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The guy my brother hated.
I took a deep breath and whispered, “Oh, fuck.”
Antonio
“You are late,” Salvatore said the second I was in front of him. He had his public face on, but I could see his irritation. “I had to greet Gabriele alone.”
Mia elbowed him. “Hey, I was at your side.”
Salvatore looked down and smiled at my sister before kissing her forehead. “And you were amazing, Angel.”
“I was busy entertaining the birthday boy,” I explained simply. “What did you talk about with Gabriele?”
“Nothing yet. We don’t need to talk a lot tonight, but we have to prep them for tomorrow. We will have a barbecue together and then have a meeting. This is just to show how friendly we are.”
I nodded. “We can go talk to them a bit if you want.” I looked down at Valerio. He was tall for his age but not close to my height at all. “And Valerio can go to Verona’s side.”
Valerio shook his head, his eyes still filled with bloodlust. “I don’t want to go like this. I am still high on adrenalin.”
Mia’s eyes immediately narrowed on me. “What did you let him do?” At first, it was weird to see my little sister act as a mother to Salvatore’s younger siblings, but by now, I have gotten used to it. She was very protective of them and would probably not be happy if she knew I let Valerio pull out a man’s nails.
So, I just shrugged and said, “Just a birthday present.”
“You guys are horrible.” Then her eyes went to Valerio, and they softened at once. “Larry, why don’t you take a shower and then join us? Verona did miss you. All this crowd makes her anxious.”
To that, Valerio nodded and left for upstairs at once. Mia knew how to handle them so very well. It was not a suggestion but a mission. Verona was not well, and he needed to make her feel better. When it came to his twin sister Valerio was the softest protective big brother.
When he disappeared, I again turned to my Capo. “Shall we talk to Gabriele?”
“Yes,” he said but then again got elbowed by Mia. He looked down at his wife, stunned but then understanding dawned on him, and he cleared his throat. “Well, there is actually someone you might want to meet. Mia found her.”
I straightened my back. This was a really important topic. “Who?”
“Lilliana Gravano,” Mia answered with a smile.
“How old is she?”
That made her pause. “Eighteen?”
Was that a question? I lifted a brow at her tone.
Mia let out a breath and rolled her eyes. “Well, she will be eighteen soon. Wedding planning takes time anyway. You can just have a dance and a chat and court her.”
“I don’t want to court a seventeen-year-old, Mia.”
“It is just one dance, Antonio. She is the oldest I could find.” She got out of Salvatore’s hold, leaving him distressed, and reached for my shoulders. She was so short that even her heels were not making it easy. She still managed to hold my shoulder and turn me. She pointed at a corner. “See, she is the girl with the black cocktail dress.”
I saw it. She had light brown hair and dark eyes and was wearing a modest cocktail dress. She seemed young, but after all, she was young for real. She also seemed calm and quiet. Maybe she was not a very bad idea.
I shook my head. I was not going to court a seventeen-year-old.
“Come on, just a dance,” Mia said and pushed me forward. I didn’t move at first, but I really didn’t want to upset my sister. I could have one dance. It was nothing.
Still, as I made my way to Lilliana, I kept looking around. I wanted some old guy to catch me and start a long conversation with me. I wanted Clara to run to my legs so I could just dance with her. I wanted something to distract me.
I looked around and around and around.
Then I saw something out of place. Long golden hair. So very bewitching.
