Page 98 of Fortress of the King

He takes my hand as if to spite Angelo, and kisses the top of my knuckles. “Nice to meet you, Rayne. I’d love to say I’ve heard so much about you, but Angelo keeps his cards close to his chest, and on this occasion, I can clearly see why.”

Charmed, I’m sure.

“Nice to meet you, too.” I smile back.

“You should get to meet the rest of the family tonight, they’ll all be here.” He gives me a sly wink.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Angelo snaps, his eyes like thunder.

He’s jealous of his own brother?

This man has a temper like no one I’ve ever met.

“Actually, nowhere at all,” he replies cheerfully. That is until we both glance at that God-awful woman I met at the cafe the other day. The one who told me about her and Angelo being fuck buddies.Allegra.

I glimpse beside her to see Patricia and Melody, and they’re all in deep conversation. Melody laughs at something she says, then our eyes meet, and she waves over at me. I wave back, avoiding looking at what’s-her-face.

“Fucking, Allegra,” I hear Angelo mutter.

“It was lovely to meet you,” Marco says. “I should do the rounds while everyone is still sober.”

Something passes between Marco and Angelo that I can’t decipher.

“Lovely to meet you, too,” I reply as he makes his way around the room.

“Don’t worry about Marco,” Angelo says when he’s gone. “He’s usually extremely uptight. Must be the easy flow of cocktails going around.”

“He has the Medici charm down to a tee.”

“That he does.” His hand lingers on my knee, tracing the skin with one finger. Every single touch sends fire right through me.

Losing him is going to be like torture.

His scent. His touch. His presence.

Suddenly, he pulls me off the stool and clasps my hand in his. His touch is demanding, not like he was a moment ago, and as we steer toward the marquee, his fingers tighten around mine. We don’t get far. Literally, out of nowhere, a girl comes bounding up to us like she’s on a mission. Angelo leans down to whisper that it’s his sister, Valentina.

She doesn’t even stop to find out who I am, instead, she barrels into me and hugs me with all her might, then stands back to assess me from head to toe.

“So, this is the mystery woman!” she cries with glee.

“Valentina!” Angelo scolds.

She’s taller than me, has long dark hair down to her waist and, unsurprisingly, she’s blessed with the same gorgeous looks as her brothers. Her eyes are a striking azure blue. She is absolutely stunning.

“Just taking a look at the girl who has had you captivated for weeks. We knew someone had to tame the wild beast sometime!” she says behind the back of her hand toward me.

“For fucks sake, Valentina.” Angelo looks mortified.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say, smiling back. At least the family seems to be friendly.

“It would be lovely to get together sometime.” She beams at me.

I don’t know what’s more astounding, that his sister thinks I tamed ‘the wild beast’ or that she seems pleased about it.

“We’re mingling,” Angelo says, sounding annoyed. “I’ve got some important people to talk to tonight, it isn’t all playtime for some of us.”

“All work and no pleasure,” she giggles.

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