Chapter 6

As I dressed for Don Falcone's party that night, somehow, it felt different then the many times when I'd done it before. I wasn't dressed any differently. As always, all in black, the only exception being I was wearing my best suit. Somehow, this party didn't seem to be all business like the ones before, it felt like an occasion. I told myself that was not because of Constance Falcone, but something inside me told me that it was. Even as I denied it strenuously. I had spent the whole of that day checking then double checking the security for the party, but that's not what had me on edge.

"Tonight, I'm not just running security though, I'm looking after the Don's daughter. I get to spend the night watching her" I thought it suddenly, so much so that it shocked me as I felt this intense excitement to see her, not completely understanding it at all. My mind drifted from that thought to another quickly. To thoughts of what she would look like that night. Of what she would wear and do. It only served to put me more on edge. Because even though I had helped her picked each of the three dresses she had bought, I still had no idea what she would wear, and was curious to see what she would appear in when I arrived to get her.

The day we'd spent shopping for dresses was on my mind as I drove. Not just because I found myself wanting to think about her, but also for reasons I truly didn't know. It had actually been fun. Spending the days with her out on the town. I hadn't just been her bodyguard, but it was like we were spending time together as friends. It was surreal especially as I sat there, considering my life, and the fact I didn't spend time with anyone else. I was always by myself until Constance came along. Maybe that was why I sat there, driving, and thinking of the day we had spent together. And the three dresses she had bought. One to make her father happy, one to make her mother happy, and one that she picked herself. We had found the one her father would like first. Constance had chosen something elegantly simple as was the Don's style. It didn't show any hint of cleavage, in fact, she was very much hidden from the world, but nonetheless, it was a pretty dress. The fabric was black with no designs on it, the skirt of the dress going until just beyond her knees. They both knew her father was sure to like it. Black, with no designs, and the equally simple black shoes that were just as perfect.

"Your father will approve" I said when she asked my opinion, simply walking away from her as I said it hearing as she walked behind me. The dress for her mother had come next. It had been harder to find at first, but then Constance had stumbled across it suddenly. Until that moment, she had been worried she wouldn't find anything appropriate, but then she had. I was standing around watching her. She had been rifling through a rack of dresses, this cute little frown on her face, when she came upon the dress that she deemed perfect. It was hidden among a bunch of other dresses as if someone had hidden it there hoping someone wouldn't buy it. I knew when she found what she was looking for because she smiled this grin that was almost evil as she pulled it out to examine it carefully. The fabric was a metallic blue, like a liquid ocean, and the skirt went to her toes. It looked like something a woman might have worn to a nightclub sometime in the eighties. Something from another more flirtatious time. She had liked it immediately and so had I though mostly because my mind was picturing images it wasn't supposed to be having. Of her, in that dress, and out of it. As I drove, I was having those images again until I shook them away. When she tried it on, I had trouble averting my eyes; she looked ravishing even if I couldn't say that to her.

"My breasts are nearly falling out, mother should love it" said Constance as soon as she saw herself in the dress, not exactly smiling, but after a moment, she laughed. I had to laugh too. Because she didn't see what I was seeing. She was beautiful and looking at her, I hoped someday she saw that as I stood there silently watching her. It left her breasts practically hanging out, I had never noticed how ample her cleavage was until I saw her in that thin bikini strap dress.

"She's a goddess" I thought it as I looked at her then, her hair hanging around her face to frame it, tumbling down across her shoulders, my thoughts then my eyes betraying the very thought as I had it. Constance couldn't see it, but she was a beauty queen. The beauty queen of Gotham city, she outshined all the rest, and in that moment, I experienced it for the first time. The feeling, of wanting her, not just sexually, but emotionally maybe. I wanted her to be mine even as I knew I couldn't have her. I quickly suppressed the thought though as soon as I had because as always, it was forbidden, just like her. My ravishing beauty though, I could tell by the way she looked at herself in the mirror that she didn't think so.

As I drove, I was hoping that wasn't the dress she chose though I still didn't understand why. Constance Falcone was not mine.

"You must simply keep her breathing" I thought then trying to tell myself that I shouldn't care for her even as I knew I did anyway. The truth was I had liked the dress she picked. As I waited by the car outside the house where she lived with her mother, I hoped that was the one she'd be wearing.

I heard her heels on the steps leading up to her house first. The sound seemed to echo around me and when I turned, she was just standing there as if she was waiting for me to do so. She truly looked like the princess of Gotham except she wasn't wearing a crown. I thought that she should have been as I first laid eyes on her then. The dress was red. It didn't remind me of blood, but the purer red of a ripened rose in bloom. It was sleeveless, only just hinting at her ample cleavage by enhancing the curved swell of her breasts. It was elegant, like something out of another age, but also something meant for this age too. It fit her perfectly as she stood there before me looking as if she was holding her breath waiting for my reaction. I couldn't say anything though as I looked her up and down. It stopped just past her knees and over it she wore a pure white shawl made of wool fabric. It added to her elegance as she kept it as a princess would. Draped along the curve of her shoulders. Wrapped around the curve of her arms. It was beautiful, just like her, as she stood there just looking at me. She looked nervous as if expecting me to tell her she looked horrible. I couldn't say that though especially as she got closer and I discovered she was almost eye level with me. Because she was wearing high heels, something I'd never seen her wear before. Like her dress, the heels were red too, though a deeper red more comparable to blood this time. They were sandals, so I could see her toes were red too, and the six-inch heel made it, so we were nearly eye to eye though I did have a few inches on her still. It was enticing somehow as I looked into her eyes.

Her hair fell straight around her shoulders, a few strands curled to frame her face, and as she stood in front of me, I couldn't hide it as I looked her up and down. My gaze was far from platonic. I had never wanted someone like I did her in that moment. Not just to claim her as mine, but to touch her. To have her know she was mine. It shook me as I remembered that feeling from before at the store, it was there again, surging through my body. I denied once again though as I just continued to look at her. Because if she had been anyone else, I would have had my way with her whether she wanted it or not. This girl, she was my friend, so I just stood there looking at her.

"Does your silence mean I don't look terrible?" whispered Constance, looking away from me to look at the ground. Smiling, I walked to the car, opening the door.

"Look at me, little girl" I whispered as she moved to get into the car. She didn't though, she only stepped into the passenger seat, keeping her eyes away from mine. That was when I came to stand in the doorway at the passenger side letting the dull silence remain between us.

"Look at me, Constance" I said it under my breath, so only she could hear me, and when her head snapped up, I knew I had her full attention. There was something between us then as we just stared at each other. It was almost eerie. That connection that we had then that we didn't even understand.

"You've never used my name before" whispered Constance then, her eyes showing how much she appreciated that as they peered into mine, both of us aware that that was true because until that moment she had just been Don Falcone's little girl.

"Constance" I whispered again, not really sure why then as I did it, still only looking at her in that moment fully aware why I couldn't call her little girl; I knew more then any other time I had spent with her that that she was not a little girl, but a beautiful girl. I think she knew that as we stared at each other.

"No matter what anyone may tell you, you look beautiful. You will be the most beautiful girl in the room tonight. If anyone does say otherwise, tell me, I'll put a bullet in their head" I said it quickly then I wanted to. As I said it, suddenly, her hand was in mine, and at first, I wasn't even sure why. Until my mind worked before, I even knew what I was doing. I looked her in the eye, and I didn't look away.

When I brought it to my lips, our eyes were still locked, and for the first time, we shared a smile.

"Let's get Cinderella to the ball before the clock strikes twelve" I said then, closing the door, hearing her laugh as I walked around the car. As I drove her to the party, I tried to deny what I knew was happening. I was falling in love with Constance Falcone. I knew she was forbidden fruit, but I knew, it was happening anyway.