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She watched me watch her. “Drinking alone?”
“Not if you join me.” I found myself holding my breath to see if she’d agree.
In my line of work and with the infamy that my name brought, chatting up a beautiful woman was hardly a difficult thing. Most women hit on me themselves, and I only had to wait for them to come to me. There was no excitement or challenge. For some reason, this stranger in a bar, young but steely-eyed, with her fearless blue gaze, was intriguing. This wasn’t like me. I didn’t ask random women who looked barely legal to drink with me, but she was stunning, and I was lonely. The news of the birth had shaken me and reminded me how very far I was from having a family of my own.
The woman attempted to hop carelessly onto the stool but wobbled. I caught her arm as she nearly fell. She smelled like something alluring and fresh. Something secret. I wanted to lean in and get a better smell of it, but she looked embarrassed.
“You sure you’re old enough to be in here?” I asked sternly, pushing through the alcohol clouding my brain to get the facts straight.
She flushed.“I was twenty-two last week.”
So young. So pretty. How would her pretty pink lips taste? I tore my gaze away. I needed to get laid.
“And for your birthday, you took yourself out to this hipster hell to do a trivia night alone?” My words came out harshly, and she tensed. I was such a prick. I couldn’t even help myself.
She shrugged. “Yeah. Alone, like you, I guess.”
She might look like butter wouldn’t melt in her pretty, full-lipped mouth, but she had a spine, and I liked that. I liked that a lot.
“Anyway, neither of us has to play alone if we team up.”
I shook my head at her suggestion. “Pass. It’s too easy.”
I played with the napkin I’d written the answers on. Why was I being a dick? I didn’t know, and honestly, I barely needed a reason these days. I’d been unhappy for so long, I couldn’t remember being any other way.
She narrowed her eyes at me and tilted her head, staring at the napkin. “If it’s so easy, why do I see a couple of wrong answers?” she asked, nodding her head to the music section I’d struggled on.
“Which ones?”
She shook her head. “Play with me, and I’ll tell you. But you have to promise we’ll win. I hate losing.” She grinned.
All the blood in my body rushed south at her light-hearted, teasing look. She was gorgeous and had no idea who I was, yet all her attention was focused on me. Not because of who I was or how much power I wielded. Not because she was scared or ambitious or manipulating me. We were strangers, and I felt seen at that moment in a way I never did. Seen without my family crest, blood stained and terrifying, hanging over my head.
“Oh, we’ll win, tesora. I never lose,” I promised.
When she laughed, low throaty and sexy as hell, I knew it was a sound I’d never forget.
* * *
I unlockedthe door of my apartment downtown with a fingerprint scan and stepped back to let Cici into the dark foyer before me. My eyes roamed over her tight little body as I followed her, hungry as a wolf about to sit down to the most delicious meal.
My earlier drunkenness had passed as we’d played the trivia night together, squeaking a first-place slot. I’d laughed more in the last few hours than I had in years. I felt like a different person. Tonight, I was Tony, who loved science, sucked at pop culture questions, and went to a small, hipster hole-in-the-wall dive bar with watery, cheap drinks and too loud 80s music. I was free and happier than I could remember, perhaps ever in my life.
The most obvious cause was standing in the middle of the hallway. My cavernous apartment clearly gave her some discomfort. Ordinary people didn’t have apartments like this, not in Manhattan.
“Make yourself at home, tesora,” I murmured, leaning against the door and tugging my tie off. I watched her like a predator about to pounce. Which was absolutely correct. I wanted this woman like I’d never wanted anyone.
“I should have asked what you do,” she said quietly. She crossed her arms over her chest and sauntered up to me, tilting her head back to keep her eyes on mine. “You’re not a drug dealer or organ trader, right? Because I like my organs right where they are, inside my body.”
Fuck, she had a smart little mouth, and I loved every word out of it.
I shook my head slowly. What could I say? The Lucianos had their fingers in all kinds of pies, but not organ trade. We were far from choir boys, but tonight wasn’t the night to let my sweet little find in on that. No, Cici was a good girl. She’d run a mile, and I couldn’t let that happen. Not when I’d just discovered her.
“I told you, I’m in business, finance,” I elaborated a little.
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, be mysterious. As long as you’re not in business like Tony Soprano was in waste management, I don’t care,” she said sweetly and then turned on her heel and walked away before I could grab her.
Her Sopranos reference sobered me a second. That was a bit close to the bone.
