“Of course, none of it has anything to do withwhoowns it.”
I scoffed, running my tongue over my teeth.Smartass.“Course not.”
Zach shook his head, pushing off the bar, moving to talk to his brother and Tony. As soon as Matteo saw him turn his back, he put Zach in a headlock, his other hand ruffling his hair.
Out of instinct – orsuppressed anger– Zach charged and landed a hard punch to his brother’s ribs.
Tony’s head fell back in a roar of laughter. “Fucking idiots.”
Matteo chuckled with a groan, letting go and stepping back. “What the fuck, Rafey?” He asked serious, though his eyes glinted with mischief, matching the smirk on his face. “You hit your elders now?”
I released a breath of amusement. It was easy to forget Matteo was ten years older than his brother.
“I told you to stop calling me that,” Zach pointed a finger, using his other hand to fix his messy hair.
Matteo nodded. “Right. I forgot. You’re the boss now, Rafey.”
Zach groaned in frustration, running a hand down his face.
I chuckled. The last time I heard anyone call him Rafe or Rafey – or anything related to his middle name, Rafael – we were in middle school.
I drained the last of my scotch, willing the meeting to move faster.
Salvatore Moretti’s name had come up more than once in the conversation, which only added to my irritation.
Two weeks since the argument with Natalia, and I’d convinced myself that I didn’t care.
The sound of a soft, familiar laughter caught my attention.
Jaw ticking with tension, my gaze flicked to the other end of the club’s main floor.
I felt my brows furrow with a deep frown.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
My molars grinded together.
Especially not looking like that.
In a tiny, short, pink dress that clung to her like a second skin, a fur coat draped over her shoulders, and knee-high heel boots that made her legs look impossibly long. She cat-walked through the club like she owned the place, stopping briefly to greet a few of the dancers, exchanging smiles and quick hugs like they were old friends.
The sight threw me. Miss Perfect, the supposed Mafia princess, was here laughing with strippers in a club she had no business being in.
She turned then, her fur coat catching the light.
Our eyes met across the room, just for a second, and something tightened in my chest.
Natalia didn’t flinch – didn’t even acknowledge me, really – just looked right through me, like I wasn’t even there.
And then she walked away, her heels clicking against the floor as she headed off. I watched her step inside the elevator at the end of the hallway, her hand darting out to press the button.
She turned to face front, her gaze catching mine.
I was already halfway down the corridor, walking slow and deliberate.
Stepping inside, I ignored her questioning look and instead faced the front too, standing by her side. The tension was already thick with unspoken words.
A moment later, the doors closed.