Page 13 of King of Omen

Just as I turned away from his handsome, downright annoying face, he jerked his chin at me. ‘Who are you? You seem to be taking a lot of initiative around here. Are you the hired help?’

I reared back in shock at his words. ‘The hired?- Fuck, you’re a trip.’

He raised a brow, his mouth curving in amusement. ‘I’ve insulted you.’

I leaned in, not caring who he was or giving a shit about his infamous reputation. ‘Who I am doesn’t matter because, according to you, I’m not family enough. Now get the hell out.’

His eyes narrowed as my words parsed over him. ‘No one in my world dares speak to me this way.’

I shot him a sweet smile. ‘Then you’ll be glad I’m not in your world.’

A brow canted, and he smirked. ‘Not yet.’

I’d had enough. ‘Signore. Get the hell out, now.’

With an enigmatic twist of his lips, he stepped back, giving me space as he gestured towards the bathroom door. ‘All yours.’

Just then, the muscled bouncer from the corridor knocked and marched in.

‘Scusa, boss, she got past me.’ Lorenzo’s guardian turned to me. ‘Get the fuck out. You shouldn’t be in here.’

I sucked my teeth and tossed my head. ‘Show me where it says that on the rules board?’

Lorenzo’s eyes lit up with amusement, and then, turning to his man, they blazed with a warning that his bodyguard blanched at. ‘Mauri, let her be. There are no rules here,’ he growled, gesturing to the lack of posted regulations. ‘Let’s give the lady some peace,’ he rumbled, cleansing his sinewed hands at the sink and drying them on the delicate towel I’d hung on the bar earlier that day.

He took his time, too, his mouth flexing with mirth when I narrowed my gaze in a warning glare.

I intensified it as Lorenzo strolled out with a chin lift, accompanied by a soft rasped ‘Ciao.’

Before he followed his sentry out of the door.

I locked it behind them and, unable to think of anything else, conducted my business.

Only when I was washing at the basin did I linger on my fleeting meeting with him.

He really had no clue who I was.

Which was fine with me for now.

I didn’t need his brand of complexity in my life right now.

As I emerged from the study and descended the stairs, I spotted him with his brother by the fireplace.

Vitto was the more charismatic of the pair. He chatted with other guests, who appeared to hang on to his every word.

On the other hand, Lorenzo smouldered with closed-off menace and a fuck-off energy that walled him off.

He gazed at the scene with a calculating shrewdness that sent a chill down my spine.

Despite his icy frostiness, his menacing presence only drew people to him like moths to a flame, and I wondered the degree of leverage he held in the underworld.

Based on what Bianca had shared, I understood he was an enforcer, a hard man, a made man, a secretive fixer, and a player.

Still, he was infamous enough to cause a ripple among the guests.

An unseen air of danger hovered around him, so much so that he required a guard to accompany him to the gents.

For a second, I hoped none of his world would taint today. The wake was about celebrating the life of a fierce, ferocious and loving woman who didn’t deserve anything less than a dignified farewell.

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