Page 74 of Twisted Throne

He looked damn good himself, although there was no way I was going to tell him that right now. He was wearing his signature ebony Italian suit and he had just the barest hint of dark stubble on his face. I forced down the thoughts of how his rough stubble would feel between my thighs and just nodded slightly without speaking.

It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but I was still a little pissed that he put an errand before picking me up for our date.

He came to a stop and turned me to face him. Placing one finger under my chin, he lifted my face up so that he could look at me directly.

“Is something wrong?” Paul frowned as he studied me intently.

“No, it was just a… surprise when Carlos showed up instead of you.” It was hard to stay annoyed at him when he stared at me like that.

“Ah, I see.” He smiled. “Well, I can assure you that it was all for the greater good. I had to make a quick stop on the way here, but I believe you’ll feel that it was worth it,soubrette.”

My annoyance began to fade, and I couldn’t hold back a smile.

“Oh, really?”

“Absolutely,bella.” He lifted my hand up and brushed his lips across it, sending tingles up my arm. “Now, shall we?”

I couldn’t help but melt at his touch. Impulsively I raised up onto the balls of my feet, and pressed my lips against his. I wanted to just bask in his presence like a cat in the sun. The scent of his cologne was overwhelming and intoxicating, evaporating any last dregs of my irritation, leaving only the heat between us.

When we broke apart, he put his hand on the small of my back and guided me the rest of the way up the stairs to where a hostess in a black satin dress and impossibly tall heels held the door open for us. Her eyes flicked over Paul’s suit and my deep blue gown with purely professional appreciation, and she gestured us after her with a decorous nod.

She ushered us through the crowded main dining room and into a private room dining area. I’d been in thefamiglialong enough to anticipate the small table for two and the bottle of champagne on ice. But the large, square package sitting on the table took me by surprise. It was wrapped in a metallic silver paper, and topped with a large black, glittering bow.

“For me?” Paul pulled my chair out for me, then took the seat across the table.

“Of course, who else?” He smiled as he slid the package across the table to me. “Open it.”

I opened the package carefully, removing the thick wrapping paper to reveal a plain white box. With an encouraging look from Paul, I opened the box. I stared at the contents for a moment, then looked up at Paul. There was a sparkle in his eyes and I burst out laughing.

“So I’m guessing that getting this was your errand?”

I lifted out my banged-up, stained, but well loved coffee maker and placed it on the table. It looked even more ridiculous contrasted against the fine linen, pure white tablecloth.

“Well, I heard that you were having some issues with the one at the house. And now that you’ve learned how to shoot, I thought it was best to keep you caffeinated.” He smiled at me wryly as a server appeared out of nowhere to remove the wrapping paper and to whisk the coffeemaker away with the assurance that it would be available to pick up on our way out.

“This will go great in Angelo’s kitchen,” I quipped. “It’ll blend so well with all the chrome and marble!”

“I did consider that, which is why I also sent Lucy out to get a new one as well. One ‘that a normal fucking human could work,’ I believe is how she put it.”

“Oh god, you didn’t give her your credit card, did you? It’s hard to tell what will be waiting for us when we get back. She’ll probably have installed an entire Starbucks into the kitchen.”

Paul snorted out a laugh. “Great. They can cater the next family meeting.”

“Filling Alec’s old spot by seeing whose name the baristas actually get right…” I went on, smirking at the mental image.

“I doubt it’ll be that complicated. It’s been expected for a while that either Alec or myself would step up as head of thefamigliawhen Angelo decides to pull back from the business.” Paul took a sip of water from the crystal goblet on the table before continuing. “Things were leaning in my direction already, but with the… bad business with Elena, it’s safe to say that Alec is out of the running.”

I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but it made sense.

“It won’t be for a while still, but when the time comes, there will need to be someone who understands all angles of the business from the ground up. Alec cares about thefamiglia, yes. But his privilege and ego get in the way of his capabilities. We’re going to need someone that can handle both. ” He paused and studied me for a moment. “And then there’s another reason.”

“Is there?”

“There is.” His face never lost its confident lines, but I saw his throat flex as he swallowed. “I hope to be married to the boss’sfiglia. That is, if she’ll have me?”

I didn’t need to even think about my answer before I replied.

“We’ll have each other, always.”

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