AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Damn it," Bruno groans, rubbing his face. He hasn't slept well in California, probably from all the nerves of being in Russo territory. "Ifyouthink she's fun, this deal is in serious trouble."
"I didn't sayshe'sfun." Although she is, to me. "I said she's cutthroat. And believe me, she cares more than you do about thisVitalendeal succeeding, so take a deep breath and unclench your butthole."
"You like her," Marcus surmises. He almost sounds dismayed, but I know him better than that. He's just surprised with an edge.
"I like anyone who doesn't bore me. It's the same reason I like you and Worrywart over there," I deflect, then toss him the remote and stand. "I'll be busy getting contacts over. Order me anything but their excuse for Italian food from room service."
As I get to work on Bruno's laptop, sending contacts through the carefully secured messages between families, I think again about Giulia's cool detachment over dinner—and her bright smile at that idiotic waiter.
I want her to smile atmelike that, only I want it to be real. I got her attention tonight and tasted her, but it's far from enough.
I'll have to do something to get her attention more seriously at our next meeting.
Chapter 9
Giulia
"Nottosayyou'reever a chatterbox or anything, Giules, but come on. Why so quiet? I feel like I'm talking to my waffles over here."
I blink and focus on my best friend. Mandi and I are sitting in a cute cafe, my favorite in Los Angeles. We frequent it often since it's ideally between our apartments and isn't far from where she works as a marketing research director.
I glance at her empty plate. "You don’t have any waffles left to talk to," I point out.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm making you return to Earth from wherever you've been in your head—because I got lonely. What's going on in that curly head of yours?"
I take a sip of my coffee. Honestly, I'm not surprised to find it cold because Mandi is right. This has happened at work over the last two days since my "meeting" with the Giovanni representative. I'll be perfectly tuned in to everything going on, and then suddenly, I'm thinking about warm fingers pressing into my back and sinfully dark brown eyes burning with lust and lips traveling over my neck…
Shit, come to think of it, I've spentwaytoo much time thinking about that damn Roberto Giovanni. It will cause real problems if I don’t find a way to nip it in the bud.
I clear my throat and smile at her. "First of all, my head isn't curly," I correct. "My hair is. And secondly, sorry. I've just been distracted with…work."
She doesn't pitch in with her mafia connections like I do, but Mandi knows what I mean. She raises an eyebrow as she takes another sip of her raspberry lemonade. "I really hope you're not daydreaming about shady business shit while I'm here ranting about the guy from HR."
"I thought you liked the guy from HR?"
Mandi sighs. "I did until he asked me for pictures of my socks. Not with my feet in them, mind you. Just the socks. And I'm not one to kink shame, Giules, but the guy could at least buy me a cup of coffee or hold a real conversation before jumping in with something like that. Dating sucks."
"I don’t think what you're doing can be categorized as dating," I offer, setting down my cup.
"Your frankness sucks, too." She sticks her tongue out at me.
"You love how frank I am. And I wasn't daydreaming about shady contracts. It was…" I sigh. "You know that last blind date you set me up on? I ran into that guy again, and now I must work with him."
"You have to work with Curtis? Damn, that's awkward."
"Who is…oh. No, I meant the other guy—"
Mandi's squeal is loud enough that I flinch as she practically slams down her cup and tosses her blond curls out of her face, blue eyes massive as she reaches across the table to grasp my hands. "Hold up. Do you meanthatguy—Devil Smirk? The sexy one? You're working with him now? Tell me everything!"
I grimace. I can't even deny that Roberto is sexy anymore, not with my constant daydreaming about his lips and those sinful, sinful fingers.
"I can't tell youeverything.Like I told you, he's from a situation like mine. Sort of. His family has been in a blood feud with mine since the 1920s, maybe earlier. I can't tell you how much shit has gone down on that front. We're literally mortal enemies."
She blinks and then frowns, her button nose scrunching as she leans forward to hiss, "Like…the Giovannis?"
"How did you know?"
"Girl, I might not be asinwith everything as you are, but even I know about that nasty feud. Yeesh. But then, why are you guys working together? Isn't that against everything that's happened for the last seventy-plus years?"
