Page 427 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

I sneak a quick glance at Dante. My breath hitches when I see his eyes darken with lust, the same lust flooding my insides right now.

Oh my God, why do you have to be so goddamn irresistible?

I need to hate you, not constantly want to mount you!

Dante pushes Sergio out of the room. “Come on, let’s go.” He gives me a long look that makes goosebumps pebble my arms and legs before he pulls the door closed.

Heaven crosses her arms over her chest. “Care to tell me what those googly-eyes were all about?”

I recoil. Shit, she’s observant. “I don’t think he was?—”

“Not his,” she says with a grin. “Yours.”

A hot flush creeps up the sides of my neck, and my cheeks flame as I sputter an intelligible response. It’s not exactly professional to be caught pining for your employer’s brother-in-law. “No, I don’t…he’s not…I mean, I’m not interested in Dante.” I wave my hand around. “Like, atall.”

She nods. “Okay. And you’re sticking with that story?”

“It’s not a story!” I say. “Honestly.”

Heaven shrugs. “I really want him to find a nice girl, someone other than the usual hoes, you know what I mean? The ones who are all about what he can do for them, socially, financially. I want him to find someone he can really care about and settle down with. He’s a good guy. Takes care of his family. Great with babies,” she says with a pointed look at Aisling.

“He’s, um, really nice,” I stammer. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend?”

“Not in the entire time I’ve known him,” Heaven says, getting up from the bed to unzip me. I hold an arm over the top of the dress in case someone else, like maybe Matteo, decides to barge in here next. “I just want him to be happy. Sergio and their other brother Roman are both engaged. Dante needs someone. His job is…” Her voice trails off and my ears perk up.

“What about his job?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I don’t know. It keeps him moving around too much. He can’t put down roots, you know?”

“I guess that’s what it takes to be a successful real estate investor, right?”

Her brow furrows slightly before she plasters on a big, bright smile. “That’s right! Always putting his career first, that guy.”

Yep.Sonot a real estate investor.

“How’d you and Matteo meet?” I ask, popping back into the closet to do a quick change.

She lets out a dry laugh. “It wasn’t exactly love at first sight, that’s for sure. We’d never get ‘proposal of the year’ votes for our story, either.”

“What do you mean?” I pull back my hair and adjust the straps of my tank top as I come back out of the closet.

“I didn’t have much choice in marrying Matteo,” Heaven says. “I did it for my family, not for love.”

“Wait, so you were arranged?” My mouth drops open, my words soaked in disbelief. “Like, no dating? Had you even seen him before you married him?”

“Oh yeah,” she says. “I went to live with him the night he proposed. But we weren’t on the best terms at that point. Actually,” she muses. “I hated him. Hard.”

“Wow,” I murmur. “I can’t believe it. An arranged marriage? What century is it?” I giggle.

“I know. It sounds so incredibly old-world. But both families had something to gain, so we did it.” She shrugs. “And even though I swore it would never happen, we fell in love. Crazy, powerful, forever kind of love.”

“That’s unbelievable.” I shake my head. “I’d have never guessed you hated him based on the way you guys are always falling all over each other.”

“He’s a tough one. Doesn’t show much emotion. Having Aisling kind of changed the guy he shows to the world.”

“Yeah, I still see the emotionless guy,” I quip.

“He’s very protective,” Heaven says. “And he doesn’t trust easily.”

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