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Rebecca looked at Layla with a smile. “How very lucky you are.”
Layla stared at Gabbriello intently, trying to gauge his emotions. He wore a dark gray suit with a black button up dress shirt underneath. The top button of his dress shirt was undone, giving her a delightful view of his tan skin. She wondered what the rest of him looked like under his clothes. His hair was slicked back. The cologne he chose for the night captivated Layla. Its soft smell was woodsy, with a hint of citrus. The scent made Layla want to a lot of freaky shit to him under the stars by a campfire, where they could make all the noise they wanted, and no one would hear them for miles.
She noticed when she walked towards him, his dark eyes looked her up and down, causing a feeling to swell in the pit of her stomach and spreading to her heat. There was something in his gaze that was primal, almost animal-like. With a simple stare, he had claimed her to be his and she was willing to give it all to him.
Calm down, girl! She chastised herself.
Layla felt the warm feel of his touch on her back as he escorted her to their table. He pulled out her chair and she sat before he made his way over to the other side. As Gabbriello sat, he gave her a boyish half smile. His teeth were perfectly inline and were white as pearls.
“Thank you.” His voice was low but intense. “I appreciate you joining me this evening.”
“Thanks for inviting me,” Layla responded as she looked up at him.
The server approached their table and smiled. He opened a menu and handed it to Layla, and gave another to Gabbriello. “Good evening, Mr. Deluca. Good evening, ma’am.”
Gabbriello looked up at the server. “Richard, it is always a pleasure to see you.”
Richard turned his attention to Layla and smiled.
“Layla is my guest tonight,” Gabbriello said with a smile as he looked at her.
“How wonderful! Please, if there is anything I can do to make your evening more enjoyable, we are all at your service here. May I get you something to drink?”
Normally, Layla would not hesitate to have a beer or a mixed drink with dinner, but she needed to keep a clear head for the evening. “Just water with lemon for me.”
Gabbriello looked up at Richard. “I had Marco order a special bottle for us.”
“Ah yes, the Chambertin Grand Cru, I will get it right away.” Richard gave him a slight nod before walking swiftly towards the kitchen.
Layla scanned the wine list and couldn’t find what Gabbriello had ordered. “I don’t see that one on the menu.”
He gazed at her with his dark eyes. “It’s not. My friend, Marco, is a wine collector. I asked him to pick out a special bottle of wine for me. I had him send it to the hotel for us this evening.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to go through all that trouble,” she said, surprised at the extra mile he was going for this dinner.
Gabbriello shook his head. “It’s no trouble at all. It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to enjoy a fine bottle of wine. And it’s the least I could do since my men were so rude to you.”
“Since when do we equate an ass whipping to being rude?” She asked as she cut her eye at him.
He laughed. He loved her quick wit. “You’re absolutely right. They don’t equate, but I wanted to make up for the way they treated you. Trust me, they were properly reprimanded,” Gabbriello said as his jaw tightened.
When he got back to the club, he took a sledgehammer to the bartender’s hand and broke the jaw of the other two men. They needed to know that he would not condone that type of behavior.
Gabbriello redirected his attention to Layla as he looked into her soft hazel eyes. What was it about this woman that had him acting out of character? He just met her, and he was already bringing her in public on a date.
Richard returned to the table with Layla’s water, two wine glasses, and a bottle of wine.
Layla looked at the label. It looked expensive. She suspected it cost him a few grand.
“Have you had a chance to look over the menu?” Richard asked as he showed the bottle to Gabbriello. He nodded and Richard poured the wine into the wine glasses.
Gabbriello looked to Layla for an answer.
When she realized both men were staring at her, she shook her head. “No, I don’t think I’m ready yet.”
“I’ll give you a few minutes. Take your time.” Richard re-corked the wine and sat the bottle on the table, before leaving the two of them alone again.
Layla looked over the menu and noticed very few items cost less than $100, apart from maybe a glass of water and coke.
