Page 38 of Pride

“I ain’t Skip yet,” I say sharply.

“Like hell.”

He’s right. But still. “Show some respect,” I bark. “Enough with that nonsense.”

“Sorry, boss.”

Collecting for tribute takes most of the day. When I get back to the penthouse, I’m feeling dirty and exhausted, but looking forward to spending the evening with Sera. I catch another shower, and put on a fresh suit.

And then, I go into my bedroom, where I open the safe that’s hidden behind the painting next to bed. I find what I’m looking for, and shove it into my pocket.

The front doorof the Mucci mansion opens before I get to it, and one of the staff welcomes me in like I own the place. “Ms. Mucci will be down in a moment,” he tells me. I wait for her in the formal living room, but she doesn’t keep me waiting for long. She appears in the doorway in a knockout red bodycon dress that hugs her curves in all the right places. My eyes almost fall out of my freaking head.

“Do you like it?” she asks, blushing as she turns around for me. “I borrowed it from Tina’s closet.

“Like it? The only thing stopping me from tearing it off you is that we’ve got reservations.” I’m across the room in two strides, catching her in my arms for a kiss that leaves her breathless.

“Where are we going?” she pants when I release her.

“It’s a surprise. A good one, I hope.”

Sera makes a game out of trying to tease our destination out of me, but I keep her guessing until I pull the Maserati up infront of a place I know she knows well. Her eyes get big like saucers when she sees where we are.

“This is my favorite restaurant!” she gasps. “How did you —?”

“I called your sister and asked her,” I say as I pull the car up and park it right in front of the front door.

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t been here in so long! But wait, there aren’t any other cars in the lot. Are you sure it’s open?”

I exit my side and go over to open her door for her. “Positive. I reserved the whole restaurant for us. We’ve got the whole place to ourselves.”

Inside, the maître d’ greets us by name and immediately takes us to a candlelit table in the center of the restaurant. The rest of the tables have been moved out, so it really is just us in the space. The standing bouquets of flowers I ordered — all Sera’s favorites, according to Tina — have all been put in place. Sera marvels at everything as we sit down and I ask for the maître d’ to bring us a bottle of champagne.

“You look kinda shocked, Sera. You okay?” I joke.

“I am.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “Antony, this is… I don’t even know what this is.”

A waiter arrives with the champagne, and pours us each a glass. I hold mine up to Sera, and we clink flutes silently. She takes a long sip, and sets hers down. “Antony. Never in a million years would I have expected this. What a surprise.”

“A good one, I hope.”

“Very good.” She’s staring at me strangely. “You aren’t at all like any man I’ve ever known. You actually asked my sister advice on what would make me happy.”

“Is that so strange?”

“Yes. It is.” She takes another sip of her champagne. “In my experience, men don’t ask the opinions of women. They do what they want to do, and the women are supposed to go along. Even my father, when he’s trying to do something nice for my mother,he doesn’t ask her what she wants. He just gives her what he thinks she wants. And she goes along with it, because usually he spends a lot of money on the gesture. So eventually, those things sort of become her tastes, too. Which I guess is sort of the whole point. Made men don’t ask the opinions of women. They tell them what their opinions are.”

I chuckle. “Serafina Mucci, if there is one thing I know about you, it’s that you are your own woman. With your own tastes and your own desires.”

Sera’s eyes are shining. “That’s probably the nicest thing that you could possibly say to me, Antony,” she says softly.

During dinner, I mention I was out today collecting money for tribute. “Yes, I did that yesterday,” she sighs. “Long day for sure.”

I stare at her. “You went out by yourself?”

She breaks off a piece of bread. “No, of course not. I had one of Daddy’s men with me.”

“Jesus, Sera. That was dangerous as hell.”

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