AllFreeNovel
Share Us
God, she's a sight. I smile and crook a finger for her to come over.
Giulia stops before my table, stiff and irritated despite her unbothered stance. One of the servers heads our direction, probably to ask in a whisper if she's in the right place because everyone else here is dressed so pompously, but one severe look from this stunning woman has him scuttling away like a dog with its tail between its legs.
"Hi there, cutie."
"Spare me the shit. I can't believe you risked everything we're supposed to work toward by showing up unannounced. Trespassing without backup,alonein LA? Very suicidal of you."
I pick up on something I didn't expect to hear in her tone, and my heart stutters a little. She sounded so angry that I came here alone because she was worried about me. Aw.
I fail at fighting the smile that's trying to take over my face. "We're in a truce, remember? So I'm fine showing my face here."
She scoffs. "Be glad the Russos who saw you came to me first instead of my brother, father, or mother. Just because our families aren't actively trying to murder each other doesnotmake it safe for you to come here. Not without forewarning me. There are a lot of Russo enforcers who Don’t give a rat's ass about the truce, and if they got their hands on you or hurt you, it would blow the stalemate to hell along with everything we've been working towards. And God, you really shouldn't have comealone,il tonto."
Il tonto—dummy. Affectionate, if you ask me.
"You were worried about me, huh? I've missed you, too," I murmur.
Giulia's lips purse, and she brushes a curl out of her face as she looks me over. But she doesn't deny what I said, and that's a huge fucking win to me.
"You've been avoiding me,Bellissima.Avoiding us."
"There is absolutely nothing for me to avoid. I've been busy with work."
I grin. "Absolutely nothingto avoid? The lady doth protest too much, I think."
She sits across from me with an icy glare, tossing her hair over one shoulder. I'm jealous of anyone who works with her daily because she's breathtaking, even in office clothes. I'm especially jealous of everyone who gets to see her when she's dressed up the way she was that night in that shimmering dress I wanted to rip off so badly.
"I direct and supervise dozens of channels of illegal profits from the many illegal and highly dangerous activities my family engages in," she says in a low whisper. "I manage nearly every financial asset of the Russo family, including the ones that stem from deals struck decades ago with very old, powerful families. Families that could sweep yours under the rug without blinking. I schmooze, I blackmail, and I get my hands dirty quite often, Giovanni—so no, I don’t think I'm protesting too much. I'm a fucking busy woman."
God, I want to see her get her hands dirty.
"Excuses, excuses." I smile. "I know you're busy. So am I. That doesn't mean you're not also avoiding me. I'm sure there's spare time somewhere between all the schmoozing."
She lifts her chin. "Actually, no. My spare time is taken up with more dates."
I don’t like to hear that, and I'm sure she's only bringing it up because she knows it. I force myself to shrug and act unaffected. "More duds like your last blind date I witnessed, I'm sure. You should tell your family and friends that all these yahoos you get set up with are too bland for you, cutie."
"Most, not all," she says primly.
I smirk. "Yeah? Name one other date you'veeverbeen on that you found even mildly interesting that wasn't me."
Giulia folds her arms. "Dante Parisi."
Irritation flashes through me. Another mafioso, one I know only because of his reputation for digging up dirt on people and using it to twist arms, rivals my own. I've heard he's not one to get his hands dirty, though, and he's older than I am by a bit. Older than Giulia. It bothers me far more than I care to admit that she'd say she found Dante Parisi even mildly interesting.
But maybe she's just bluffing. It's hard to tell because her poker face is so distractingly pretty.
I decide to get down to brass tacks. "Fine. So you haven't been avoiding me. You've been too busy to respond to any messages I've sent you, is that all?"
"That's all."
I smile. "Good. Then as your representative partner, the one you'renot avoidingand who you agreed to let loose and have fun with, I'm here to help you out. It's time to get a break from all your hard work and take the night off. I'm here to set you up on a romantic, fun date with a man named Rob Leone."
Giulia's brows drop, and she examines me for a long moment, looking both perplexed and bothered. "I've heard of him in the business world. He owns an upstart company that's done better than anyone expected, earning billions in the tech industry. He's an enigma. You know him?"
"Better than anyone."
"And you want to…set me up with him?" she repeats slowly like she doesn't like the taste of the words.
