I nod. As we walk through the crowd I watch the guests in expensive tuxedos and designer gowns. Waitstaff glide around holding silver platters with hors d’oeuvres or champagne.
We reach table number seven and Dominic pulls the chair out for me. “Sit,” he commands as his eyes scan the ballroom. “You must be tired.”
“Thank you.” I sink into the chair wondering why he’s being so nice. He’s acting as if we’re still a couple. Maybe it’s part of the charm to make him look more relatable to clients.
“I don’t see him,” he murmurs as he takes two glasses of champagne from a waiter. He hands me one.
“Who?” I take the flute from him.
“My potential client Ambrose Lane. He’s supposed to be here tonight.”
“What does he want to hire you for?”
Dominic sits in the chair next to me and leans in close. “He suspects his wife is being unfaithful to him.” He takes a sip of the champagne. “It's sad to say that’s over half of my cases these days. Millionaires and billionaires believing their wives or husbands are cheating on them and they want confirmation.”
“That’s a shame.” Turning around I begin to recognize a few of the guests attending. Many of them have been in my nightclub.
Dominic checks his phone. “Ambrose just sent me a text saying how he and his wife will be arriving in a few minutes.” He places the phone back in his jacket pocket. “Would you like to go get some food while we wait?”
“You know I never turn down food,” I joke. He takes my arm and leads me over to the appetizer station.
The table is decorated with the colors gold and black. Rows of hot chafing dishes are filled with delicious morsels. I take one of the plates but Dominic immediately takes it from me. I give him a look and he just shrugs.
“I don’t want you spilling anything on that gorgeous dress you’re wearing,” Dominic replies as he walks along the table. “Tell me what you want to eat.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I hiss.
“What?”
“I said why are you being so nice to me? I had to practically blackmail you to help me and now you’re acting like Prince Charming.”
“You used to love it when I acted like this.” Dominic smiles and scoops some mini eggplant parmigiana bites into my plate.
“Yes, I did and still do. But have you forgotten that at the end of the day I’m still part of a family who goes against everything you stand for?” I murmur. “I’ll take some lobster bruschetta, please.”
“Just because we were on opposite sides of the law doesn’t mean we can’t get along for tonight.” Dominic places a few onto my dish.
“Put some of those stuffed mushrooms on there too, please. And a biscuit.” I point to the chafing dishes. “We couldn’t get along back then, why would it be different now?”
“Because for the moment we are working on the same team.” Dominic hands me my plate as we walk back to the table. “I’ll admit I was a little bit harsh in the beginning but you can’t deny we always made a good team.” He gives me a fork.
I take it and don’t reply. I can’t get caught up in his charm. It disgusts me how after a few days we have fallen back into old habits. Like fifteen years haven’t gone by at all. Dominic leaves me at our table then goes back to fix a plate for himself.
The other guests at our table haven’t arrived. They are probably still mingling. I pick up a fork and push it into a stuffed mushroom. I can’t lie, it feels nice to be treated like royalty by a man. It’s been a long time since that happened. Most of the time I’m usually the one putting out hits on them. My stomach growls as I raise the morsel to my lips and take a bite.
“Well well well if it isn’t Cipriani Capuano,” a cold voice sneers behind me.
I spit my mushroom onto the plate. No way in hell. It can’t be.
Turning around, I grip the back of my chair as I see Valerio Neri standing behind me flanked by two of his goons.
“Valerio Neri,” I rise to my feet and face him.
He’s head of the Neri family, one of our rivals. He breathes violence and won’t hesitate to shed blood.
“A law enforcement charity event doesn’t seem like your go-to event.” Valerio looks me up and down.
“I could say the same for you.” I return his stare.
