“Of course,” I breathed.
I didn’t realize how tightly he’d been holding me until he let me go and I fell back a step, my line of vision focused on his ugly tie. It took a second to realize we were no longer alone, and the heavy presence against my back could only be one person.
Oscar glanced warily behind me, before looking back at me with a fake smile and bitterness dancing in his eyes. “I’ll see you at dinner, Elena.” He kissed the top of my hand, eyeing my cheap ring with a grimace, and then disappeared into my home like a snake on the loose.
I stared at the door, while his insinuation resounded in my mind. Resentment crawled into my chest, creeping to wherever it resided. However, maybe Oscar Perez was what I deserved . . .
Slowly, I turned around, my gaze traveling up a black vest, black tie, to a gaze just as dark.
“If that was the Sweet Abelli, can’t say I’m impressed.”
Where Oscar’s presence was a dark, looming shadow, it felt nothing compared to Nicolas’s larger, warmer one. His pulled you in, didn’t send you away. It was infinitely more dangerous.
The reminder of my spineless behavior still permeated the air, and I couldn’t flip the switch so fast. “Excuse me,” I breathed, taking a step around him, but he reached out and grabbed my hand.
I didn’t get a chance to even weigh his expression before he was pulling me to the front door. His rough palm practically burned mine, spreading a warm sensation in my lower stomach.
It took a moment to find the voice to speak, and once I did, it sounded more breathless and uncertain than it ever had. “What are you doing?”
He was mad. He had to be to touch me in the middle of the foyer with guests around every corner.
He ignored my question. “Where’s my list?”
My brows knitted, and then I remembered I was supposed to write that. “I, uh, forgot about it.”
Under the warm glow of the porch light, I heard Benito and Sal laughing near one of the cars in the drive, but it was too dark to see. Nicolas’s grip was soft but strong, and so there was no other choice but to follow him down the stone path toward the side of the house.
I had no idea what we were doing, but it was either go with him, or back inside where Oscar roamed free. It was an easy choice, though surprising considering I’d only seen one of them shoot their family member in the head.
Nicolas stopped near the corner of the house, released my hand, and leaned against the brick wall of my home. A second later, the orange flame of a lighter cast his face in gold tones as he lit a cigarette between his lips.
“You smoke?” It was a stupid question, as he was now blowing out a breath of smoke and watching me with a lazy expression.
“Sometimes,” was all he said, his shoulders tense. He glanced up to look at the security cameras above our heads. He was in a blind spot, leaning against the wall. I was probably front and center on the screen for Dominic to see. What would people think if I was, once again, caught alone with a man I shouldn’t be with? A rush of anxiety shot through me, and I stepped to the side and out of the camera’s view.
Nicolas’s gaze was heavy, angry even, and I wasn’t sure what I’d done to him. I glanced at the star-lit sky. It was beautiful, but I didn’t believe he’d brought me out here to enjoy it with him. In fact, it looked like he’d prefer I wasn’t here at all.
I sighed. “Why am I out here with you?”
The night was dark, but I still saw a bitter expression cross his face. “Saw that prick push you around, touch your ass. Was wondering if I could get away with the same.”
My heart stilled for a split second before I narrowed my eyes. I had my reasons for putting up with Oscar, but I didn’t have to deal with this from a brother-in-law. I took a step to leave, but a rough hand grabbed my wrist.
“Stay.” It wasn’t a suggestion but neither was it demanding. Why did he want me to stay when he was clearly angry with me? He was rude and confusing. And who told him he could hold my hand, pull me around, and make me feel warm all over? I imagined Nicolas Russo had gotten whatever he’d wanted since he was young, and, being the only child, he didn’t even have to share.
I let out a shallow breath and pulled my wrist out of his grip. It was stupid, but I was going to stay. I told myself it was only because I needed to get to know his character for my sister’s sake. Not because his mere presence made something hot unravel inside me.
I eyed his cigarette. It looked small and harmless in his hand. I didn’t know what it would look like in mine, but I was beginning to wonder.
He must have noticed my expression, because he pulled the cigarette from his lips and handed it out to me. He wanted to share? He watched me with that hooded, looking-into-the-sun expression, not saying a word. My pulse fluttered.
It’d been six months since I’d even touched a man—that must be why I was having such schoolgirl notions about handholding and cigarette-sharing. Male contact wasn’t a normal thing for me, and even before this ring graced my finger, it hadn’t been then.
I took the cigarette from him, and he watched me as I brought it to my lips and inhaled. The coughing was instantaneous, my eyes watering.
Dark amusement ghosted through his gaze before he reached forward and took it from me, his fingers brushing mine.
“I wasn’t finished,” I protested, still coughing a little bit. If I was going to smoke, I was going to do it right. Maybe I was a perfectionist, but I couldn’t leave anything halfway or poorly done.
I watched him put his lips on the cigarette where mine had been. Thank God it was dark, because my cheeks grew hot. This man had barely said anything to me that wasn’t rude, short, or demanding, yet my body reacted to everything he did like it was magic. Che palle. I was crushing on my future brother-in-law.
He handed it back to me. “Not so much this time.”
I listened to him and only inhaled a little bit. A couple of seconds passed before smoke smoothly escaped my parted lips. A languid rush filled my bloodstream, my head feeling light.
The breeze was warm, the song of the cicadas steady, while I shared a cigarette with a man I knew nothing about.
“My mamma’s going to kill me,” I said softly, followed by my cousins’ low laughter drifting on the light breeze.
Nicolas dropped the butt, blew out a breath of smoke, and stepped on it. “You tell your mamma everything?”
I looked up at the starry sky. The answer was no; I never told anyone much. Nothing that mattered anyway.
“She’ll smell the smoke,” I said, gazing at the constellations. I glanced at him to see he’d been watching me. I flushed, every inch of my skin growing hot.
“Come here.” Something soft and charming wove through his deep voice.
My heart skittered to a stop.
This was how this man got women: by only saying, “Come here,” in that tone. Nonetheless, I couldn’t say I felt cold when he was rude either.
I had always done what I was told, especially by the Made Men in my life, though not a single step I took in his direction was because of that. I was a moth moving toward the flame, until I stood close enough for my wings to ignite.
I held my breath when his hand rested on my waist. His grip tightened as he pulled me forward until my chest brushed his. My pulse beat in my throat, and his hand was so hot, spreading warmth to the pit of my stomach, that I hardly noticed him leaning in, brushing his face against my hair.
“No smoke.” The words were smooth with a rough edge.
His palm slid from my waist to my hip before he pulled away, leaving a trail of fire down my side. He pushed off the wall, and I took a step back and out of his way. Walking away, he stopped and turned to me. His voice was cool, indifferent, and laced with that commanding tone he’d mastered.
“The list? I want it tomorrow, Elena.”
“What do you mean, like do I carry a membership card that says ‘Mafia’ on it?”
—Willie Moretti
TEMPTATION IS HALF
-NAKED, INNOCENT, AND dripping wet.
And I am my idiot cousins.
Those were the two conclusions I’d come to this week with an irritating sense of acquiescence. I was practically up to my neck in work, and yet I could only focus on one goddamn thing.
Elena Abelli, of course. So fucking wet.
The way she’d stood there, dripping water to the concrete while staring at me with those soft brown eyes and that sweet expression. Her long, wet hair and a body you’d see on a porn star. Jesus, it couldn’t be real. That’s what I’d convinced myself, but then it followed me, got in my way even, and told me what I couldn’t do.
It was regrettably real. Every perfect square inch of it.
For an unknown reason, the idea of her greeting guests looking like that dug under my skin. Was her papà letting her run around half-naked while men were over? And as her soon-to-be brother-in-law, could I tell her to go put on some fucking clothes?
I hadn’t ever wished a girl would get dressed, especially one with an ass like Elena Abelli’s. Frustration clawed at my chest, because I knew when irrational responses went through my head it meant one thing, and it usually wasn’t good for either party involved.
The night was lit by tiki torches and the sparkling orange lights above the Abelli’s patio table. The atmosphere seemed to be easy enough, though that was probably because all the Abellis stayed on one side of the yard and all the Russos on the other.
A servant poured Adriana her sixth glass of wine, and I reached out and took it from her, setting it on the other side of my dessert plate.
Her gaze burned a hole into my cheek.
“You’re not fucking old enough to drink,” I told her.
She sighed, mumbling something about having to drink to forget the videos—whatever that meant.
We were supposed to be “getting to know one another,” as her mamma suggested, but we’d hardly said a word to each other and I couldn’t find it in me to care. Mostly because I knew where her sister stood and was concentrating on not letting myself look in that direction. The girl had the entire male population of New York kissing her ass, and I didn’t care to be included in that circle jerk.
Nevertheless, a flash of pink in a corner of the yard caught my attention, and I couldn’t stop myself from flicking an unwilling glance to her. She was playing croquet with her girl cousins and Benito. And just like a prima donna, she still had her heels on. I’d thought my perception of her personality would be a big enough repellent, like a thick cloud of bug spray or maybe a little mace. Unfortunately, it didn’t do anything to turn me off. Not when I looked at her, and especially not when she spoke with that soft, warm voice that soaked through my skin and ran straight to my groin.
I now understood my cousins’ fascination.
The fact that I could be lumped into the same group as those idiots . . . ridiculous.
I knew what this was. I was a Russo. We wanted what we couldn’t have, and what I couldn’t have was Elena Abelli in my bed just one damn time.
“You don’t like my sister?” Adriana asked.
Jesus, she was a bit perceptive. I would have to remember that.
I took a sip of whiskey. “I like your sister just fine.”
“Hmm,” was all she said, like she didn’t believe me but didn’t give a shit either.
This was how our conversations seemed to go. Short and apathetic. I couldn’t decide if we were perfect for each other, or if she’d drive me crazy with her idiosyncrasies.
My gaze found that blond prick talking to one of Elena’s uncles. I didn’t know the man, but I knew I wouldn’t help him if I saw him bleeding out on the street. A burn radiated in my chest from only looking at him. I’d barely stopped myself from smashing his face against the front door earlier. Elena Abelli was not my business, regardless of the way the Russo blood in my veins burned a little hotter in her presence.
“Yankees or Mets?” Adriana had poured all the salt out of the shaker and was now drawing caricatures in it.
“Red Sox,” I responded dryly.
“Boxers or briefs?”
“Commando,” I lied.
Her gaze dropped to my dick, only to look away a moment later and purse her lips. “This game is boring.”
Amusement filled me. This girl was fucking weird. And I was aware that’s why Salvatore had offered me a daughter in the first place. “Unfit,” he’d said about Elena. Unfit, my ass. Not a single man in the Cosa Nostra would turn Elena away because of her lack of virginity. Salvatore didn’t want to give up the favored Sweet Abelli, at least not to me. He probably thought he’d gotten one over on me.
I’d take the weird one. At least she would be entertaining. She was also the smartest choice. Who knew how many men Elena had been with? I was Don. If I married a woman who’d been fucked by a few others in the Cosa Nostra, it would look bad. And, honestly, I never was that great at sharing. I’d have to kill all of them and I already had enough on my plate.
Luca leaned against the wall by the open double doors, sharing a look with my cousin Ricardo who sat at the edge of the party quietly observing the scene. Luca held up two fingers, nodding toward the girls on the lawn. Ricardo shook his head. After a few more silent exchanges, they both nodded.
At least tonight seemed to be dull enough for bets on stupid croquet games rather than as eventful as it was last Sunday. I sure as hell wouldn’t be the one to ruin it by cracking skulls against doors.
I flicked a glance at Elena to find her gaze already on me. It was the same way she’d looked at me when she said, “You’ll get all wet.” I tried to ignore the heat running to my groin. The words had been innocent, the thought not crossing her mind that any man would let her get them as wet as she wanted. And not with fucking pool water either.
At first, I thought whoever nicknamed her had never even met her, but as I spent a little more time observing her it started to make sense. She looked tense when she stood up to me, like it was new for her, like she expected me to wrap my hand around her throat and squeeze. A thought I’d had, though probably in a different context.
The Sweet Abelli was trying to grow some wings.
Thank fuck.
Something in my chest rattled with satisfaction when she listened to me without hesitation. The hot-blooded male in me wondered how obedient she really was. And the Russo wanted to know how much she would let me get away with.
I had already touched her more than I should. Had only shared my cigarette with her just so I could see her lips where mine had been. I’d imagined those little pink fingernails around a specific part of my body, rather than holding a smoke.
I’d only touched the girl’s waist, and the warmth and softness of it was still burned into my palm.
The whole goddamn situation was fucking annoying.
The blond prick grabbed Elena by the arm as she walked past, pulling her in to say something in her ear. Animosity crawled through me. Leaning back in my chair, I rested my forearm on the table and away from my gun, because I had the sudden urge to shoot another man in the Abellis’ backyard. Elena’s papà glanced at the exchange, though hardly seemed concerned.
My tongue ran across my teeth, a deep, unsettling ache unfurling in my ribs.
Elena nodded tightly before the prick dropped his hand and let her go. She disappeared inside.
“What’s his name?” I asked Adriana, nodding toward the blond whose mere presence had become tiresome.
“Oscar Perry—no, Pretzel.” Her brows knitted. “No, that doesn’t sound right either. Oscar something. God, I’m hungry for pretzels now.”
“What does he do for your papà?”
She frowned. “I don’t know. Kind of a creep, though. He’s always all over Elena.”
I let out a dry breath. “Who isn’t?” They greeted her at church like she was Mother Mary.
“True, but she doesn’t care about any of them. My sister is in love.”
My gaze narrowed. “She’s what?”
�
�In love.”
Something dark and unwanted slithered through my veins.
Adriana’s wide eyes came to me like she just realized she’d said too much. She tipped her entire glass of wine back. I hadn’t even noticed her acquire another.
I shook my head, agitated. “You puke tonight, I’m not holding your hair. I don’t do that shit.”
“My sister will,” she said, like she was planning on throwing up. “Are we done getting to know each other then?”
“For now.”
“Thank God,” she muttered, getting to her feet and drunkenly drifting away to join one of her loud cousins. The girl had already introduced herself to me. Well, she’d come up and said, “Mamma was right. David don’t got a thing on you,” before winking and then disappearing. Strange fucking family.
I accepted another glass of whiskey from a server’s tray, ignoring my cousin Lorenzo who came to sit next to me. He pushed his jacket open and shoved his hands in his pockets. Who the hell knew where he’d been, but I’d rather he be anywhere but staring at Elena Abelli. Just the idea itched beneath my skin.
In a moment of silence, Lorenzo’s gaze followed some Abelli jailbait’s ass as she walked across the lawn. “What’d he do to you?” He nodded toward the blond prick I guessed I hadn’t been secretive about wanting to put a bullet in.
“Pissed me off,” was all I said, swirling my glass of whiskey.
“Must have been bad, then. Takes a lot to piss you off. Let me guess, he insulted your mamma?”
“No.”
“Papà?”
“No.”
“Your most handsome cousin? Six-two, dark-haired, big cock—”
“Lorenzo?” I said dryly.
“Yeah?”
“Fuck off.”
Lorenzo laughed, slapped my shoulder hard enough to slosh some whiskey over the rim of my glass, and then left.
Told you, fucking idiot cousins.
“Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.”
The Sweetest Oblivion Page 6