"It’s time to wax and moisturize," she says, pulling a robe out of a small closet and handing it over to me. I frown at it. "Take all your clothes off, except for your bra, dolly," she says and I can't help but to be caught between hating her and liking her. She keeps ordering me around much in the same way that the rest of the Costa Family does, but it’s in a gentler way. It seems more like she's just used to directing people and having them listen.
After a moment’s hesitance, I follow her instructions, turning and pulling my clothes off when it becomes clear that she isn't going anywhere.
"Panties as well," she says when I'm about to pull the robe on. I frown, my body tensing up. My lips move as I try to figure out what to say but I only come up blank. "I'm going to see everything in a minute anyway," she reassures me, waving a hand, but she does turn around this time, giving me a small moment of opportunity to feel some sort of privacy.
I take a deep gulp before pulling my underwear down and quickly shucking the robe on afterwards. "I’m done," I breathe out, my words shaky.
“There," she says, pointing at the bench in the back.
I take a glance at it before tightening my shoulders and nodding. I lay down on the soft leather feeling it dip under my weight.
“We’re going to start with a wax.”
I feel exposed as Luanna makes her way over to me and beckons with her finger for me to pull my robe up. She turns away as I do, the cool air blowing across my skin as I watch Luanna return with a cart. On it is a small bowl with steam coming from it. I peer inside to stare at the hot, purple wax. There’s a lavender scent emanating from it that makes me scrunch my nose.
"Have you ever had a brazillian before?" she asks me, raising a brow as she dips a wooden stick into the wax. It's thick and the purple is vibrant on the wood.
"No," I tell her as she dips the stick back in the wax before picking up a pair of scissors.
“It’s nothing,” she tells me, “but we can't do it with this much hair." The last part is almost said to herself and then I feel a tug on my vagina. My nose wrinkles before the sound of snipping cuts through the room. Luanna is quiet and focused as she continues to trim my pubic hair and it leaves no time for me to feel embarrassed or exposed as she works quickly. I want to tell her that I've never been able to afford a brazillian, but instead I keep the words to myself, reminding myself that she isn't my friend.
She finally places the scissors back on her tray and they clatter loudly before she returns to the wax. Her hazel eyes meet mine briefly. "The process isn’t painful. The wax will be warm, but it won’t burn you. When I rip it off, it'll be like a pinch almost, nothing to worry about." Before I can respond, she's slicking the warm sticky stuff down on me. She's right, it doesn't burn but I want to stir slightly at the foreign feeling.
All thoughts leave my head as she violently rips the wax back off.
Wait a fucking minute.
The application of the wax may not have burned but the removal does. She may have said it'd only feel like a pinch but that definitely isn't the case. I have to take a deep breath as I try to ride through the pain. I glance up at her, my lips parted slightly in shock, but she's already laying another line of wax on me. I grit my teeth as she continues to repeat the painful process.
Wax, rip, wax, rip, wax rip.
I can't even feel my vagina when she's finally done. She looks down at me with a look of approval on her face. "One moment," she says before moving over to the door.
I quickly pull the robe down over my exposed parts and the door is ripped open a second later. Luanna says something in Italian before she makes a beckoning gesture.
Enzo appears in the room, his shoulders pulled taught as Luanana continues to speak. "Giovanni made it clear your approval would be necessary before she was done with the wax," she says. It takes me a moment to piece together the words that have just left her mouth.
I shoot up, holding the robe closely to my body. I glance back and forth between Luanna and Enzo, it suddenly becoming clear that the woman is in fact my enemy. She says something to him but his eyes are on me, hard and cold. Finally, he gives a sharp nod.
"You can leave for a moment, Launna," he says.
The older woman's eyes narrow for a moment before she exits the room, leaving me along with the big man. He moves closer to the bench and places a hand right next to my leg, his lips pulled into a deep frown.
"I don't want to do this," is all he says, his voice lacking any emotion. "But I have orders and they are to be obeyed. So you can make this easy and lift up your robe or I will have no choice but to take it off of you against your will." His eyes snap back to mine. The threat in them is clear. "I don't think either one of us wants that to happen."
My heart beats quickly in my chest. Pinpricks dance along the back of my neck and my face grows hot.
I know he’s serious. He’ll snatch the robe off if he has to. And showing him my vagina for only a brief moment should feel like nothing. He had to have seen it in passing the day he forced me off the floor of the stockroom.
Still, I blink, biting down on my lip. “You don't have to do this,” I try to reason. I don’t know why I even try to argue. I know when Enzo has orders he doesn’t budge. I’ve had proof of it time and time again.
"That's not true," he says, his hand touching the corner of my robe. It’s clear time for conversation is over.
It’ll be over quickly.
I let my hands fall away, turning my gaze away from him. My throat feels right and there’s an uncomfortable pressure on my chest.
He gives the robe a tug and it falls away from my body, leaving my name skin exposed to the cool air: I’m thankful I at least have my bra on. Despite my instincts, I glance at Enzo. His eyes are hard as they roam over my body. Warmth flashes through my body and without thinking, I try to pull my legs closed. Enzo’s strong grips stop me, applying pressure to my knees. He continues to stare. After a moment, he nods and then he steps back.
I hastily pull the robe back closed. I stare at him with burning cheeks. "You could have lied. He wouldn't have known if you didn't look."
His hard expression doesn’t change. He moves over to the door, pausing with his back to me. "That's where you're wrong,” he says after a moment. He doesn't go into any more detail before he exits out of the room.