Page 39 of The Mafia's Surprise Gift

“And?” Denise chuckled. “It’s the truth. Who knew my sexy man would fall into my lap because of a gas leak? He saw me at four a.m. with my hair a mess, shoes on the wrong feet, and my underwear on backward. Somehow, he decided I was the girl for him.”

“Ahh, so you’re saying I need to nearly have my apartment go up in flames and see what sexy firefighter rolls by?” Turning my head back and forth, I settle on pinning my updo in place with some bobby pins. Then I pulled a few curls free to frame my face and tucked one behind my ear.

“It’s not a requirement.” Denise laughed. “But it helps.”

“Alright.” I sighed and straightened up. “You’ve seen the dress. This is the hair. What shoes do I wear?”

“What do you have?”

“Black pumps and gold sandals.”

“You know, if you go for a darker lip and line your eyes, those black pumps would look sexy as hell.”

I glanced at her and sighed. “I’m terrible at lining my eyes.”

“Just do it like I showed you,” Denise coaxed around another mouthful of wine. “Follow your eye shape, flick at the end near your brow, then smudge with a damp finger. Easy.”

“For you.” Picking up my phone, I moved it to my dresser and sat down.

“All it takes is practice, and don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve been raising a kid. Hardly been time to keep on top of makeup trends.”

“Too true,” I murmured, rummaging through my sparse makeup bag for anything that matched Denise’s idea.

“What are Zack’s plans for the night, anyway?”

“My mom is taking him to the movies, and then they’re coming back here to make s’mores and stay up late,” I replied, finally locating a dark red lipstick at the bottom of the bag. “Acting like it’s some kind of sleepover.”

“Cute.” Denise chuckled. “Meanwhile, you’re going to find the biggest dick in town and ride it until sunrise.”

“Denise!”

She collapsed backward, cackling as warmth flooded my cheeks. I watched the crimson shade sweep across my pale cheeks and down my narrow throat. As crude as she put it, she was right.

I needed to stay away from Rocco and all temptation involved in him and his life. To do that, I definitely needed to get laid.

“Alright.” I chuckled, holding up my sparse dollar store makeup pallet. “What shade is good for my eyes?”

Denise’s advice had me feeling like a million dollars when I stepped into the restaurant a few hours later, clutching my purse to my abdomen and praying the outline of my Spanx couldn’t be seen through my dress.

“Table for one, please.” I smiled brightly at the hostess, who slowly looked me up and down. My heart jumped into my throat, expecting to see a catty thought pass through her eyes, but instead, she looked impressed.

“Do you have a reservation?” she asked, turning her attention to the ledger in front of her.

“Yes, it should be under Murphy?”

“There you are. Right this way, please.” She picked up a menu and swept her arm to the side, indicating that I should follow.

I made it maybe ten steps toward my table before I spotted him. Rocco Adami sat two tables away from the one the hostess had brought me to. His attention was fixed on me like a lock, and the moment our eyes met, a pulse of heat prickled all over my body from head to toe.

What the fuck?

The whole reason I was here was to avoid him, and instead he’s right there, two tables away.

Rocco sat angled to the left at his table, one long leg crossed over the other and a glass of something honey-colored in his hands. His black shirt was missing the top two buttons, displaying deep golden skin just underneath. Beside him stood Dino, who was leaning over Rocco’s shoulder, apparently oblivious to my presence while reading something aloud from the tablet in his hand.

And then there was Jian. He stood a few feet away by the wall with his hand clasped over his wrist. He was dressed in all black with a crisp, white shirt looking every bit the bodyguard he claimed to be. Jian had definitely noticed me. His eyes kept snapping in my direction, and the very tips of his ears that poked out of his blond hair were pink.

“Miss?” The hostess had been holding my chair out for what felt like hours, but the longer I stared at Rocco, the angrier I became. How dare he have Dino follow me around like some kind of puppy dog, or send Jian to me like some planned encounter? Was he trying to keep tabs on me?

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