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But the stirring in my stomach wasn’t there, the butterflies a sleeping bunch. My heart paced and beat like clockwork. I wasn’t holding my breath the way I did at the mere presence of Nico.
Great, I thought with a mental roll of my eyes. Maybe he’d ruined me for all other men.
“Buona sera,”I replied, trying to put Nico out of my mind.
This was a Costa man I could have used for my plan. A nephew to the don, I didn’t know much about him—the newspapers and tabloids could only reveal so much—but he didn’t have the same lethal reputation that Nico did. So this should have been perfect.
It should have been, but it wasn’t.
Tommaso’s words kept playing over and over again in my head.
“The past is the past for a reason. It’s meant to stay behind you, not lead you.”
A few months ago, I had a pseudo-uncle I loved and a great career—a great life—ahead of me. Now, I had nothing. Nothing but a past that fueled my thirst for validation. Even if I rose to the top of the Costa empire or toppled the Lucas, it would never make my family love me, only fear me, hate me.
I’d come here tonight looking for answers but found something else instead. The glint in Tommaso’s gaze refracted in my mind’s eye.
It was time to embrace who I was. Who Iam. Raven Ferrari.
Sofia was dead.
Sofia Luca died in a fire eleven years ago.
It was time to let her rest.
“I’m Dario,” the man said, holding out his hand.
I know who you are,I told him in my head.
I shook his hand, trying to feel the touch ripple up my arm like it had when Nico touched me. No such luck.
“I’m Raven,” I told him as I took my hand back and reached for my drink.
“What brings you here this evening, Raven?” he asked with a lopsided grin.
“A fork in the road,” I told him, thinking of theLOSTsign everyone else seemed to be seeing on my forehead.
I tried to push the past week from my mind and focus on Dario. Why not? I wasn’t a virgin anymore. What harm could come from taking a page out of Greta’s book and using this guy for a one good night before I went back to the life I should never have left?
No matter how I tried, though, all I could muster was a slight tingling in my veins when I thought about this man on top of me. Was it enough? Was this what Greta felt whenever she picked up a guy for a good time?
Something warm caressed my back, like the heat of the sun against bare flesh in the middle of summer. I spun around, not sure what I’d find.
He stood right behind me in a pair of black pants and a navy blue shirt with the top buttons undone. The open collar formed a V, like an arrow pointing downward to his godlike body underneath.
Nico looked just as incredible as I remembered, but the dark glint in his eyes flashed like the blinding gleam of sunlight off a blade.
So, this was what Nico looked like when he was angry.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Raven
Nico’s gaze was fixed on Dario.
He stood there motionless, so close I could smell the sandalwood and leather scent of him over the mixture of sharp alcohols and perfumes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the way Dario’s position had changed, turning a fraction away from me, like he was relinquishing whatever claim he’d been trying to establish. Nothing about his countenance suggested he was afraid of Nico. He had an unperturbed expression on his face, but his shoulders weren’t quite as relaxed as they’d been a moment ago.
