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She pulled away from his grip and flipped her long brown hair, "He was harmless!" Then she recognized him. "Salvatore?"
"Everyone calls me Salvo now. Are you old enough to be in my club?" he asked as he caught the scent of her perfume.
His lips were so sexy that Bianca's thoughts were sinful, and her heart started to pound in her chest. Then her expression turned fierce. "I'm twenty-four, so I'm old enough." She pointed to a group of people standing by one of the three bars in the nightclub, "I'm here with some of my girlfriends."
"Don't think your father would like it too much if he found out you're in my club, Bianca," Salvo said.
"Please don't tell my father! He thinks I'm at some lame Christmas party," she pleaded, placing her hands together.
At that moment, Salvo saw Bianca in a new light. She wasn't the little girl with round baby cheeks, green eyes, and long brown hair that hung down her back in curls. Instead, Bianca had become a woman. A gorgeous woman.
"He'll never know because it'll be my head on a platter if he did." He replied. "Now go home with your girlfriends. I'll have one of my guys out front hail you and your girlfriends a taxi cab. Don't worry about the bar bill, either. It's on me."
Bianca's face lit up with a pretty smile. "Thank you, Salvo!"
Salvo gritted his teeth when Bianca wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. Touching her petite waist, he grew hard and berated himself. How could he feel such a heated desire for a woman he had known since childhood?
As he followed Bianca off the crowded dance floor and watched her walk to the bar and talk to her friends, Tony approached, wiping the sweat off his brow. "That scumbag I just threw out is one of Frankie Zucco's guys. I think his name is Geno."
"Oh yeah?" Salvo said. "Well, Geno is lucky he's still breathing, and Frankie Zucco can go fuck himself."
CHAPTER 2
EveryyeararoundChristmas,Salvo's heart was filled with sadness, and he was overcome with loneliness and anger. Salvo's mother, Coletta Falco, died of cancer when he was only thirteen. That's when his Uncle Enrico Andolini and Aunt Mary took Salvo into their colossal mansion in Staten Island and raised him with their son, Matteo. But as the years passed, Salvo buried those feelings of sadness and loneliness, and as he grew into manhood, the only thing he could feel was rage. Rage over how he had learned that his father was riddled with bullets when he was killed, and the family never found the person to blame.
It was Christmas Eve, and Salvo did what was required of him and visited his family. It was a long tradition as everyone gathered at the same home he grew up in, with Uncle Enrico and Aunt Mary. The huge house was decorated with garlands, decorations, and a giant Christmas tree with twinkling lights, ornaments, and tinsel.
Salvo was dressed casually in a red button-up shirt, black slacks, and a leather jacket as he was greeted by his half-sister, Gemma Lorenzi, at the front door.
She hugged Salvo and kissed his cheek, "Merry Christmas, brother."
"Uncle Salvo is here!" Paul and Noel, Gemma's children, called out in unison as they appeared along with Bianca.
Both kids pulled at Salvo's arms wanting hugs and telling him that Santa Claus would be visiting all the kids tonight to bring them presents. He knelt to look at them at their level, arched his brow, and told them that they should leave out a plate of cookies and milk for Santa Claus tonight before they go to bed.
As Gemma and her kids left Salvo, he turned to give Bianca a warm hug.
"Thank you for keeping our little secret about last week," Bianca whispered in his ear as she hugged him back.
Salvo swiped his thumb and forefinger across his lips and smiled. He could see Bianca in much better lighting in the house than in his nightclub, and looking at her beautiful face took his breath away.
"Is your father here with you tonight?" he asked.
"Yes, he's in Uncle Enrico's office." She replied, taking his hand so he'd follow her through the house. "Let's get a glass of wine."
Everyone was gathered in the living room, and Salvo greeted his Aunt Mary with a hug and kisses on both cheeks. Then, she pulled away and combed her hand into his jet-black hair, "You feel like a stranger to me, nephew, and never come by and see your family on Sunday dinner anymore."
"I'm sorry. My job gets in the way, and I don't get much free time." Salvo said. Even as a grown man, his Aunt Mary could still make him grovel.
She patted his cheek, "Well, that will change in the new year. I want you here at least one Sunday a month for dinner."
"Okay, Aunt Mary. That I can do."
Salvo talked to other family members and then went into the kitchen with Bianca. She poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Salvo.
Then, she clinked hers against his. "Cheers to getting through the holidays."
He took a sip of the wine as his eyes took in Bianca's petite figure in the black dress glittered with bits of shiny golden thread sewn into the material.
