonardo had in his penthouse to get to where we would sit.

The man left us hastily as he appeared.

“Won’t he take our orders?”I asked bemused.

“He already did. I told him what we would want to eat the moment we stepped in”Leonardo answered me.

He was still very much dominating and quite controlling.

I faced my attention to the spell binding scenery in front of me.

Glass windows were next to where I and Leonardo sat giving us an amazing view to the beautiful outside environment.

Glistening lights everywhere, it almost blinded my sclera. The cars, motorcycles and taxis moved in such a tranquil state.

Italy was beautiful and the view was needless to say, the same.

“Do you like it?”Leonardo asked which made look at him. He sat right in front of me.

“Of course I do”I replied happily. I had observed Leonardo’s body language this past couple of days we’ve spent together.

He always wanted me to feel as comfortable as I could.

It was thoughtful of him.

“Everything is so enchanting and lovely”I added, my eyes moving to the scenic view outside the windows.

“Well I know something that is more enchanting than all these”Leonardo said to me, placing his tattooed hands on the wooden round table that kept a fair distance between us.

“Something more enchanting than this?”I asked with creased brows.

“What is that?”I added not sounding convinced.

He gazed at me. “When I see it I’ll tell you”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”I objected.

“I will tell you when I notice that it’s at it’s bloom”Leonardo admitted to me.

“When did you start noticing this enchanting mythical thing?”I teasingly asked him.

“Well. Not too long ago. It had always been enchanting though. I just had to realise it”he admitted slowly, leaning into his chair more.

I laughed at Leonardo’s words. The sounds of feet approaching interrupted our discussion.

I turned my face and saw a waiter coming upstairs with our order.

“Food is here. Shall we eat?”Leonardo politely asked.

“Ofcourse we shall” I replied with a smug smile.

* * * * * * * * * *

“No I am telling you, roller costers make me puke and they are death rides”Leonardo said confidently as we walked towards the hotel.

We did a lot of conversing once we were done with our meal in the restaurant. Now we were heading towards the entrance of his hotel.

We spoke about random things, childhood secrets and the likes.

Leonardo just told me what could be his biggest secret yet.

He was scared of roller costers. I laughed so hard when I heard that.

At one point he shot me a hard glare but it didn’t stop me from laughing my ass out.

“Leonardo you are such a freak. Roller coasters are cool as hell. I really love the rush and excitement that comes with riding it” I said in between my fits of laughter.

“Well I don’t. You are a witch that’s why”Leonardo childishly replied which got me to laugh more.

We stepped inside the hotel, heading towards the elevator.

My laughter died down once we had entered the elevator.

I turned to catch Leonardo staring at me.

“What?”I asked in a high pitch voice, my face heated up in embarrassment.

Why was he staring at me?

He didn’t respond which got me to fold my arms at him.

“Stop staring at me. I’ll pluck your eyes out. That’s what witches do”I said to him, expecting a reaction from him.

“I saw it”he said, his voice sounding tender and low.

“What?”I queried. My brows pulling up in confusion.

“The enchanting thing. I saw it”he replied.

“It is you”he admitted, his voice now barely above a whisper.

I felt my chin hit the ground. The air in the elevator suddenly became hot.

I was tongue tied. How would I respond?

“Uhm… well.. uhm.. oh”I stuttered with words. I got goosebumps in an instant.

I prayed the elevator would open so I could scurry out of this tensed and heart racing situation.

Was he being serious?

I took a glance at him before turning my face away. He looked serious.

“Crystal?”He called out, crossing the distance between us.

Oh Lord. My heart sank to my stomach. I felt my knees becoming weak and the air suddenly felt too tight to breathe in.

I didn’t respond to him. I rubbed my elbow with one of my hands nervously, not knowing how to react.

“Crystal I’m serious. You are that enchanting thing I saw. Your outer self is amazing but what is inside of you is so enchanting”He said, sounding so genuine and thoughtful.

I managed to pull myself together and look at him.

We were literally so close. His face was just a couple of spaces away from mine.

“You are funny Leonardo”I laughed nervously.

“Stop joking around”I added.

“I am not Crystal. I mean everything I say”he stood by his words.

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I turned my attention away from him again.

“Crystal”he called out.

I gave no reply.

He exhaled lowly and moved away from me. From the corners of my eyes, I spotted him going over to press one of the elevator buttons.

“Leonardo!”I called out in a fright the moment the elevator stopped moving.

“So you can talk?”He rhetorically asked.

He quickly came towards me and grabbed my chin upwards roughly so I could face him.

“I don’t mind repeating myself a hundred times for you Crystal. You are the most kindhearted, innocent and beautiful girl I’ve met. You are so good and compassionate. You are everything I am not. You have this aura of light emanating from you. You are strong and resilient, you don’t give up. You put others first and you don’t mind sacrificing yourself for the ones you love”Leonardo stopped in his ramble and he slowly let go of my chin.

He ran his hands through his hair and gave me a mild laughter. I didn’t turn my face away this time. I stared at him.

“You know Crystal, seeing how much you were working your ass out to pay off your father’s debt and also fend for you and your sister at the same time is beautiful. Mabel doesn’t know how much of a warrior and fighter you are. She truly doesn’t. You intrigue me Crystal. I thought when you stayed with me, you would probably give in and maybe I could just use you as a sex doll but you showed me you were more than that. Multiple times you rejected my advances and you tried escaping twice. You are literally the first girl to turn me down Crystal” Leonardo confessed.

I felt my eyes choke up with tears as I remembered those moments. Those moments were I pictured Leonardo as nothing but a beast.

I used a hand to cover my mouth and keep myself from crying but my body betrayed me and few traitorous tears were already slipping past my eyelids.

“You are kind, you are also timid at times too. But you have a big heart Crystal and that is very rare. Something I can never have. You brought me to my weakest state of despair the moment you fell ill. Crystal I was scared as hell. I couldn’t think properly. My heart was at it’s deepest abyss of my worst fears. I didn’t want to loose you. From that day I realised you meant more to me. I had been ignoring and fighting it but it only took your illness to break down the cold walls I had built over the years. I realised I didn’t want you to hate me Crystal. I realised I needed you with me and every second of my life.

You are special to me” Leonardo spoke so eloquently of me.

“Ragazza timida, did I say something wrong?” He asked, brushing away the tears from my face.

I shook my head, “No.. no you didn’t”I sobbed even more.

He came closer to me and encircled his hand around my waist.

My eyes widened at once.

“Crystal you are the light in my darkened world. I am a horrible person. I am nothing like you”he said to me without batting an eyelid.

“No don’t say that Leonardo”I softly reassured him.

He gave a chuckle.”I know what I am saying. I have done horrible things. Very gruesome things. I am nothing like you that’s the more reason I need you. My world is so dark and cold. You are that tiny ray of light that is illuminating it”

His eyes trailed to my quivering lips then to my face and back to my lips.

“You proved me wrong Crystal?”

“W-what did I do?”I asked stammering.

“I never believed I could fall inlove but you totally proved me wrong”

My breathing got hitched in my throat the moment he said that.

A wave of emotions swarm through me with my knees almost buckling to the ground but Leonardo’s strong hold on my waist kept me afloat.

“I love you Crystal”

That was the last thing Leonardo said to me before crushing his lips passionately on mine.