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Yeah, that was it. He didn’t know me.
I had nothing to worry about.
“They warned me you were funny,” my father muttered while grinding his teeth, and I tried to focus on the situation. I had to play my role well. I had a plan, after all.
This was all for Elsie.
Valerio smiled at my father. “Funny? I am hilarious.”
My dad’s face started to turn red, but before I could think of a way to break the tension, the blonde woman hugged me out of nowhere. “Nice to meet you Luciana, I am Priscilla Mazzoni.”
I forced a smile. She was way too friendly for my liking.
Priscilla pulled back and motioned to the massive guy behind her, “This is my husband, Antonio.” He gave a curt nod at me and pulled the woman closer to his body. His hand on her hip was protective, and she looked very happy about his touch. It was hard to see many happy couples in Cosa Nostra like them.
Maybe things were different in Chicago, but if they were, then Valerio was definitely not going to marry me. That could be a blessing, but I was not so sure. My dad was ready to sacrifice me for his own goals. He could do that with someone else if Valerio told them he didn’t want me.
I needed to play my cards right to defeat my father in his own game.
“Nice to meet you,” I said to them with my sweetest smile. Valerio had a mocking look on his face, but I ignored it. “Would you want me to show you around, Mr. Vasile?” There was no need to wait. I needed to put my plan into action.
“I would love to,” Valerio said, turning towards my dad. “Of course, if your father is okay with it too.”
Ugh.
My father nodded. “Make sure to stay in eyesight. I can’t accept anything that can hurt my daughter’s reputation.”
I wanted to roll my eyes, and Valerio looked seconds away from bursting into laughter. “I wouldn’t dare,” he said and turned to me, holding out his arm. “Shall we?”
I nodded with a fake smile. “Yes.” I twined my arm with his and let him take me away from my parents. He seemed way too mocking, but I had to hold onto the hope that he didn’t recognize me. It could ruin my plan.
“Did you like the decorations? My mom and I worked a lot on them.” I said as we strolled into the great garden of my family’s mansion.
Valerio stopped and looked at me with his brows pulled up. “Are you serious?”
“I’m sorry?” I tried to hide my trembling.
“Is this what you want to talk about? Decorations?”
“What would you want to talk about?”
“Hmm,” he acted like he was thinking. “I don’t know, maybe how the girl who looked like an obedient kitten in front of his dad was a feral cat just last night.”
Before I could even think of a response, I said, “Feral cat?” I was actually offended.
One side of Valerio’s lips tipped up. “I have the marks on my back to prove it.”
Fuck. I had no idea what to do now that I knew he remembered me. I decided to try my chance at acting clueless. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Valerio pulled back from me. “Are you really going to playthatgame?”
I looked at his face for a moment calculating my chances. I could try to create a double-ganger story, but I doubted Valerio would fall for it. My shoulders fell with the realization. “Okay,” I said. “What are you going to do? Are you going to tell my dad?”
He snorted. “Of course not. He told me not to do anything to tarnish your reputation, so I don’t think he will appreciate knowing I was balls deep inside you just last night.”
I felt my cheeks burning at his words because suddenly I remembered how he felt when he was, in fact, inside me. “Stop saying things like that,” I said, looking around to see if anyone heard us, but we were away from the crowd.
“Oh, are you blushing? I didn’t peg you for a shy girl last night.”
