Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Where are you coming from, Roc?” Isabel looked at his cracked red knuckles.
“He’s always on his vigilante shit.” Loren smiled. “I’m surprised Dom wasn’t out there with him.”
“I wish I could’ve gone,” Dominic said.
“I told you to take care of whatever you needed to take care of,” Rosie said, looking up at her husband through narrowed eyes.
“And leave you wearing tights alone in a room full of men?” He raised an eyebrow. “I think not.”
“They’re dancers, Dominic. Jesus Christ.” She sighed heavily.
“Every time you guys say vigilante shit, I just pretend you’re Swifties,” Rosie said, smiling. Cat and I laughed.
“A what?” Rocco’s brows pulled together.
“Taylor Swift stans,” I said. He nodded slowly like he was thinking about it, which made it even more amusing. After a moment, I winked and added, “Don’t worry. We’ll recruit you soon enough.”
“I’m willing to be recruited.” His eyes pierced mine when he said it. The way he said it made me feel he was talking about something else entirely.
He stared at me, making my heart skip more than a few beats. I could swear I saw a fire burning in those eyes. His gaze left mine and fell to my throat, chest, and back to my eyes before he finally tore his attention away completely. I took a breath and looked around the room, playing it off. I’d never looked at a man for that long. I’d never had a staredown in my life. If I could, I would have excused myself and left the room to throw water on my face. I needed to push this feeling away before it consumed me. There was nothing to do about it anyway. I was getting married, and I was still Dominic’s little sister. Giuseppe’s prized daughter. Just another woman who had to bear what it meant to be in La Cosa Nostra.
“We were talking about marriage,” Cat said after eating her hors d’oeuvre.
“And how you’re next in line,” Rosie added, smiling at Rocco.
Something twisted in my stomach at the thought of him getting married. I pushed it aside.
“Highly doubtful,” Rocco said, taking the drink the bartender brought him. “Maybe Russo will go next.”
“Fuck off,” Dean said, barely paying attention, his eyes on his phone.
“No more Crystal then?” Lorenzo asked. My ears perked up.
“Fuck that,” Rocco said under his breath.
“Crystal is old news,” Dom said, amused. “She finally stopped stalking him.”
My eyes widened. A stalker? My brothers were big exaggerators, so maybe he was joking. I wanted to be part of the conversation with a thousand and one questions, but I bit my tongue. As it was, I felt like an intruder. Like the pesky little sister, I’d once been, following my older brothers around until they gave in to my pleas for tea and slumber parties. It was stupid since I was a grownup and knew they wanted me to feel welcome here, but it didn’t feel right to jump into a conversation like this. I held my words back, waiting for someone else to ask more questions about this Crystal person. Someone asked, but I missed it while I was lost in thought.
“She’s fucking one of Gabe’s friends,” Rocco said. “Good luck to him with that psychopath.”
“A Wall Street guy?” Gio asked, raising an eyebrow. “That’s a far cry from you.”
“Is it, though?” Dean asked, pocketing his phone. “Wealthy, shady, cut-throat?”
Everyone laughed.
“The difference is that I don’t need party favors to have fun.” Rocco winked.
They all laughed again, and even though I laughed along, I couldn’t keep my heart from skipping at the sight of a wink that wasn’t even directed at me. Dear God, I needed help. I also couldn’t stop looking at his eyes and lips or fantasizing about how they would feel against mine. I tried not to. I did. I looked around, drank some more champagne, and kept listening to the rest of the conversation. The way they communicated was fascinating. Some of their jokes were borderline offensive, and of course, those were the ones that made them laugh the hardest. I looked at the married couples and noticed how their husbands were always touching their wives – brushing hair out of their faces, dropping kisses onto their heads, and holding them by the waist. I would kill to have something like that.
My parents had always embodied the same rules as the British Royal Family, showing little affection in public. My attention turned back to Rocco, who was watching me intently. My heart skipped again. I wanted to drown in those blue eyes. His lips turned slightly. I was sure no one else noticed, but my entire body heated with that tiny smirk because it told me he somehow knew what I was thinking. Two months ago, that would have embarrassed me. I’d never been forward or obvious about checking out a man, but I was to be married in less than a month, and that alone was enough to throw myself at the first man who would take me. I decided that I wanted that man to be Rocco. He wasn’t just some random man, though. Rocco Marchetti was the man. I knew it was dangerous and probably impossible, but I wanted him to be my first. I just needed to figure out how to make that happen.