2| The Dinner

Being the mafia King had its perks, and dinners with gang leaders were not one of them. Victor knew exactly why Elliot had been the first to request an audience with him as soon as he arrived back in New Port, Elliot always had some sort of scheme, always a way to make money and although most of them worked out, many of his ideas were a complete waste of time. The thing that irritated Victor the most about Elliot besides his eccentric behavior was the fact that Elliot thought he knew what Victor liked. Nobody knew Victor besides maybe his family but not even they had a clue what went on in Victor's head.

"We've arrived sir," Victor's driver said opening the door of the black Mercedes for him.

"Good, let's not be here any longer than we need to be," Victor said with authority, getting out of the car, two of his men followed him to the door as he straightened the lines of his black Armani suit jacket. The white wooden door was opened swiftly by Elliot, his staff lined the hallway behind him, each nodding and bowing as Victor walked inside

"Welcome back sir" Elliot smiled warmly as Victor walked inside with his men close behind him. Victor took a moment to look at the interior of the house, nothing had changed much, fur rugs and crystal chandeliers still lined the ceiling and floors.

"Let's eat, Elliot. I'm starving" Victor said walking into the dining room. He sat at the head of the table with his two men on each side of him, Elliot sat at the opposite end.

"Waitress" Elliot called as the men took their seats at the table.

Grace swallowed the lump of fear in her throat before heading into the dining room. She kept her head down and her eyes focused on what she was doing, afraid that if she looked at the king, he might kill her on the spot. Elliot had been nice enough to explain to her that the king was to be served first, Victor watched as the brown-headed girl entered the room, a slight irritation playing at him as she refused to look up to let him see her face. He kept his expression neutral as his eyes drew out her features, from her long brown hair tied in a bun above her head to her full hips that swayed as she walked. She stopped next to him, her eyes still on the bottle in her hands, Victor tensed as the sweet scent of rose petals filled his nose. Curious now more than ever, he wanted to see her. Grace, filled up his wine glass as her heart beat uncontrollably, still too afraid to meet his eyes she poured and moved on to the next glass, feeling her anxiety push in her chest as she concentrated on keeping her hand steady. She worked fast filling each of the four men's glasses and returning to the kitchen. The other people here didn't converse much with her and she was fine with that. She waited in the kitchen for the chef to finish preparing the starters. Her stomach grumbled at the smell of the lemon and garlic being infused together.

As the four men waited for their starters, Elliot took the opportunity to pitch his casino, which only seemed to annoy Victor more, he had been working nonstop, and more than anything all he wanted was a warm shower and to sleep in his own bed. He was about to tell Elliot to shut up when the waitress walked back into the room, carrying four dishes on a tray, the smell of garlic and lemon infiltrating his nose making his stomach growl. Victor watched as the girl walked up to him, putting down a plate in front of him.

"Thank you" he mumbled softly taking Grace by surprise, her eyes looking up instantly as emerald green eyes met hers in return. For a moment as she took in the strong features of the mafia king that sat in front of her, any sense of time had seized to exist. Her heart had rapidly started beating, and any moisture she had retained in her mouth dried up. Victor suppressed the small smirk that had made its way to his face as he watched the hazel-eyed beauty in front of him, a blush creeping to her cheeks. It took him a moment to remember the men who sat beside him at the table as her eyes captured his. The oxygen in the room dissipated as her eyes pierced through all the layers he had built up inside of himself until it felt as though she was looking straight into his soul.

Elliot cleared his throat, breaking the hold Victor's gaze had on Grace, she blinked quickly remembering her task as she moved along serving the rest of the men their food. As she exited the dining room she couldn't help the anxiousness that followed her and the fear that buzzed through her body. Looking into the eyes of Victor Bernardi, felt as though she was looking into a window of her soul, every vulnerability she had, every fear, every worry had been captured there and for the few seconds that she stood paralyzed in his emerald green eyes, she had felt as though her soul had been captured and every part of her essence was surrendered to the monster in front of her.

Victor sat silently eating his food as Elliot continued on about his casino but Victor's attention had been drawn elsewhere, the river of hazel brown eyes that had held his mere minutes ago burned into his memory, he had never felt as though anyone knew who he was until she looked at him, she had him in the palm of her hand and if she had decided to pull out his gun and shoot him with it there was not a thing he could do to stop it. She had captured every ounce of common sense he had in him and taken it with her when she left the room, the persistent need he had for food and a warm shower that he walked in with had disappeared and been replaced with a need to know her, to touch her, to hear her speak and to see her skin flush the same light pink color it had mere moments ago. In just a few seconds that her eyes had captured his, he went from being the most feared man alive to nothing more than just a man in need of her touch. But even as he thought that was all it was, lust, was far from it. He needed to know her. He needed to know every part of her.