Page 48 of The Almost One

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I frown, my eyes searching her features as her gaze travels around the club like she’s scanning for someone.

“Tesoro, I don’t know whether to punish that delicious mouth of yours with a heavy dose of my cock or drape you over my knee and show your clientele what happens to your ass when you misbehave.” Her gaze returns to me, but she’s quickly distracted by something over my shoulder.

“Enzo and Tyler are here?” Did she just squeak? What the fuck is happening right now?

As if the lights weren’t dim enough, the room sinks into complete darkness as a spotlight illuminates the stage in reds and purples and deep blues.

“Please don’t be mad.” I frown at River’s words, but let her lead me to the table where Tyler and Enzo are pouring three glasses of scotch and sitting back, ready to enjoy the show.

I don’t have time to ask River why she’s being so sketchy when the first notes of a sultry ballad entrance the entire room. My wife kisses me hard on my lips, palming both my cheeks and looking me straight in the eyes. “Just remember, keep an open and forgiving mind.” Then she’s gone, leaving me to wonder what the actual fuck is going on.

Sitting on one end of the couch, I grab my glass of scotch as the silhouette of a young woman on center stage grabs everyone’s attention. Her heels are impossibly high, sparkling with every reflection from the spotlight. They match perfectly with her barely-there sequin dress, partially hidden by a long curtain of dark hair reaching the small of her back.

Bringing one leg straight up to the pole and wrapping it around until she’s upside down, I notice the three of us are angling our heads to the side like it’ll help us understand how this woman is able to contort her body in this way.

“What the actual fuck?” Tyler growls to my left while Enzo mumbles a not so discreet, “Shit.” It takes me a few seconds longer to understand their reactions.

In fact, I only clue in once the woman spins around to the beat of the music with her head upside down and faces us, her legs straight up and in a vee as she holds the bar effortlessly. That’s when it dawns on me, and River’s words finally make sense.

“Jesus fucking Christ, is that my baby sister?”

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

RIVER

“How mad is Marco about last night?” Lina checks her reflection in the mirror as she applies the final touches of her cherry-red lipstick. She’s a vision in midnight-blue this evening, with crystals glittering on the bust of her sweetheart neckline every time they catch the light. As is usual for Lina, her formal attire consists of a figure-hugging floor-length gown with an almost indecent split to show off her left leg. Her long, dark hair is pinned up in a mass of glorious curls, with loose tendrils falling all around, exactly how they were designed to.

“Do you really wanna know what my punishment was for keeping that secret from your brother?” Turning from the vanity, I give her my best innocent and questioning face.

“Ew, no!”

Laughing, I finish sweeping mascara across my lashes and take one final look at my reflection. The longer side of my hair is styled into my face in messy waves, the shorter side with some volume but gripped back, emphasizing the beautiful crystal moon drop earrings Marco surprised me with this morning. He actually found the whole Lina working at my club thing amusing, and a few light spanks followed by a couple of mind-blowing orgasms was all the ‘punishment’ I received, but it’s fun to make Lina think otherwise.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about with your big brother, but you do owe me! The real question here should be, how mad are Tyler and Enzo about last night?”

Standing, I move to sit on Lina’s bed, where she has all our shoe options laid out across the blankets. I choose a simple red pair of Jimmy Choos, covered in silver glitter—okay, maybe not so simple, but they’re super pretty. They go perfectly with the red knee-length pencil-skirt-style dress I’m wearing, and when I attach the long and floaty sparkly skirt section—like a cape but for the waist, it’s my new favorite dress—they’ll go even better still.

“Well, I think Enzo already knew, but I can’t be sure. He was his usual broody self, a few grunts here and there—and not the sexual kind.” She giggles at her own joke, and I join her. Her excitable and fun aura is infectious, and this is one reason I was never able to cut this woman out of my life. “Tyler, on the other hand, gave me the fifth degree about being safe, showing off my body to dirty old men with bad thoughts, keeping secrets… ya know, all the things, because it’s Tyler and when he loses control it sends him spiraling.”

“Yeah, I know. At least the truth’s out now though. No more sneaking around or trying to lose your security team… although, if Enzo knew, I doubt that you were losing them half as much as you think. You know he’s a freaking ninja when it comes to all things safety.”

“I do. And I also know how ridiculous it was to believe I was duping him or his team all this time, but fuck it. What’s done is done, and I’m ready to enjoy my big brother’s fancy pre-launch party thing.”

Lina is much like me, in that we can compartmentalize whatever shit may be going on to be there for family when they need us. And tonight, Marco needs us. As much as he hides it from the rest of the world, my husband is nervous about this pre-opening launch of his hotel. It’s the first time he hasn’t had his father’s help with something of this magnitude, and I can see how much that fact hurts him.

* * *

We are the first people to arrive, and my gods, this place is glorious. The hotel is very similar to before, but it’s been updated and elevated to a level I never imagined possible. It’s like stepping into Italy itself, and modern luxury has all been intertwined with historic lines, it honestly couldn’t be more perfect.

“No, you didn’t!” There are servers lining one of the walls, with various appetizers on their gold-plated trays ready for when the guests begin arriving any moment, and as I’m grabbing myself a glass of something bubbly from one of them, I can’t contain my joy at what I’m seeing.

“I did, Tesoro. I couldn’t do this evening without a little something my wife would approve of.”

There, mixed in with other chocolates on the tray, are teeny chocolate penises. Just like the ones I made Stefano use for the Christmas Eve party. It almost brings a tear to my eye, but I suck that fucker right back inside.

“You’re a slick motherfucker, aren’t you? You were getting some tonight already, but this…? Well, I’m going to have to come up with an extra surprise for you too now.” I wink at my husband as I stroke a hand across his shirt-covered chest.

“You could just give me your panties.”

---