Page 12 of Mafia Princess

I smile up at him, memories of what he didn’t finish last night still fresh in my mind.

He leans down and plants a kiss on my lips before letting go of my jaw and settling into the seat beside me. There’s a storm in his calm; I can feel it brewing under his skin. Whatever is going on inside him, it’s filling the space between us and making me feel like the biggest asshole here.

I stretch my arm out and play with the hair at the nape of his neck, hoping to soothe the woes he is harboring.

“You’re in trouble,” he says without looking at me.

“Me? What the fuck have I done?” I pull at his hair and his head jerks back slightly.

“You never collected these.” He holds my panties up, displaying them proudly for all to see.

I snatch them from him and watch his face light up with mischief as his chuckle starts deep in his belly and tumbles out of his mesmerizing lips.

“Please, stop. No one needs to see underwear while drinking their first coffee for the day. Leave that shit for after alcohol.” Amber pretends to gag.

“Luca, I’m going to kill you.” I shove my panties in my pocket.

“Add it to your endless list of reasons.” He grabs the back of my head and pulls me into a kiss. Our mouths finding their rhythm instantly.

I know from that one kiss that everything is okay. For now. Luca and I aren’t exactly official or exclusive or whatever the fuck you want to call it. But there is a connection. He gets me in ways no one else does. He doesn’t try to change me and that right there is why I am slightly infatuated with him. We’ll need to talk about my soon-to-be engagement to Milan and where we go from there. I doubt Milan will let me out of his sights once he puts a giant ugly ass rock on my finger. There is no fucking way I’m going through with the wedding, though. They all can all stick that idea up their shiny mobster asses and smoke it.

“What’s going on tonight?” Amber disrupts my thoughts.

“Family shit,” Dante replies. His eyes dart to Luca and back to Amber.

“You know you can talk about this in front of me. I’m not going to go run back to my papa and spill the beans. I couldn’t care less what goes on here in Russo land.” I sip my coffee and wink at him.

“Better to be safe than sorry. I still don’t know why you’re here, apart from getting dicked by this dick.” He points to Luca. “And with the impending engagement to that other dick, Milan, I’m not taking any chances.” Dante raises his eyebrows at me.

“I’m not a dick.” Luca grabs a napkin, scrunches it up, and throws it in Dante’s direction.

“Hey,” Amber scoops it out of her coffee.

“My point, exactly,” Dante chuckles.”

“Fuck off. I’ll go get another round of coffee for you fools.” Luca scoots his chair back and disappears inside.

My phone vibrates on the table and I stare at my papa’s name as it flashes at me.

“Are you going to answer that?” Dante watches me.

I sigh and press the answer button. “Ciao, Papa.”

The verbal tirade in Italian comes at me through the phone like a volcanic eruption. I’m sure the rest of the table can hear him. This is nothing new to me. My papa often screams at me about how much I frustrate him. This time, he drives the point of how disappointed he is in me for last night.

I do all I can not to hang up on him. It will only fuel the angry flame that I seem to keep eternally lit in him. I can picture his face as I sit here and listen to his demands.

He hangs up on me. End of discussion.

My gaze slides across the courtyard as Enzo approaches. Fucking great.

“What did I miss?” He sits next to Dante and takes in the silence around the table.

“Just me getting my ass handed to me.” I smile at him. There’s no hiding the caustic tone in my voice.

“Sucks to be you, Princess.” Enzo watches me, his face showing no sign of emotion.

“Why are you still here? Don’t you have important boss business to attend to?”

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