Page 29 of Doll's Eye

It was Massimo who inspired my modest style. His comment at the gala was more impactful than I’ll ever admit. In my sweet dresses, you’ll never take me for a trained killer. And that’sprecisely how he wears his suits. He looks more like a nobleman than a gangster.

We get into the SUV between two others for departure. My father never travels with so many men unless leaving the state or the country. “Do you always travel this heavy?” I ask him after a few minutes of driving.

“I do now.” He looks down at me as his large armrests over the back of the seat. I feel so tiny, practically tucked into his side.

“Oh, so this is because of me?”

“I told you. You’re mine to protect now. For me to have a good time and relax with you, doubling my men will help me do so.”

“Makes sense.” I turn my head and watch out the window as we approach the city, trying to ignore his recent words.

You’re mine to protect now. You’re mine…

I feel my hair moving away from my neck and try to obviate a shiver, pretending to be unaffected. “You look incredible,cara mia,” he rumbles close to my ear.

He doesn’t bother to move when I turn back to him. Our faces are so close that my eyes have to bounce side to side to try to focus. One bump in the road would push us together. “I’m glad you think so.”

Slowly, he moves in closer, and my eyes flutter shut. My lips part, hoping I’ll soon feel his brush against them. Instead, I feel his breath move behind my ear and in my hair. His lips press against that sensitive spot between my ear and neck, causing me to go limp. My heart races and my breath hitches, and I find myself tilting my head to expose my neck. The way my skin pebbles when his tongue darts out and flicks against the skin there, I almost moan. I’ve wanted him for so long now; the craving and cupidity leave me famished.

The heat from his breath finds its way back to my ear. “Dolcezza.”Sweetness. If he doesn’t fucking put me out of my misery and kiss me soon, I might explode.

The tender way he grips my chin and runs his thumb just below my bottom lip has me opening my eyes to be sure it’s really him who’s touching me. His gaze literally transfixes me, and I cannot look away. A bomb could be going off, or bullets could be flying, and I wouldn’t be able to release myself from his seizure.

“We’re here, boss.”

Massimo gives me the hint of a smile and moves to get out, leaving me a mess inside and out. Taking a deep breath, I compose myself and allow him to help me out of the vehicle, taking immediate hold of my hand to head through the private entrance in the back.

I’m excited to finally come to this club that the De Luca’s own. I’ve never been, and I’ve always been curious about it. They own quite a few legitimate businesses and do very well through them. Vineyards over in Italy, restaurants throughout the city, clubs, bars, strip joints, random investments. Without their illegal businesses, they’d still be rich as sin.

The entrance takes us through a long, darkened hallway that feels so tight with all these large men surrounding me; it makes me cling to Massimo a little more. He glances over his shoulder, and I give him a reassuring smile in response.

The hallway leads us to an elevator that opens to a balcony separate from all the others, overlooking the entire club. There’s a glass partition along most of the railing, assuming it’s bulletproof as an extra precaution. The colors around us are dark and luminous with black, sleek tiled floors. There are three large crescent-shaped booths all in a row and two small podiums between them with a pole going from floor to ceiling, presumably for dancers.

We’re the first ones here, so I take the time to check out the place. I go to step around the partition, and Massimo stops me by my elbow. “I want you behind this until my guys finishscouting and hitting their posts,” he lightly demands, and I nod my head.

He leaves to talk with some of his detail while I safely stay behind the glass to observe. It’s a beautiful club, and I’m impressed. The club that we own is not as ritzy as this. But its sole purpose is to launder money from it, so we don’t take much pride in it.

I sip on an extra dirty martini next to my sexy fiancé as he talks with a bunch of douchebags. Men from the Irish mob further up the East Coast whom I cannot stand. They’re such barbarians, from their cliché bruteness to their obnoxious accents to their sexism. We’ve adapted to the modern gangsters, but they seem to be stuck in some time loop.

Typically, I enjoy being included in business meetings, but these pricks won’t even acknowledge me when I open my mouth. I’d love nothing more than to pull out some of my knives from my thigh holster to use one of them as target practice.

I look around at the women they brought and wonder if I look anything like them. Okay, so my dress tonight is a little risqué, but I wanted to look sexy for my man. Looking at all their ring fingers, none of the women are wearing a ring, yet most of the men are indeed wearing one.

Fuckingstronzos.

Massimo’s head snaps at me, and he raises his eyebrows.Shit, did I say that out loud?Oops. The smell of whiskey wafts over me as he leans in close. “Are you bored,bella?”

“I’m okay.” I smile and reach up to comb my fingers through some of his soft hair. I love its beautiful, natural waves and how the color is much darker than his facial hair. “Though my tolerance is waning.”

I wasn’t even thinking when I reached out to make contact, but the look in his eyes tells me he doesn’t mind the caress. “I’ll wrap this up soon. Then we can have some fun.”

“Fun?” My tone is flirtatious as I lean into him, cozying up to his arm. “I can’t wait to see how Massimo De Luca has fun.” The music drowns out the sound of his chuckle, but I feel its vibration and have to look away before I become enamored with him.

Downing my third martini, I’m tired of waiting for these assholes to leave, so I get up and head over to the balcony and lean over it to enjoy people-watching. You’d think I’d envy their lives. They are so carefree, and their only actual obligation is paying their bills. They get to fall in love over and over and choose their own path. The only real expectations are from themselves.

But I don’t want their lives. I happen to love mine.

Though I do miss my family like crazy, I wish Massimo could have been thrown into my life, not vice versa. It feels like I’m losing everything when he is only gaining. But Massimo is beginning to fill a part of me that I had no idea was lacking.

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