Page 29 of Mafia Men Need Love Too
River was always lovely. That wasn’t something clothes could change. Whether she was wearing her leggings, the black dress she wore to the strip club, or a holey T-shirt and panties, she never failed to take his breath away. But the way she looked now…
Her dress was clearly designed for shock and awe. The emerald silk draped over her breasts and hugged the gentle curve of her hips. The skirt was shorter than he’d seen her wear, ending a couple inches above her knees. But the best—and worst—part?
No visible panty lines.
Holy fuck, the view he’d get if she bent over just a little…
But he couldn’t think about that. So, he glanced down at her strappy gold stilettos. Those shoes would make her just tall enough that if he wanted to kiss the hell out of her, he’d be able to do so without folding himself in half.
Fucking great. Now he had a hard on in the middle of the day in his fucking office like a goddamned teenager.
She just looked so…confident. Happy. It was like looking directly into the sun.
He’d never seen anyone or anything more beautiful in his life.
“Jesus,” he eventually managed to mutter.
“There it is,” Tenley said with a chuckle, sounding disgustingly smug. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Take her out someplace nice tonight. She deserves it, and it’d be good for you to be seen out together. But Nico?”
He merely grunted because words escaped him.
“She’s a good person,” Tenley said. “One of the best I’ve met in a long time. But she’s not used to people like us. You need to be careful with her and her heart. Because if you’re not and you hurt her, I’ll have no choice but to destroy you.”
It wasn’t a threat he took lightly. Of all the people who could easily destroy him, Tenley was by far the scariest. But even scarier than Tenley was the idea of hurting River. “If I hurt her, I’ll let you,” he murmured, eyes still glued to River.
He disconnected the call without bothering to say goodbye. It was just as well. The warm smile River was giving him had stolen any words he might’ve come up with anyway.
She lifted her arms and did a little twirl. “Well, what do you think? Fit for the mafia?”
“You’re stunning,” he murmured hoarsely.
She blinked up at him in a way that suggested no one had ever called her stunning before. He was very happy to be the first.
Van quietly collected her bags and disappeared as Nico’s brain screamed at him to say something that might break the tension between them. Something that would keep him from laying her down on his desk, inching that skirt up the length of her thighs, and burying his head right there between her?—
“It’s the makeup and haircut,” she said in a breathy voice that did nothing to quell his lust.
Since he hadn’t noticed her makeup or haircut, Nico was confident that wasn’t the truth. “It’s all you, fiorellino.”
And while she beamed up at him with those wide, innocent eyes of hers, he got nervous for the first time since they’d met. He’d been telling himself the whole time that marrying her, keeping her at his side and safe, was all that mattered. Not letting her get away from him was the ultimate goal. But now, he wasn’t so sure.
He was starting to wonder what it would be like if she wanted to marry him instead of being forced into it—if she wanted him even half as much as he wanted her.
But was that even possible? Could they get there from where they started?
Chapter 17
River was the first to admit her dating history existed on a scale that ranged from bad to embarrassing. Even her husband had always been a let’s-go-50-50, I-thought-your-birthday-was-in-February, I’m-a-high-value-man kind of walking red flag on dates.
So, to say that dating a man like Nico was foreign to her would be a gross understatement.
First of all, she’d assumed they were in the wrong place when Enzo pulled up in front of Il Lusso. River had never been there, but she’d heard stories of menus with no prices listed, bottles of wine that cost more than a downpayment on a beachfront condo, and patrons who never wore the same designer clothes twice. It did not seem like the kind of place a lowly, underpaid and under appreciated teacher with wrecked credit would frequent.
But Nico had assured her they were indeed in the right place. So, she’d taken the arm he offered and accompanied him through the lavishly appointed restaurant to their table, fighting the urge to fidget with her hair or straighten invisible wrinkles out of her skirt. Where was a good fidget spinner when she really needed one?
From the heavy velvet drapes that hushed the city’s noise to the hand-blown Murano glassware and marble-topped tables, everything at Il Lusso radiated luxury. Even the scent in the air—fresh basil and truffles—was rich.
It wasn’t until a stunningly attractive server named Gia placed a glass of mineral water in front of her that River realized the entire place was empty.
