"What are you thinking about?" Thomas asks from the chair across from hers, a glass of scotch in his hand.
"Nothing."
"Are you thinking about him?" he asks before taking a sip of his drink. Melina doesn't need him to say the name to figure out who the "him" is.
"No," she says, wondering why he's asking.
"You should learn to do a better job at lying."
"I'm sorry," she says, hoping he doesn't make a big deal out of it.
"How did you guys meet?" Did he just ask me that? "Tell me," he says, taking a sip of his drink. "I want to know everything since we are going back to where it all started. You guys were high school sweethearts, right?" He leans back in his seat, eager to hear what she has to say.
"Yes." Melina doesn't like that he's curious about how she and James met. Anything she says could set him off, and she doesn't have much room to hide on the plane.
"Fell in love when you were both sixteen and married right after high school. Correct?"
"Yes." If he knows, why is he asking?
"Wow, that was what, six years together?"
"Yes."
"I'm guessing he whored you around in those six years." Thomas tightens his grip on his drink. Melina feels a bullet pierce her heart. It hurts to hear Thomas call her a whore.
"No."
"No!" he exclaims, pretending to be surprised.
"We started conning people when we turned nineteen," Melina explains, "then he started to use his fist to express himself more."
"Nice," he says, throwing the rest of his drink back and replacing the glass in its holder. He locks his gaze on Melina, starring at her intensely. "During that time, did you fall in love with any of the men you were whored to?"
"Yes." Melina replies, holding his stare.
"How many?" he asks, pulling his hand into a tight fist. Melina bets that if the glass was still in his hand, it would have shattered to pieces right now, with how white his knuckles are.
"Only one."
"Only one," he says, feigning a laugh. "Let me guess, James."
"No, I didn't con him."
"Then who?"
"You." Thomas freezes in his seat. She could tell he was not expecting her to say that.
"You loved me?" he laughs drily.
"Yes, I did." Tears sting the back of her eyes. She could tell this conversation was killing Thomas. She was perplexed as to why he had decided to discuss it at all.
"You have a funny way of expressing it, Melina."
"I know," she admits, sniffing and blinking her eyes to push her tears back.
"Do you know you were the first woman I fell in love with?"
The tears escape her eyes. She couldn't believe what he said. She starts to wonder how many glasses he's had since they took off because Thomas would never pour out his heart like this.
He goes on, "Being from a mafia family made me distrustful of people, so I hardly ever dated. Until you, I only fucked women and never gave them my heart." Melina could tell he was in pain by the tone of his voice. She was unaware of any of this.
"I'm sorry." More tears stream down her cheeks. She can't imagine the pain he must have felt when she betrayed him. He must think the first woman he gave his heart to never loved him back.
"There was just something about you that drew this ice-cold heart of mine to you. What the fuck it was? I don't know."
"I don't know what to say," Melina responds, meaning every word; she's speechless. Everything he says catches her off guard.
"Don't fucking say anything; what is done is done," he says as he gets out of his seat. "Mafia men like me aren't even supposed to know what that word means or how it feels," he says as he walks away.
Hearing him say that, Melina's heart tightens in her chest. She understands that if Thomas never falls in love again, it will be her fault. Tears stream down her cheeks like a waterfall. She never meant to do this to him. She feels so horrible right now.
Melina cries herself to sleep. Her heart is bleeding from what she did to Thomas.
THOMAS
Thomas is startled awake by the sound of someone groaning in pain. He looks around the plane, trying to find the source. Thomas sees Melina asleep in the chair, sweating profusely, and her face tense with pain. He wonders why she didn't go inside to sleep in the bedroom. Moving closer, he observes her mouth moving. He puts his ear close to her lips to hear what she's saying.
"Please leave me alone, Matteo; I didn't tell Thomas to emasculate you," Melina says, clenching her fist. Thomas immediately realizes she's dreaming about what happened and begins to wake her up.
"Melina, open your eyes," he says softly, gently tapping her shoulder.
"No, please stop. Please do not rape me," screams Melina, startling Thomas. Panicking, he shakes her shoulders viciously, yelling her name.
"Fucking open your eyes!"
"No!" she yells louder, thrashing in her seat.
"Melina!" Thomas yells, forcing her body to remain still.
"Thomas," Melina calls, with her eyes still closed.
"Yes, it's me. I'm here."
"You've come to save me." Thomas hears the hope in her voice, and that ice around his heart begins to crack. He can't believe his voice gives Melina hope.
"Yes, I have; open your eyes, Melina," he says, softly patting her hair to calm her down. Melina's eyes slowly flutter open.
"Thomas," she sniffs, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Yes."
"Please don't leave me," Melina says as she wraps her arms around his neck. His eyes widen as he witnesses Melina's daring action. Thomas' body stiffens as he is blinded by Melina's scent. He can't believe even though he hates Melina, her scent is still the sweetest fucking thing he has ever smelled. He moves away but is stopped by the sensation of her tears on his shoulder. He decides to spend the night with her. She deserves it after what she went through yesterday.
Picking her up from the chair, Thomas wraps Melina's legs around his waist and walks them to the bedroom on the plane. He moves to the bed and tries to put her on it, but she refuses to let go.
"Melina, you need to let go so you can take off your clothes and shower." She shakes her head, tightening her arms around his neck. She must still be pretty shaken from her nightmare.
Thomas decides to walk them to the bathroom in this manner. They hop into the shower with their clothes on. Melina won't let go. Thomas tries again to drop her, and this time Melina lets him but remains close to him. He gently lifts her shirt off her head and pulls her pants down. Seeing her half naked hardens Thomas' dick in his pants. Ignoring it, he continues to remove her underwear before removing his own. He cleans her body with the small bottle of shower gel and washes her hair with shampoo.
Thomas looks down at her, wondering how she's coping. What she went through was a nightmare, on top of the fact that he pretended to almost rape her two weeks ago. But it would be a mistake to believe Thomas cares for Melina. He's fucking human. Anyone who walked in on what he did yesterday would have done the same. His blood is boiling just thinking about what those men almost did. Thomas even thinks their death was too easy for touching his Melina.
He cleans himself once he's done with her and moves to step out to get towels, but Melina grabs his arm.
"I'm going to get us towels. I won't be gone for more than a minute," Thomas assures her softly.
"Okay," she says, barely above a whisper. Thomas could tell she hadn't fully recovered. He steps out of the bathroom and returns with two towels.
Cleaning Melina's body before his, he walks them back out with Melina attached to him by the hips. He helps her put on her underwear and pajamas before tucking her in bed. Melina, of course, doesn't let him go and makes him sit on the chair close to the bed.
As he watches her fall asleep, Thomas realizes his demons made no attempt to bask in her misery. They were nowhere to be found. It's as if they've vanished. He didn't feel even an ounce of anger toward her again. He didn't like it. He fucking didn't like it, and he'll have to fix it tomorrow because nothing has changed.