1
Dante
The way she dances does things to me that I know are wrong.
I swallow back another glass of whiskey, trying to suppress the urge to stalk over and capture her lips with mine.
“Tell me you’re not considering sleeping with Nicole DeLuca,” Moreno says.
He’s my second, my best friend, and also blatantly honest, even when I don’t want him to be.
He also knows that I’ve sported a hard-on for Nicole since the moment I learned of Gino’s daughter.
I like a challenge, and she’s off-limits. It makes the catch that much more fun.
“Have you seen me so much as talk to her?” I shoot Moreno a glare to shut the hell up. Somehow, I doubt he will do as I want.
He’s a good guy if such a thing can be said about the Ricci Family.
“You keep drinking and staring. She’s bound to notice you,” Moreno says.
Maybe that’s the point. I want her to notice me. I want her to fear me like her father, Gino, fears my family.
Nicole struts onto the dance floor. The light cascades across her raven hair.
She bumps and grinds, arms tossed into the air.
I want to fuck that smile right off her gleeful face.
She’s a force to be reckoned with, and I’m just the man to turn her life upside down.
“Have another drink. It’s on me.” Moreno gestures to the bartender, and he waltzes over and pours another whiskey.
“On you?” I laugh.
I own the damned bar.
He can offer to buy me all the drinks he wants. I drink here for free.
“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tip the staff.” Moreno slides a fifty to the bartender, Ren-something.
I forget her name. I hired her after the last guy caused me a headache and a dead boss.
Somethings are better left in the past.
Being don has its advantages, including getting any girl I want.
Tonight, that girl is Nicole DeLuca.
I shift on the barstool.
Usually, I claim the corner booth. It has a reserved placard for the occasion that I might want to come in and have a drink or business with an associate.
“You need another girl. Someone less deadly,” Moreno says.
I laugh under my breath and sip my whiskey. “You talk like she’s an assassin.”
“Her father is.”