Page 21 of Mafia Kings: Dario

As he stared into my eyes, I suddenly realized that the laughter, the shouting, the charm – it was all a façade.

Niccolo played the fool, but that was just to creep past your defenses…

Close enough to stab you with a stiletto.

I was frightened by the change in his mood – but I tried to hide it with more bluster.

“I want to go to bed. Or are you going to stop me from doing that?”

“No one here will stop you from doinganything,Alessandra,” Niccolo purred. “Except leaving the estate.Thatis punishable by – ”

Suddenly Dario’s voice interrupted from the back of the room. “Niccolo.”

It was a warning.

A command to back off.

Because I knew what the next word would have been:

Punishable by death.

There was a flash of anger in Niccolo’s eyes… and then he was back to his regular old charming self.

“Of course, of course,” he said as he settled back in his chair. “You must be exhausted,bella– you should go up and sleep. We can continue our talk in the morning.”

I nodded and got unsteadily to my feet.

“Massimo, escort her to her room,” Dario commanded.

“I can find my own way back,” I protested.

“I know you can. Regardless, he’s going with you.”

I glared at Dario, but he just calmly stared back at me with those mesmerizing eyes.

It was hard to look away, but eventually I did.

The other eyes in the room were not nearly as enticing –

And some of them were a good deal more threatening.

Adriano with his anger…

Lars with his quiet amusement…

Roberto with his calculating gaze…

Valentino with his seductive smile…

And Niccolo with his piercing stare that sifted my lies like wheat.

“…fine,” I said, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

As I turned to leave, Massimo walked over to escort me to my room.

“Sogni d’oro,”Niccolo said with a touch of mockery in his voice.

‘Sweet dreams.’

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