Page 27 of Under His Protection

“Be with me if you want them to back off. Act like I’m with you.”

Careful, Nina. Careful. This was supposed to be fake, but here I was talking like a whiny girlfriend who’d have an actual right to his attention. He wasn’t interested. He’d made that clear, but I struggled not to blur the lines, wanting him to really notice me.

“All you’ve done is talk business.” I lowered my gaze, too intimidated to keep up this direct eye contact. I couldn’t read him, and I was nervous I’d pushed him too far.

His finger and thumb gripped my chin, and he tipped my face up so I’d see him.

“Be careful what you wish for,” he growled.

I opened my mouth to retort something, but he slid his thumb up to snag my lower lip. “This is a business meeting.”

“I know, but?—”

“Dante,” another man said, clapping him on the back as he approached.

Dante didn’t take his gaze off me, not as he pulled me closer and turned with the man. We went to the table to eat. Our argument was cut short, but my words made an impact. Now, he held my hand. In the firm grip of his fingers wrapped around mine, I had a hunch he was going to prove me wrong.

Be careful what I wish for?

I bit my lip, wondering if he’d just issued a dare I wouldn’t win. Because I wanted him—for real.

11

DANTE

Dante

“Act like I’m with you.”

If I could truly do that, we’d be giving them all too much of a show. I’d have my mouth over hers. My hands fisted in her hair. Her lipstick ruined and her body naked.

Giving myself the free rein to be with Nina would unleash a wave of desire no one could stop. Once I gave in to the lust she invoked, there would be no hiding or holding back.

However, after her words, I understood it from another perspective. She had done her part, getting dressed up and accompanying me, but as we took our seats for dinner, I replayed how much I’d actually interacted with her.

I hadn’t.

At all.

With tunnel vision to counter the questions about what Stefan said, falsely claiming that the Constellas would always have his back in friendship and finances, I'd ignored Nina completely. The balance between paying attention to her and managing the business talk was off, and now it was time to make up for it.

She was right. If I wanted them to know I was with her, I had to act like it. And I started now. Holding her hand, speaking with her. Facing her and smiling at her nervousness.

I realized that she had likely been lost and confused, unsure how to act as my plus-one as I chatted with the men I often dealt with, leaders and capos of other families. Knowing she was suffering bothered me, and it prompted me to really give her all my attention.

The only catch was how much I wanted it to be real.

To act like I wanted her was a double-edged sword. Because I really did.

“More?” I offered after the dinner plates were cleared away. Holding up her empty glass, I suggested that she have more.

“Trying to loosen me up?” she teased with a small, sexy smile.

“Loosen?” I smirked. “I like how tight you are.”

Her cheeks reddened immediately, and I fought a groan. Seeing her flushed like this was temptation personified. Knowing she was thinking about how I’d had my fingers in her pussy amused me. That was only the beginning of what I dreamed of doing to her, with her.

“Oh.” Her quip of a reply was quiet and short, and I enjoyed rendering her speechless.

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