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Chapter 12
Giulia
Roberto'sbrowsliftinsurprise. "You do?" Then a wide, brilliant smile breaks his face. "Wait, why am I questioning this? You know what you fucking want. I'll grab—"
"Just one shot," I clarify, holding up a finger for emphasis.
And then, because I'm feeling more lighthearted than I have in a while, I reach out and boop his nose for payback. And his startled expression is so goddamn priceless that I actually laugh…which I don’t often do.
It feels really fucking good.
Roberto blinks like he's dazzled, lips parting slightly. Then he smiles that sexy, slow smile. "I'll be right back. If any of these motherfuckers touches you or tries to dance with you or evenlooksat you—"
"I dropped you like a sack of potatoes when I kneed you in the balls the night we met," I remind him. "And that's hardly the worst I could've done. Now scoot, Giovanni, before I change my mind."
He chuckles and brushes a kiss to my forehead so quickly that I nearly miss it before disappearing into the crowd of dancers. The music has changed to an upbeat tempo. I watch the flashing lights and people around with little interest until Roberto reappears, a shot in each hand.
The night picks up quickly after that, and honestly? I've never felt so good. It's not just the liquor, since I have a really high alcohol tolerance—and it's definitely not this particular dance club because, as nice as it is, the DJ could use some pointers.
I'll admit it. It's Roberto.
His laugh is purely infectious, and we dance for nearly an hour, talking over the music on occasion whenever he pulls me close to hear him better. He makes me laugh so hard I snort when he tells me about a horribly awkward date where the girl sobbed about her high school sweetheart for thirty minutes before projectile vomiting in his car.
Comparatively, I Don’t tell him much about myself, mostly out of habit. Loose lips sink ships, they say—and a Giovanni could sink a ship any day, even as admittedly not-horrendous as Roberto is proving to be.
I tell him a little bit about my brother and his wife, and I tell him about meeting Mandi at Princeton. Then I regale him with the many adventures of Eric, who I've never met personally, but I explain how obsessed my most recent disappointment of a date was with him. He apparently finds no end to the amusement of my long line of dud dates.
It's all fun and games until my high heel breaks while dancing.
When it does, I fall forward, crashing into Roberto. His arms quickly band around me as he lifts me off the broken heel. I scowl down at it, but I go breathless when I look up at him.
Roberto's gaze is fixed on my lips, and I'm pressed more tightly against him than I have been the entire night, so I can feel when he starts to harden in his pants due to our contact. My skin is buzzing from his warm hands on my back and arms—his breath on my lips. It would be easy to kiss him here.
I want to.
No. I shouldn't. It's a bad idea, even if I let myself unwind and have real fun for one night. Still, I can't seem to pull my gaze away from his perfectly wicked mouth that curls up sinfully when he realizes where I'm looking.
"Having fun now, cutie?" he taunts, and his warm fingers trail up my spine and back down.
I swallow and meet his daring gaze, unable and unwilling to back down from the challenge. "If this is your idea of fun, you wouldn't believe what I'm capable of naked, Giovanni."
Roberto groans slightly, and now he'sveryhard against me. "Tease."
"Dickhead."
"Cosa vuoi ora, Bellissima?"he breathes, and his lips dip to skate along my jaw.
What do you want now, Beautiful?
My breathing catches. He could just ask if I'm done dancing and if I want to go to my hotel room now that I have a broken shoe. Or he could be inviting me to…make a move.
My next move should be obvious. I should hop in an Uber, return to my hotel room, and spend the night alone in a strange city with hostile mafiosos in every nook and cranny. Then I'll see Roberto again tomorrow morning when we meet with the contact we're connecting toVitalenhere.
It'll be quiet and lonely and leave me alone with my thoughts. Only I already know what I'll be thinking about all night. Howgoodit felt to relax for once. Despite Roberto's birthright of being my enemy, I didn't feel unsafe drinking around him. I've been feeling gray and cold and like something was wrong with me for not being interested in anyone…until he showed up.
Damn winking mafioso.
I thought about him far more over the last six days than I let on. Now, I Don’t want to be away from him, even if it's just overnight. He just makes me…happy.
