Page 9 of Mafia King's Surprise Baby

Leo stays silent, then his lips start to twitch.

Is he seriously laughing right now? And at me?

I huff and cross my arms in front of my chest.

Leo closes his eyes briefly and then averts his gaze.

Wait, was he looking at my breasts? My arms have propped them up, but…

Dead end, Bianca.

Yes, I should remember this.

“Mattia and Hana, they’re both very private people,” he says.

“But it’s their wedding day! If they’re not happy today, then when will they be?”

“Who says they’re not happy?”

He has a point. Getting married is something momentous, even when you’re doing it when not forced into an arranged alliance. They’re about to embark on a whole new life together. That’s daunting enough, and it surely hits bull’s eye on the wedding day itself.

“I’m being silly, aren’t I?”

“We’re all allowed to be silly sometimes.”

It’s a light quip, but the way Leo says it, I can’t help but feel there’s more to his words.

The limo stops, a valet opening the door. Leo climbs out first and gives me his hand. I take it to alight, not letting myself think of the warmth of his palm, the slight roughness of his skin.

I can’t let myself imagine how that calloused surface would feel on my body.

Ahead of us, Mattia and Hana are getting out of their car. She’s ditched the veil, which means I’m off that duty, at least.

Mattia whispers something in his new bride’s ear, and she turns to him with a soft smile, her gaze shy and demure when she peers up at him from under her lashes.

“They look happy together,” Leo states next to me.

They do. I was making a mountain out of a molehill.

“Today’s a day for fun, for celebration, Bianca.”

I turn to him, my gaze getting lost in his. He has such intense eyes. Any second now, I expect to see licks of fiery emotion lighting them up.

Will he burn me with those flames if I keep staring for long enough?

“Fun,” I hear myself saying. “I don’t know if I still remember what that means.”

I have no idea how this confession spilled out. Fun stopped the day my father called me in Paris four and a half months ago, telling me I was now engaged and he expected me to do my duty. The entire canvas of my life drained of color, like a grayscale filter taking over.

Except, now, I’m seeing flicks of burning orange and red in the depths of dark eyes. The first burst of color, of tone, of brightness in weeks.

And it’s all forbidden.

Fun. Life. Passion. Love.

Leo.

I should remember this.

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