Page 56 of Mafia Boss

She pulled my hair behind my shoulders and smiled at me. “You’re going to learn fast that, sometimes, in a Mafia family, being a psycho is the only way to keep the eyes on you and the slutty hands off your man.”

45

roxie

“Chiara,”I whispered, inching closer to her as we walked onto Cristian’s yacht. To say that I felt out of place was a damn understatement. I didn’t party with the rich, and I certainly never partied with criminals either.

My nerves were getting the best of me, and I wanted to run right off the boat and puke into the ocean beside us. That would surely be a better night than having to play dress-up with a bunch of Mafia men and acting like I had balls as big as them.

I didn’t. I just tried to act like it sometimes to protect myself.

“You’ll be fine, Roxie. Just take deep breaths.”

“Chiara,” a young woman with dark brown hair and even darker eyes said to our left, Alessa glaring at me from her side. “I didn’t think you’d be here tonight. I thought you’d be out with your boyfriend, like you usually are.”

Chiara tightened her grip on my hand, nails digging into my skin. “You mean, Alessandro?” she asked, edginess in her voice and lips curling into an ugly and tense smile. “He’s doing just fine. Thanks for asking. He’s overseeing somebusinesstonight and said that he’snotsorry for not being able to see your lovely face again.”

The woman pressed her full pink lips together and swallowed hard, as if trying to hold back and not start a fight, but I could see it in her eyes that she wanted to rip Chiara to pieces for some ungodly reason. Feeling uncomfortable, I squeezed Chiara’s hand harder. I had never gotten dressed up this nice or this slutty, had never gotten into a passive-aggressive fight with someone who could kill me in a moment, and had never been in the presence of someone who actually wanted my head.

“Where’s Cristian?” I asked, hoping to ease the tension.

The woman turned to me, one dark brow raised. “Who are you?”

Alessa smirked at me and grabbed my forearm, her nails digging hard into my skin. “Aida, this is Roxie, the whore who keeps hanging around your brother that I have been telling you about.” She frowned at me with big, anything-but-innocent eyes. “Didn’t I tell you that trash like you doesn’t stay around for long?”

Chiara ripped me out of Alessa’s grip and stepped closer to her. “Watch your mouth. You’re not the only one who plays with guns, Alessa.”

And with that, she pulled me away from Cristian’slovelysister and the bitch that I’d kill one day.One day.

Cristian sat on a couch toward the rear of the yacht, a glass in his hand and a bunch of his men and people I didn’t recognize around him. When he spotted me from across the boat, he arched a brow and glanced down at the relatively conservative shirt and skirt that Chiara had made me wear over the bikini.

When she had forced me to put it on earlier, she’d said it was to surprise Cristian with what was underneath.

Though I didn’t want to interrupt him and his business—I hated all the business he did—Chiara marched right up to him and pushed me toward him and basically into his lap.

“I’ll be back. I have to take care of some things,” she said, glaring behind her, as Alessa and Aida walked onto the rear of the boat.

When she disappeared, Cristian wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed me right on the mouth in front of everyone, even Marco, who stood off to the side and watched. While I didn’t particularly like the attention from everyone else, having Marco watch us was kind of … fun.

It shouldn’t have been, but I had never really gotten much attention from any other man than Ben for the past few years. Even though I’d never do anything with Marco, it was nice to hear that even Chiara thought that Marco had a thing for me. It made me feel wanted and appreciated for once. Either way, I was glad he had come tonight. I needed to speak with him.

“Have you met my sister?” Cristian asked me, nodding to Aida.

I drew my tongue across my teeth and flared my nostrils. “Yes,Alessaintroduced us.”

Cristian tensed underneath me at the mention of her name. “She did?”

“Yes,” I said sharply, the tension evident in my voice.

And, almost as if she had heard me, Alessa walked over to us and smiledsweetlyat Cristian, brushing her fingers against his shoulder. “Cristian, do you have a moment to talk?” she asked him, batting her stupidly fake lashes.

I balled my hands into tight fists, wanting to pound them into her fucking bitchy face.

“I’m busy,” he said, digging his fingers into my side.

She leaned even closer to us. “But it’s important.”

“Alessa,” Cristian scolded, cutting his eyes to her, “I’m busy.”

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