Page 98 of Made to Sin

I forgot these people never saw the ugly side that I saw. In Marco, they saw a charming, old man with a wide smile and neat suit. Nobody would have thought looks were that deceiving.

“What? Are you also ‘over’ with our conversation? You know I mean no harm, right? I’m just curious,” she pricked.

I was usually good at hiding my emotions, but her judgemental face irked me the wrong way. Taking the high road was not going to work for tonight.

“Of course, you mean no harm. In the same way, I’m curious how your husband can have a handful of mistresses, but God forbid a woman be seen with a man months after her husband’s passing. Is that fair to you?”

Laura glowered at me, her cheeks red from embarrassment. I should have been more aware of what I was saying, especially whilst sitting at a table where every other member was armed with fully loaded Glocks, but she asked for it.

The men finally paid attention to our conversation, giving up the pretense that they were talking about business. The veins bulging out of Carlo’s head made it safe to assume he was furious.

Oops, did I strike a nerve?

TheCosa Nostrahad a ton of messed up rulings they had to sort through, I didn’t need to tolerate the sexism too.

Nobody spoke for a startling minute. I forgot they never met this side of me, the side that stopped following what other people wanted. Marco suppressed it in a cage, but docile Katarina was buried alongside him last July.

I snuck a glance at Luciano, praying he wasn’t mad I made a scene. Instead, what I saw sent a comforting thrill through my body. His eyes held a sparkling twinge as his lips tipped up. When our gaze met, he winked and sat back to give me the stage. I hope that meanthe was proud of me for standing up for myself.

Though I didn’t get a chance to react to the unfamiliar feeling, my smile dissipated as briefly as it came. Relentlessly, Laura wasn’t done with her offensive prying.

“Luciano, aren’t you usually here with that beauty? Sofia was it? You guys make the cutest couple at these events.”

I bit my lower lip to stifle the scoff at her jabs. While she was at it, she could do us both a favor and ask him why he was with me in the first place.

He shrugged. “Can’t you see? I already have someone beautiful next to me. As for Sofia, she should be around if you need her.”

Laura gave up and stopped poking at the story.

The returning warmth crept into my chest, and I couldn’t help the girly grin from spreading across my face. It had nothing to do with winning the petty argument but everything to do with the man who defended me.

Merda.

Pretending to not be affected by him or his smooth words, I forced myself to focus on the rest of the conversation floating around the circular table. The men talked about family gains, whereas the women sat without a care in the world.

This was an event where they were supposed to be writing checks and spending money for a righteous cause. Yet nobody brought up the topic of ending violence once.

I had it by the fiftieth time I heard about how successful a family’s cocaine export was. Picking up my clutch, I got up to be useful elsewhere. If this event was run by Eda, there had to be someone I recognized.

I searched around the room, letting out a dejected sigh when neither Emily’s black hair nor Arlene’s graying one was in the crowd. To make the situation worse, my gaze caught on the one person who might hate me more than Laura does.

Sofia stood by the bar in all her glory. Although I dislikedher, I would have to be blind to deny how beautiful she looked. Dressed in a chiffon red gown with her hair in a neat bun, Sofia exuded every definition of class.

A bubble of doubt popped up, and I couldn’t help but notice that Laura was right. Sofia and Luciano did make the cutest couple at these events. I could already picture them together— the poster ad for charity galas and, consequently, theCosa Nostra.

Glaring down at my plain silk gown and unruly split ends, I was a mess compared to her. What was I thinking, coming to an event like this with Luciano? I kid myself into fantasy, into believing we could have a drama-free situationship. Sure, it worked for two weeks, but then what? I return him straight into her arms?

I will always love you.

A prickling pain stabbed at my chest. Tonight proved why I had to stop being greedy for his affection. To him, it was harmless fun. To me, it was blurring the lines between what we were versus what I wanted us to be. I had to put a stop to it, uncomplicate things when I still could.

Swallowing my ego and the hurt that crawled up my throat, I approached her. She didn’t mind me any attention, but her cat eyes narrowed from wondering what I was up to. I didn’t know the answer either.

“You look lovely, Sofia,” I started.

“Thanks.” I held in an eye roll as she did a once-over on me, similar to how we first met. “What do you want?”

“I heard that you and Luciano come to these events together, and…” I paused, knowing if I said the next few words, I was ending whatever was going on between Luciano and me for good. I did it anyway. “And I think you should take my spot. It isn’t my scene.”

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