Page 4 of Mafia Heir's Alpha
Maybe I’d try again next week…or month…or year.
3
ORI
The carpet inSmoke & Mirrors, the cigar bar in the Ferrinis’ casino, felt like it was trying to glue me in place with every step I took. Maybe it was the decades of spilled cocktails or maybe it was my own paranoia, but I was convinced that if I stopped moving, I’d become part of the decor forever.
I took a seat at the bar so I could watch the small groups of people sitting at the tables. I wasn’t a big drinker, but I needed to fit in, so I ordered a gin and tonic, hoping they wouldn’t ask for my ID. To my relief, they didn’t. Whether it was because I looked like I was old enough to drink or because they just didn’t care, I was glad I didn’t have to pull out my fake. It worked fine at the campus bars by school, but I didn’twant to test it out in a mafia-run casino. If they got suspicious of me, things could go bad real quick.
I wasn’t armed, and if I got in a jam, I was on my own. Not that I would know what to do with a gun if I had one.
Uncle Mario made it clear that this was my test. No matter what happened, I couldn’t call him for help.
When my drink came, I took a sip with my back to the entrance, but my eyes were on the mirror behind the shelves of liquor.
It’d been nine days since I first walked into the casino to get a feel for the place. There were lots of regulars, and I needed to be seen as one of them until I had a better excuse for hanging around the families. Each day I was here, I tracked the guards and their routines, the schedules and menus. I even knew which games were scheduled for service each day.
Getting revenge for my family wasn’t going to be easy, but my opportunity was coming.
Russo blood didn’t get spilled without consequences. Or so I was told. Maybe I was just a useless omega in a line of dead alphas, but I had to shoot my shot. The Menetti family thought they’d finished the job, butthey didn’t know about me. Most people didn’t. That was my advantage. The only one I had.
I sipped my drink and replayed my plan in my mind. Security was higher tonight, but that was to be expected. Andro’s big birthday bash was happening in less than twenty-four hours, so there was a higher presence of guards. That was fine with me. It gave me more options to choose from.
I was just finishing my drink when one of my targets walked in. Maybe the easiest one to get close to. Rosco Gallo had been working his way up the Menetti ladder for a while, and now he had the ear of the Ferrinis. He was perfect. A single alpha who didn’t date much.
I’d done my homework on several single options, but Rosco was at the top of my list. Not only was he fucking gorgeous, but he was serious and focused on his work, which meant he probably needed a little fun now and then. If I could get his attention, I’d figure out how to seduce him long enough to get in the same room as Cord.
That was my ultimate goal.
Whether I walked out of that room would be tomorrow’s problem.
Rosco stood a head taller than the rest of the bar’s patrons as he strode straight toward me. For a moment, I thought he’d made me and was about to yank me off the stool and into some kind of torture room. But he didn’t acknowledge me at all. He dropped onto a stool three seats to my left and waved a few fingers at the bartender. “A double.”
The scent of leather and alpha was almost overwhelming as I inhaled the air that wafted from him. Damn, he smelled good. Too good. My head got a bit foggy until I turned away and did my best to clear his scent.
He nodded at the bartender as his drink was delivered and then fixed me with a gaze that made my skin tingle under my shirt. “Hey.”
I flinched, surprised he’d acknowledged me as I looked over at him. “Hi.”
“Nobody sits at this end of the bar unless they’re waiting for someone or hiding from someone. Which one are you?”
“Little of both, I guess.” I kept my voice low, trying to keep it from cracking under my nerves. “It’s been a long day, and I figured a quick drink would help me relax before I head up.”
“Upstairs?” He raised an eyebrow. “You got a room here?”
I nodded and let my fingers trace the rim of my glass. “Yeah, I guess I’m hoping to get lucky.”
Rosco’s smile seemed to be as surprising to himself as it was to me. “In the casino or in your room?”
“Maybe both.” Holy shit, was I actually doing it? Was I actively seducing the right-hand man of the asshole who killed my father? I never flirted. I was terrible at it. The alphas at my school were all jocks or too focused on their studies, like me, to bother with dating or anything else. Yet here I was with one of the most dangerous men in the city, talking and flirting like it was an everyday thing.
He regarded me in silence for a few seconds before he nodded and downed his scotch in one gulp. “If you’re looking for company, you’re definitely about to get lucky.” He stood up and held his hand out to me. “You in?”
I sucked in a deep breath and almost knocked over my glass as I stood up. “Yeah. Cool.” I cleared my throat. “I mean, yes. That sounds nice.” Well, there went all my suaveness.
His pupils dilated, and his nostrils flared the tiniest bit as he reached for my hand. There was no way he couldn’t smell the arousal coming off me just as strongly as I could almost taste the alpha coming off him. “What room are you in, kid?”
I leaned into his side without realizing I was doing it as we started walking toward the elevators. “517.”
