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"It's cold, much like my interest in your offer. Excuse me. I have better places to be."
Giulia moves like she's about to stand up, but I reach out and poke her nose lightly. She freezes in place, her eyes flashing with something akin to indignation as if she can't fathom that I just booped her.
"Come on. You're interested, and you know it. And if you don’t hear me out now, I'll just bring it up again at the meetup we have scheduled in Chicago in six days. Are you gonna put it off for six days, cutie?"
She speaks with a foreboding calm that I know would frighten most ordinary civilians. "If you keep calling me cutie, I'll find a way to retaliate. It won't break the family stalemate, but I assure you you won't like it."
I wait, smiling as Giulia finally sighs and pushes her cold cup of coffee toward me.
"What's your proposal?"
Getting her to give in just that little bit is very satisfying.
"I like making things fun," I shrug. "Going off-script is usually my way of doing that, and I don’t mind the trouble it causes for my guys and me because maintaining a reputation with some fun little violence on the side is very useful. But see, thisVitalendeal needs to be handled with kiddie gloves, which I'm not sure we are good at. Over the next few months, while we work with contacts to get this out there, I'm liable to stir up some form of entertainment, and you're liable to be, you know…." I tip my head from side to side.
She arches a brow. "An ice-cold bitch?"
If I thought I disliked that term being applied to her by Marcus, Ireallyfucking hated it from her pretty lips. Has someone said that to her face before? Giulia might act cold, but if anyone insulted her directly, I know it must've hurt her.
I'd like to know who said it. More accurately, I'd like to break their nose.
My face must reflect my irritation because Giulia snorts. "Skip pandering to my self-esteem and just get on with what you're saying."
I fold my arms. "My proposal is that we should help balance each other out. You can help me act as the perfect Giovanni representative and not stir up my usual flavor of fun, and I can help you come across better to our contacts by helping you loosen up and have some fun."
"I already know how to have fun." She rolls her eyes.
"No. You know how tolooklike you're having fun. But, believe it or not, as polite and pleasant as you act, people will always pick up on you when you're not being genuine, and it usually rubs them the wrong way if you have to act like you're enjoying yourself around them. But I could make sure youreallyhave fun with me," I wink.
"You mean yourflavorof fun?" she asks, folding her arms to mirror me. "No, thanks. Unlike you, I don’t enjoy hurting members of my family or putting any of my loved ones at risk through reckless violence."
She means for her words to be sharp, but she can't possibly know how strongly her words strike a chord in me. I barely keep from visibly flinching, my mind flashing back to that night when the streetlamp illuminated Marcus's blood seeping into mine on the slick asphalt—his panicked cries and the wailing of police sirens in the background. Unconsciously, I rub my left shoulder.
"I wasn't talking about violence," I sigh finally. The last thing I would want would be to put Giulia in any violent situation, though I'd gladly get my fists bloody on her account. I refrain from saying any of that to her, though. "Actually, I meant dancing."
Giulia analyzes me, and it's clear that she picked up on my reaction to what she said about putting my loved ones in danger. She tips her head as if considering asking about it but finally says, "Your proposal is that more dancing will fix our problems? You're not serious."
"Au contraire, Miss Russo, I'm very serious. I need the entertainment to keep from resorting to my usual behavior, and you'll benefit from letting loose and enjoying yourself for once. Spending time enjoying ourselves occasionally translates into both of us doing better with interacting with contacts and gettingVitalendeals going over the next few weeks. Better to work more closely together than be at odds this time."
She opens her mouth as if to argue but then closes it again with a frown. She must realize that my analysis of our general behaviors is correct. And I'm not just saying all of this to have an excuse to get closer to her in the near future—although that is the biggest reason. In reality, though, I can see how our usual behavior patterns might cause issues with working together well and balancing each other out instead of fighting as a better alternative.
Win-win…and then another win, for when she lets me kiss her again. Because I will make sure that happens, preferably in another dark hallway where she and I can finish what she started a couple of days ago.
"Come on," I press, waggling my brows. "I'll be everything you want in a successful, professional Five-Families-representative relationship—just help me control my boredom while we're working together and let me take you dancing again."
Giulia chews her lower lip as she considers me, and it's incredibly distracting. I'd like to be the one biting it, and I'm a second away from ruining everything by saying that out loud when she sighs heavily.
"Youdohave a reputation for sending things sideways out of boredom…and sometimes my business associates have indeed pointed out that I can be an ice—"
"Give me their names, and I'll take my boredom out on their faces," I snap, not about to hear her call herself a bitch again.
Giulia snorts. It's not a full-on laugh, but the corners of her lips lift into a sarcastic little smile that warms me instantaneously. She's fucking adorable. I can't wait to get a real laugh out of her.
"I was going to say 'ice queen.'"
"I really fucking like your smile, Giulia."
She hides it away again, looking away. "Fine. I'll tentatively agree to your proposal."
