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“May I cut in? I would love the opportunity to have a dance with the future bride. Enzo glanced at me to make sure that I felt comfortable, and I smiled with a soft nod before he answered.
“Of course, just don't get any bright ideas about stealing her away for yourself,” Enzo teased, and Matteo laughed.
“Trust me, Mia is plenty enough for me. She keeps me on my toes. I wouldn't have the time or energy for another woman and there wouldn't be another one out there that would possibly hold a candle to her in my eyes.”
“Your relationship with Mia seems so perfect,” I said dreamily, and Matteo laughed. Enzo passed me over to Matteo who swept me into a grand waltz around the dance floor.
“You're a very good dancer.”
“Thank you. So are you.”
“I'm adequate but it's all about having a good lead.”
“That's true.” Matteo leaned closer to me so that we could speak without being overheard. “How are you holding up, truly? I heard about the attack a couple of weeks ago in Enzo's apartment. If you're not used to our way of life, things like that can be extremely terrifying.”
“It was,” I admitted. “I may not be part of afamilyor even associated with one but I'm not unfamiliar with that life. My life was hard growing up and while it’s not the same thing, we were around a lot of people who did a lot of bad things, some of them for good reasons and some of them for not so good of reasons.”
“I’m sorry that your life has been hard.”
“The way I see it, most people’s lives could be considered hard in one way or another. I’ve seen my fair share of struggles, but so has everyone else, their struggles just might look a little different from mine.”
“I suppose that’s a good way to look at things.”
“I’m lucky that I met Enzo when I did. He’s given me an opportunity to better my life in a way that I never thought possible.”
“He likes you, you know?” Matteo said in a conspiratorial whisper.
“Well, I should hope so, we are engaged.”
He raised an eyebrow at me, reminding me that he knew everything. “I mean hereallylikes you.”
“And I really like him too.” The words rushed out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying.
“You do?” Matteo sounded surprised.
“Of course. How could I not?”
“It's just, with how things started with you two and how Enzo has continuously said that there's nothing but business between you, I was surprised to hear that you shared his sentiments about your relationship.”
“There's definitely something between us. I just don't know what. I don't know if what we are feeling is real or if somewhere along the way while working to fool everyone else, we managed to convince ourselves that there is more between us than there actually is.”
“Well, I can tell you this, he hasn't seemed this happy or this enamored with anyone in quite a while.”
“You mean since Gemma,” I sighed.
“Yes,” Matteo said solemnly. “Since Gemma.”
The song ended and Matteo gave a slight bow. “Thank you for the dance. I should go find my wife and take a spin around the dance floor with her.”
“Of course.” Once Matteo left, I headed off of the dance floor in search of Enzo but there was no sign of him.
I spotted Luca and Mira talking by the bar and hesitantly approached. They both stopped talking the moment I walked up, and I got the feeling that I’d interrupted more than just a casual chat.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. I was just wondering if either one of you has seen Enzo?”
“Not in a while,” Mira answered.
“I’m pretty sure that I saw him head off to the side exit. It leads toward the kitchen and storage rooms, over that way.” Luca nodded toward the side door that was discreetly tucked into an alcove.
