Page 3 of Sinful Daughter (Dark Mafia Sins 2)

“If Luca or Father find out—”

“They won’t, okay? Now stop complaining and do me this solid, or leave.”

My sister is frantically working. She’s always strung out with stress before a big game. With hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, people can get crazy or even killed. Typically, she hires girls to do the serving, but they’ve all turned her down. They keep telling her they have a contract that says they can’t work anywhere else but won’t say who they’re working for.

“I think it’s romantic when our honor is defended,” Gia says, now working on my mascara.

“It’s not romantic when your brother kills a guy because he whistled at you.” Luca is protective of all of us. He’s never hesitated when it’s come to our safety.

She shrugs. “Maybe the Mancini men should have more manners.”

I sigh, and my sister continues.

“I’m just saying I enjoy being able to go to a party, drink, and dance knowing no one will give me trouble.” The day Gia was born, she was promised away into marriage. It’s worked out well so far. They’re best friends, and she can do whatever she wants. Her future husband is always there, watching out for her. “You know Luca wouldn’t have to look out for you if you were promised?”

“I don’t want to be promised.”I don’t need a husband.

“Can you two stop gossiping? I need your help, and where the hell is Katrina?” Luna asks.

Gia adds lipstick as her last touch. Standing, I do a small circle, allowing Luna to make her judgments.

Her hands come up. “You look nice,” she concedes. “The players might like less distraction anyway.”

I bite my tongue from having a retort.Luna is under a lot of pressure, I remind myself. She doesn’t mean the comment negatively. I have to fight off the urge to tell her my future job is on the line by doing this. Father has made it extremely clear I am not to be involved. But I love my sister, and she wouldn’t hesitate to help me, so here I am.

I’m so screwed.

“Hey, girls.” Pauly,my cousin, walks in giving his nod of approval. We have security outside the door and one on the inside. “Uncle Matteo!” he addresses before nodding to each man at the table.

There are five of them sitting there. I’m making drinks whenever asked, ensuring we’ve fed everyone. Butonlywhen asked. Interrupting a game is the best way to be blamed for a losing streak. We have a few bosses from all over the United States coming into town this weekend. Something big is being planned, and this game is for the early ones.

The different bosses gather here when something big is about to go down. I watch Luna scurry around; she and everyone are tenser than normal.Stop analyzing everyone.I don’t even have a baseline to gauge what a poker night is like. I recognize everyone around the table but one guy. He’s twitchy, and my gut says cop.Stop the psychoanalyzing. He’s not a cop.I understand why they haven’t asked for my help now. I’m the twitchy one, thinking everything is going to go wrong because I’m worried about being caught.

Making my way to Luna, I grab her hand, leaning my body in. “Who’s the guy in white?” I can’t help but ask.

She gives me an annoyed look before checking toward the table. She keeps her voice low. “Grant. His money is good here.”

“I thought Mancinis join in on these games.”

“Sometimes they do, but tonight they don’t,” she whispers, walking away from me.

I look over at the table. Everyone is invested in the game with it sitting at four-large with three still in. Pauly stands, giving me a nod to catch my attention before I follow him out into the hallway.

Closing the door behind me, I see there’s one guard blocking the door. My cousin signals for him to take a few steps away to give us some privacy. “Relax, Aria.” He places his hands on my shoulders. “You need to stop asking so many questions. You’re twitchy, and the guys in there are going to notice. Then, they’ll get restless and blame you.” Both brows rise as he pauses before continuing. “How did you convince Nicoli to let you be here?”

I scratch my head. Nicoli Rossi is my father, and no way in hell did he say this was okay. Or at least he wouldn’t if I had asked him. I take too long to answer, and he shakes his head at me. His eyes widen with concern. “Word needs to get out on how amazing you are tonight, because either way, he will know.”

I sigh. Deep down, I knew this. Pauly releases my shoulders with a light, friendly pinch.

“Pauly, is my money no good anymore?” Romeo Mancini is strutting up like a peacock flaunting its colorful tail.

“Game’s full. Come early next time.”

Romeo goes to walk past the guard and open the door, but Pauly steps in front of it. “Not tonight.” His voice uncharacteristically hardens. He’s our jokester in the crowd.

“Don’t disrespect me. I lost thirty thousand, and I deserve my chance to win it back,” Romeo argues with a bit of sway to his stance. I can smell the liquor oozing out of his pores from where I’m standing.

“Next time, win.” My cousin holds his ground. I stand there invisible while the two men glare at one another.

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