Page 72 of Their Deviant Love
“Her? No. But he sure as fuck does.” Mr. Valentino points to me.
“Papa, be nice.” Aurora glares at her father. “Mama, make him be nice.”
“Matteo, not here, not now,” Mrs. Valentino says, and just like that, Aurora’s father shakes his head.
“Come and sit down. You must be starving,” he directs to Aurora.
“Aurora, good to see you again.” An older man stands next. He looks me up and down—yep, another Valentino man who wants to kill me.
“Thanks, Nonno. This is Connor. Connor, my grandfather.” Aurora waves a hand between us.
She does this with everyone who’s sitting at the table, which is only every single one of her uncles and aunts.
After we take our seats, Aurora breaks the silence. “You know, considering he saved Dante from being killed today, you all could be a little nicer.”
I tense. That did not need to become public knowledge. And I don’t need these assholes to like me.
“Aurora, it’s the dinner table. We don’t discuss business at dinner.” This comes from her grandmother.
“Sorry, Nonna,” Aurora says. Her hand is still firmly closed around mine.
“I heard from Lily the other day. She said Levi was spending some time in Ireland,” her grandmother adds.
“Is he well? Hopefully he doesn’t get himself killed.” Aurora smirks. “You know that mouth of his is likely to be the end of him one day.”
“Have you seen him?” Her Uncle Theo asks.
Aurora lifts a single shoulder. “Last time I saw him, I put him on his ass in the ring. He thought he could beat me.”
“Good girl.” Mr. Valentino smiles at his daughter with pride.
The rest of dinner consists of a lot of random small talk. Thankfully, I get left out of most of it. Which I’m happy for. I came for her. She wanted this, and there isn’t a single thing I wouldn’t do for her.
After all the dinner plates are cleared from the table, Mr. Valentino stands. “Connor, follow me.”
“Papa?” Aurora pushes up from her seat when I do the same.
“Not you, just him,” Mr. Valentino says.
“It’s fine. I’ll be right back.” I lean forward and press my lips to the middle of her forehead, and she melts into me. “Promise.”
“Okay.” She sighs and reluctantly drops my hand.
I follow Mr. Valentino out of the dining room. I expected his brothers to come with us but they didn’t. He leads us into his office and asks, “Drink?”
“No, thanks,” I tell him.
“You don’t drink?”
“Not much,” I say, because I’ve preferred not to drink lately. And tonight, I’m driving. I would never put Aurora at risk by drinking and then driving her home. “I’m driving.”
“Right. Sit down.” Mr. Valentino points to the set of matching brown leather sofas.
I don’t dislike the man. As far as fathers go, he’s a good one. I also totally understand his hatred towards me, because if it were me, I’d hate me too.
I sit down, and after he pours himself a drink, Mr. Valentino positions himself on the sofa across from me. “I heard what you did today. With the Albanians.”
I wait, because that wasn’t a question. Is he wanting me to incriminate myself? Because that’s not happening.
