Page 21 of Ruthless Rival

“Speaking of which…” Gabriela murmured to herself as she lifted a hand up to flag down one of the waiters. “I’ll take a margarita on the rocks and whatever my handsome friend would like.”

“Surprise me,” I told her.

“Oh, a man of risk? I like that.” Gabriela gasped excitedly before turning back to the waiter. “Get him a paloma.”

“I have a tab running. Mancini,” I told the waiter before he rushed off to grab our drinks.

“Back to rumors. I’ll tell you something I heard, and you can tell me if it’s a rumor or not,” Gabriela said, smiling like a child excited to play their favorite game.

I held her gaze and nodded, feeling a bit wary of what she had heard. There had been plenty of bullshit being whispered about me throughout the city, but I wasn’t in high school. I couldn’t begin to care what people thought about me.

Unless it was Gabriela.

“You make people who cross you disappear,” Gabriela said as she leaned forward slightly.

“I do believe my nickname on the street is Houdini Mancini,” I replied with a hint of a grin on my face. I didn’t have an interest in lying to her. Women were curious but careful. I had no doubt that she did some research on me before going out with me.

“Are you going to show me a magic trick or two tonight?” Gabriela quipped, cocking an eyebrow at me.

“The night is young,” I pointed out before the waiter approached our table and set our drinks down. I stared at the highball glass in front of me filled nearly to the brim with pinkish orange liquid and garnished with a thin lime slice.

Gabriela picked up her margarita glass and lifted it up. “Cheers to that,” she said.

I smiled and clinked my glass against hers before sipping on my drink. The tequila was impossible to miss, but it had been curbed by the sweeter taste of the grapefruit soda. “Any other rumors you’d like to test?” I asked her.

Gabriela tapped her nails against the side of her margarita glass as she thought, creating a rhythmic clinking noise. “You’re a womanizer,” she said.

I smirked a little at that one. I enjoyed some fun at Delta every so often, but those were transactional. They helped me release built up tension so I could focus. If I were a womanizer, I would be picking up girls in bars or clubs without having to pay them. “No,” I replied. That wasn’t a person I wanted to be or could be. I was far too busy doing my daily tasks to sit around bars and flirt with girls, hoping they came home with me.

Gabriela hummed beneath her breath as she studied my face. “You could be if you wanted to,” she pointed out.

“Before anything, I’m a family man,” I said. My children always came before my own pleasures. That was why we were so strong. We put each other first and supported each other.

Gabriela’s expression wavered for a moment. She took a sip of her drink and cleared her throat. “Your son’s wedding was lovely. It’s a shame it ended so abruptly.”

Finally, a perfect segue into one of the things I wanted to ask her. It had been bothering me since the moment I saw her at the wedding and at the Governor’s ball months later. “For the life of me, I can’t wrap my mind around why you were the governor’s date. I can’t think of a less charming man,” I said with a light chuckle.

Gabriela smirked and brushed her hair behind her shoulders. She leaned against her forearms as she joined her hands together on the table. “A friend told me that the governor needed a date. I happened to be available, and I’m an avid lover of wedding cake,” she replied with a cheeky look on her face.

Damn, this woman was so effortlessly charming. No wonder the governor folded like a piece of paper when she offered to be his date to the wedding. “A bad date can ruin a great wedding,” I stated while holding her gaze. I felt sure she loved wedding cake, but that couldn’t have been the actual reason why she went with him to the wedding. She was far too complex of a woman not to have some sort of motive. The governor was a powerful person who could grant her any wish she wanted within reason.

“Either you don’t like the governor, or you’re sounding a bit jealous,” Gabriela said as she flashed me a teasing smile.

I couldn’t stop the laugh that broke from me. She was good. Sharp. “I don’t feel threatened by the governor, but I was a better date than him by far.” The man was a flimsy, desperate excuse for a politician, continuously slipping out of my grasp like a worm.

“I will say you’re showing him up tonight,” Gabriela assured me as she brushed her ankle against mine under the table.

Heat flared up inside of me just by that touch. What a tease. I loved it. “I could do that with my eyes closed.” I took her hand, stroking her knuckles with my thumb. I wanted to pull her across the table and hold her in my lap, running my hands all over her delectable curves. It was hard not to get worked up just by looking at her.

“It sounds like you’re quite familiar with the governor,” Gabriela commented as she gave me a curious look. “Friend? Business partner?”

Funny she said that. “I’d like him to be a business partner,” I replied. “He’s a bit timid about partnering up with me, though.”

“You probably intimidate him.” Gabriela laughed.

She had a point. The governor claimed that being on my payroll went against his morals, but I had a feeling that another reason for him denying me was that he was wary about getting involved with me and my family. He had heard plenty about us through whispers around the city.

“I’m a perfectly nice guy unless someone crosses me.” Houdini Mancini was actually pretty fitting. It was easy for me to make someone disappear, but I didn’t go out of my way to take anyone out. I could be somewhat reasonable. If I took out everyone who crossed me, New Orleans’ population would be significantly lower.

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