Page 58 of Empire of Seduction

The first to arrive were the fiancée and her parents. The mother and daughter were both blond and wearing matching dresses. Okay, weird. Mikey welcomed them and the group stood chatting for a minute. Adam poured three glasses of our sparkling wine. “Here,” he said and handed me a tray.

“Good idea.” I loaded the glasses on the tray and walked them over. “Hi. Welcome to the Fiorentino Winery. Would you like a drink?”

“Thank you,” the mother said, practically ripping a glass off the tray.

The father and bride-to-be took theirs more delicately, and Mikey said, “This is Maggie, the other half of the Fiorentino Winery.”

The young woman gave me a careful once over. “Oh, you’re the one who hooked up with Josh in tenth grade.”

So, Josh had spread that news around. Great. “I hope you enjoy your evening. We’re very glad to be hosting you tonight.” Then I turned on my heel and headed back to the bar. This was why I liked vines better than people.

I went to stand beside Adam and set the tray down. “I’m hiding out with you for the rest of the night. Josh told her we hooked up in high school.”

Adam chuckled. “Don’t let it get to you. Josh is a douche.”

“One time,” I whispered. “It was at a party. I barely even remember it.”

“Well, I think it’s safe to say Josh does.”

“Ugh.”

“Here come more people. Don’t worry about it.”

The room began to fill after that, and I didn’t have time to think about past hookups and their big mouths. I served drinks and poured wine, even walked around and passed out flutes of sparkling wine once or twice. It was easy and kept my mind off my other problems.

For the most part Josh kept his distance, not even acknowledging me when I poured drinks for him and his college friends. That was fine by me. They tipped well, which was nice. Adam would receive the entire tip cup tonight, so anything I could do to help him out, I would.

Then I saw a familiar figure standing at a high top.Vito.

What the fuck? Yet my eyes were not deceiving me. Vito was here with Carlo, the two of them casually drinking like they hadthe right to be here. This went against policy. As staff, we never attended the events as a guest. It was bizarre andrude.

I grabbed a tray of full flutes. “I’ll be back,” I told Adam, then merged into the crowd. I passed out drinks and collected empty flutes, traveling in the direction of Vito’s table. When I reached the two Italians, I set my tray on their table. Carlo smiled at me, while Vito’s face revealed nothing. His gaze watched me intently and goose bumps raced along my skin under his regard, my body reacting even though I wished it wouldn’t.

I pasted on a fake grin. “Hi. What are you two doing here? This is a private event.”

Vito put his empty flute on my tray. “We were invited.”

Bullshit. “By who?”

“Does it matter? I’m the owner. I can be wherever I choose.”

This fucking dick. My smile fell. “It doesn’t work that way. These people don’t want?—”

“Signorina.” Carlo gently touched my arm. “The fiancée and her mother, we met them outside and they invited us.”

“Oh.” Relief cascaded through me. “Thank god. I thought I was going to have to bounce you.”

When I looked over, Vito’s chilly gaze was locked on my arm. Slowly, Carlo moved his hand to the table and when I looked at Vito, he was rubbing his jaw. “Carlo, you’ve seen enough tonight, no? We can catch up tomorrow.”

It wasn’t a question.

Carlo nodded and downed the rest of the liquid in his flute. “I really like this sparkling Riesling, Maggie. The hint of apricot and wild rose is a nice touch.”

“Thank you. I’m pretty fond of it myself.”

“I’ll bid you both goodnight. See you in the morning.” Carlo bent and kissed both of my cheeks. “Ciao.”

“Ciao,” I said, while Vito said nothing.

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