The limo pulled into an underground parking garage, and Dominic got out first. He held the door open for me, and I extended my hand to help Ariana get out. She looked even more impressive standing up.
She balanced on her heels, and her long, white leg flashed through the slit in her dress every time she took a step. Her hips swished under her dress, and the twins flanked us on either side, but of course Dominic took Ariana’s side. He stayed next to her all the way to the elevator and all the way up to the club on the top floor.
Ariana slipped her hand through my elbow on the way up, and my heart stopped. It would be so easy to turn and kiss her. It would be so easy to exchange a knowing look with her just as if we were a real couple.
Then, I remembered she was just playing a part with me. This wasn’t real. I would give anything to be stepping out with her for real and showing her off in town. That would be something else, but it would never happen now.
The elevator opened, and pounding dance music assaulted my ears. It thumped into my bones, and we entered the club crowded with dancing bodies. The strobe lights flashed across the sea of dancers, and Ariana eased closer to me.
The twins both moved in front of us and plowed a path to the stairs. We climbed up to the mezzanine, and we made our way to my usual table.
From here, we could look down on the dance floor to the bar beyond it. The speakers hung from the mezzanine, so the music wasn’t as loud up here.
I stopped at the edge where the lights would shine on us. Everyone in the club would be able to see us.
I pulled Ariana to me and kissed her before she could stop me. I cupped her cheeks and guided her mouth to mine. I dragged my teeth over her lips, and she gasped. As soon as she opened her mouth, I plunged my tongue into her mouth.
I relished kissing her in all the passion I felt for her, and my blood burst into flame when I felt her start to respond. Her hands flew to my hips, and her body melted against me. Damn, she felt so fucking good right now!
I felt myself starting to get hard, and I pulled off. I couldn’t get carried away. This was just a performance, but her haunted eyes gazing into mine made me question. Could she ever feel anything for me? Would she hate me forever?
I turned away to stop her from seeing more than I wanted her to. I sliced my forefinger at the twins. “Stay with her. Make sure she’s here when I come back.”
I walked to a doorway in the back of the mezzanine, but I glanced back before I went through it. Dominic was sitting down at my table and motioning Ariana to sit down next to him. Great. I was the one who was supposed to be on a date with her, and now, he was monopolizing her himself.
Dante gave orders to the waitress and then sat down on Ariana’s other side. No one would go near her with them around, but I still hesitated to leave. She had the twins. She didn’t need me.
I was outside looking in. I was the conductor of this elaborate ruse, but when and where it really counted, I meant nothing to Ariana. I started this disaster thinking she was nothing to me, but in the end, I was the one who lost out.
I pushed through the door and headed down a long white hall to the office at the end. I went in, and a young secretary jumped up from behind the desk. “Welcome, Mr. Fortino. The Council is waiting for you.”
“Thank you, Serena,” I replied.
She let me through a different door, and I entered a long conference room. Fifteen men and three women in evening wear sat around it, and they all looked up when I walked in.
Old Michael Vittorio sat at the head of the table with his sons, Alessandro and Niccolò, on either side of him. The other heads of family flanked them in an obvious show of solidarity.
Michael rose to his feet and smiled down the table at me. “Ah… Don Luca! Such a pleasure to welcome you to our humble meeting.”
I slowed way down approaching the table. No one in this room was happy to welcome me to their meeting.
I sauntered over to the big chair standing empty at the end of the table. It was the only empty chair in the room, but I didn’t sit down. I rested my hand on top of it like I really needed to think about whether these people were good enough to have me at their table.
I nodded down the table. “Don Michele… What did you wish to discuss with me?”
He waved to Alessandro and Niccolò. “We wish to discuss dividing up the Atlantic City territory to avoid confrontations between the Vittorios and the Fortinos. Clashes are increasing with every passing year. We wish to come to a settlement before the situation blows up into another costly war none of us can afford.”
“Clashes are only increasing because the Vittorios are encroaching into Fortino territory,” I replied. “There would be no threat of war if the Vittorios weren’t bent on stealing as much of our territory as they can. If you really want to avoid a war, you’ll pull back your boys and tell them to stick to their own territory.”
“Our territory is too small for us to make a living,” Niccolò cut in. “There’s too much territory for one family. Why should you…”
Michael stopped his son by laying a hand on Niccolò’s arm, but Niccolò kept glaring at me down the table. These idiots really didn’t know what the fuck they were doing messing with me. I would just have to teach them.
“One family has had no trouble handling that territory for the last two hundred years,” I went on. “I see no reason we can’t continue to do so. And I might add, Don Michele, that our family has expelled other intruders before—intruders much stronger than the Vittorio family. We can do it again.”
One of the other guests waved toward the chair. It was old Zefiro Pavia, the De Leo family accountant. What was he doing here? The De Leos were supposed to be on our side.
He was so old he could barely see through his thick glasses. “Please, Don Luca,” he quavered. “Please, sit down. Let’s discuss this like friends. We don’t want any trouble.”