Page 56 of Broken Mafia Prince
He stills. “What?”
“Are you stalking me?”
Raffaele crosses his muscled arms over his chest, one eyebrow curling up. “And why would I do that?”
“Who knows why you do what you do?” I glance around nervously. “Look, just stay away from me, okay?”
“Is that the thank you I get for saving you from that asshole?” he asks with surprise.
“I didn’t need you to save me,” I snap. “I was going to handle it.”
“I gave you more than enough time to sort it yourself,” Raffaele informs me. “But it seems your problem-solving skills are as bad as your taste in men.”
“What do you know about my taste in men?”
“That they’ll look better with a hole through their head and a gag over their mouth,” he says easily. “I’m disappointed, Giulia. You don’t strike me as the type who’ll settle for anything but a daydream.”
“I’m an adult now,” I tell him. “I have to be wide awake, I can’t afford daydreams.”
Disappointment flashes behind his eyes, there and gone, so fast that I barely register it, but it leaves a strange feeling at the bottom of my stomach. Tamping it down, I make a show of checking the time on my phone and rise to my feet. I pull out a few hundred-dollar bills from my purse and leave them on the table.
“I’ll drive you home.” His words are a clear order, and I bristle at being ordered.
“No, thanks.” I whirl around and march out, hoping he’ll decide that he’s had enough of me for the day. I hear his footsteps trailing over me a moment later, and I let out a groan.
“Is this not some kind of family violation?” I glance over my shoulder to ask him, almost tripping on the perfectly smooth sidewalk as I finally take in all of him.
I don’t know how it’s possible, but Raffaele has managed to get even more attractive since our encounter at the airport. I catch several women and even men eyeing him. The black silk shirt he has on stretches across his impressive frame, the top three buttons are open, and I catch the wink of a gold chain. He looks like some sort of dashing pirate, the kind that will take every last thing you have without apology.
Staying as far from him as possible is self-preservation, and it’s not even about the fact that my father will probably marry me to the first available man if he ever finds out I’ve been in such close proximity to the enemy.
“Haven’t you heard? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” he taunts, his long legs allowing him to fall into stride with me.
I glare at him. “The last time we were close, I got shot at. I’m sorry if I’m not eager to recreate that magic. Go the fuck away.”
His jaw clenches. “We’re just going in the same direction.”
I halt in my tracks, and I’m not surprised when he stops walking, too. When he looks at me in confusion, I wave him ahead. “Please, don’t let me keep you.”
His mouth ticks up the slightest inch at one corner. “Stop being so goddamn stubborn and let me drive you.”
Over my dead body. There’s no way I’m getting in a car with a Gagliardi, especially him.
I pull out my phone and dial the first name on my contact list. If Isa doesn’t pick up, I’ll have no choice but to get in a cab, even though the thought of it makes my skin crawl. I blame Luca for bringing me all the way out here and scurrying away like a terrified rat.
“I didn’t know chauffeur was one of your qualifications, along with doctor.” I stare at him in faux surprise. “My, my, you’re full of surprises, aren’t you? What else are you hiding from me?”
“You’ll find out on the ride over,” he says seriously.
“My father will have both of our heads if I pull up to the house in your passenger seat, and I think I like my head just fine where it is.”
“He should put his decapitating efforts toward the asshole who abandoned you here.”
“You chased him off!” I hiss.
“The date didn’t look like it was going well,” he points out. “Where the fuck did you find that spinelesspezzo di merda?”
“Why? Are you in the market for one?”
