Page 23 of Daddies of the Underworld

Questions were whispered behind drinks and hands, and with each one, the prickling sensation that had been sweeping up and down my spine intensified.

Dante’s hand skimmed the small of my back. The touch was electric, stiffening my spine and forcing air into my lungs. “We’re with you.”

Three stupid little words should not have been able to affect me as much as they did. My heart reacted with a happy little skip, and I felt a giddy smile try to emerge. No. Not that. I couldn’t smile like a fool in front of all these people.

Luca leaned in again. “Would you like to dance?”

“I don’t know how.” Admitting that to anyone else might have embarrassed me.

Luca didn’t laugh or seem disappointed. He slid his arm from beneath my hand and wrapped it around my waist. “I am an excellent teacher. Do you want to learn?”

I’d barely managed a nod when he swept me onto the dance floor. A few couples moved aside when we joined them, creating a wide berth. Great, more people would be able to see me.

He moved, and I followed because he gave me no choice. His hands at my waist guided me through the steps. “Look at me.” It was not an order so much as a request, and I managed to lift my gaze from my toes to his eyes. “Yes, just like that. You do not need your brain for this, Nina. Only heart.” The next few steps were easier, less stiff, and Luca guided me without making it obvious.

“You did this on purpose.”

He smirked. “I do many things on purpose. You’ll need to be more specific.”

I tried to glare, but it took too much focus. “Bringing me here. Making me visible.”

His gaze flicked over my shoulder, and when he spun me around, I took in Dante and Matteo standing amid a group of men. He turned us a second time and brought me flush against him. “Hiding you failed.”

My stomach dipped.

Luca’s hand tightened at my waist. “Pretending you could remain anonymous in a villa full of predators is a fool’s game when they have already pulled your name and picture. Tonight, everyone sees you with us. Tonight, they understand that even looking at you for too long is unwise. Much less what would happen should they attempt to lay a finger on you. Most men here are reasonable. A few need reminders that crossing us is unwise.”

“Unwise?” My numb lips barely managed to release the word.

His grin returned, the one full of sharpness. “I am being polite.” He spun me gently, and a laugh burst out before I could trap it.

For a few seconds, he let me forget about unauthorized access and death threats. For a few seconds, the villa became the fairytale again.

The music ended, and reality crashed down as scattered applause sounded around us.

Luca kissed my knuckles with a dramatic flourish that earned several interested looks.

I should have rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

Matteo intercepted us at the edge of the terrace. “Enjoying yourself?”

“No one has shot at me tonight, so yes. I’d called that a huge improvement.” I didn’t know where I found the sass, but it flew out without a second thought.

Matteo’s eyes crinkled at the corners, the look there and gone so fast I nearly missed it. Had he almost smiled? “That is a low bar, but I will accept it.” He held out his arm as Luca had at my door. “Walk with me.”

This was not a suggestion wrapped in a statement. Matteo commanded, he did not request. He simply stood there and waited until I slid my hand into the crook of his arm. It was so old-fashioned, but it felt glamorous to walk alongside him like this. “You’re doing well.”

I managed not to fidget with the dress as I answered. “I feel like an overdressed fraud.”

“Most people here are overdressed frauds. You are neither.”

“I’m serious.” I bit back my smile. “A few days ago, I was carrying trays. Tonight…” I trailed off, words not adequate enough to convey my deep sense of inadequacy.

Matteo led the way to the edge of the terrace, where the sea crashed into the rocks in a steady, violent rhythm. “This place overwhelms you?”

“A little.”

He slid his hand from mine and dropped it to the small of my back, drawing out a shiver. “Why?”