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She’s a very beautiful woman, and she likes to flaunt it. She’s confident and knows just what to say and do. Only I know that if you scratch the surface just a little bit, there is so much more to her than that. And she’s not as confident as she makes out.
I watch her like a hawk.
The rage I feel burning up inside me feels nuclear when a man on the dancefloor slips his arms around her waist as they dance, then he rests them on her hips, his gaze right down her revealing dress.
I close my eyes and momentarily imagine me ripping him apart limb by limb, but even then, I don’t think it would satisfy my current appetite for destruction.
I’d be happier if I broke his fucking hands and every bone in them, so he never got to touch her again.
I’m agitated, and sober, and very fucking unhappy.
She has a right to be pissed, I concede that, but coming out swinging isn’t exactly the right way to go about it. I actually don’t know how much more of this I can tolerate.
If Rocco notices my agitation, he doesn’t say anything.
So I’m left standing here, trying to tamper down my anger when the guy’s hands slide to her ass. Fuck me if Valentina doesn’t stop him.
I can’t take it, storming toward her just as Rocco is also about to make a move.
I’m over there in a few seconds, ripping his fucking arm off her as he jumps back in surprise. When Valentina’s eyes meet mine, she surprisingly looks quite terrified.
I point in the guy’s face. “Fuck off!” I bark.
He looks like he’s about to argue, but then Rocco appears beside me, and he backs off with his hands in the air, disappearing into the crowd.
I turn my glare on her. “One more stunt like that and the party’s over.” Well aware Rocco is listening to every word, I can’t haul her off the dancefloor and reprimand her like I want to, but she has to know that this isn’t gonna happen. Not on my watch.
“I’m just having fun, E, you should try it sometime.”
And she turns her back on me and starts dancing with her friends, who are looking a little startled by the confrontation. I grab her by the wrist, and she spins around.
“I mean it, Val.” The warning I’m giving her is unmistakable. I will cart her out of there if she continues, and I don’t fucking care who sees.
“So do I!” she says, snatching her arm back again.
I back away with Rocco on my heels, over to the end of the bar where I can keep my eye on things a little closer. I’m fuming more than I ever have before, and I’ve had some pretty serious shit go down in my time.
It’s then that I realize that it is physically impossible to stay away from her. I don’t even know how I’ve done it over the past few weeks. It’s been torture.
Rocco folds his arms across his chest as he stands next to me, looking ever the part of a scary bodyguard. I’m glad he’s here, as one look at him is bound to scare anyone away.
“Something up?” he asks me, not for the first time tonight.
I don’t look at him. “Other than baby Medici giving me a headache? If Angelo finds out some loser was groping her on my watch, what do you think he’s gonna say?”
Rocco holds his hands up. “Hey, you don’t have to justify it to me.”
My jaw ticks, and I know I have to lift my game for him not to suspect anything. He’s probably seen enough.
I’ve always been protective of her, and I know he’s never seen me like this, but the levels I’ll go to for this family are no secret.
He took the same vow I did, albeit mine may be for slightly different reasons, but our loyalties are the same.
I didn’t take this job tonight as a favor to Angelo to watch her or her friends get groped; that isn’t what I signed up for. Girls will be girls, and boys will be boys, I’m not stupid. I’m also a little shocked she’d do this on purpose, and make no mistake, that is exactly what she’s doing.
For her sake, she manages to keep her distance from any other untoward men approaching, and an hour or so later, she announces we’re moving to another venue.
We herd them toward the exit and while the others are filing out the door, she turns to me. “Bianca wants to go to Suspenders.”
