Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
What right does he have?
We join Mr. and Mrs. Moretti at a table in the corner of the room. Salvatore is on his cell phone, typing with both thumbs and staring down at it. He doesn’t even greet us. Maria makes a show of standing up and giving us both big hugs and kisses.
“Did I see you speaking with Victoria Langley?” Maria asks.
When Dario doesn’t answer—he grits his teeth, staring wordlessly—I have to end the awkwardness. “Yes. She was regaling us with the tale of the lost romance between herself and Dario.”
Dario glances at me. His eyes gleam again. He looks proud this time. I guess I’m doing better than the first dinner.
“She was exaggerating,” Dario says.
“Alas, my son is telling the truth,” Maria replies. “Before you, dear Elena, Dario was woefully disinterested in the opposite sex. You must truly have a special quality.”
“She does, Mother,” Dario says in such a believable, certain way I almost buy it. “Doesn’t she look beautiful this evening?”
Maria appraises me. This time, when she speaks, she seems sincere. “She does. You do, Elena. You look angelic. Understated and sublime. Yes, quite beautiful.”
Salvatore looks up from his phone, glancing at his wife as though he thinks she’s had too much to drink. Maria offers me another smile. Maybe her sudden compliment is because she’s had too many glasses of champagne, but it still makes me glow warmly. Aunt Rosa has been the best guardian I ever could’ve asked for, but this is something else. For a brief moment, I imagine what it would be like to have a mother.
Then, I immediately kill the thought. Execute it. Maybe that’s dramatic, but I’m an actor. If I can’t be dramatic, who can?
CHAPTER TEN
DARIO
I’m relieved when Father announces he wants to leave early, affording every Moretti the chance to exit if he wishes. The dinner was filled with awkward conversations about opera, books, and other things I don’t care about. It’s not that I’ve got anything against it. I’m sick of everybody trying to seem clever.
I offer Elena my arm as we get ready to leave. When she takes it, I remind myself for the millionth time that I have to be cold, but there’s too much warmth sparking between us. It’s like she’s waking something long forgotten inside me.
“Can I use the ladies’ room before we go?” she asks.
I think about the Romanos, the threats, the vandalism. What if something happens to her in there? She smiles at me as she places her hand on my chest—all part of the act. “Don’t worry. I’d never dream of running from my dear, devoted lover.”
I grab her hips; I’m conscious people are watching us while pretending not to be. To sell this game, I’ve got to be convincing. The entire city has been talking about us, which is good. Now, I can give them more to talk about.
Pulling her close, I lean down. She moans in that frantic, ball-tingling way that has my head spinning. My thoughts get cloudy as I try to distinguish between acting and reality. “I’d find you anyway,” I growl. “I’d bring you home.”
“Home,” she repeats, wrapping her arms around me. “Is that the townhouse or the cruddy place on the wrong side of the tracks?”
“Home, for you, is wherever I am.”
I kiss her passionately. I should get a damn Oscar. That’s my justification, but summoning this fiery need requires little effort. A voice in the back of my head says this is wrong. By publicly kissing her, I’m announcing to the city that she’s important to me. I’m putting a target on her, hence the increased security.
“I won’t be long,” she says when she pulls back, turning away.
I look at her ass in that dress, the fabric hugging her fine rear tightly. It takes all my effort not to spank her and watch her perfect shape tremble for me. As she walks away, her hips swish from side to side. All part of the act …
“Somebody’s smitten,” Mother says, sidling beside me and leaning on my arm.
“Somebody’s drunk,” I counter.
My father stands nearby, typing angrily into his phone.
“Am I?” Mother giggles. “It doesn’t change anything. I meant what I said. She truly looks wonderful tonight—a real picture!”
“I thought you disapproved.”
“Have I said that?” she snaps harshly.
“You haven’t needed to.”
“So you can read my mind?”
I smirk. “I haven’t needed to.”
“Always so clever, Dario,” she says, slurring slightly. “Ever since you were a little boy who could fit in my hand, you were the most intelligent baby ever. And I’m not talking about the entire future. I’m not talking about Family politics. Here, now, tonight, at this party, Elena looks and has behaved beautifully.”
“We can agree, but don’t worry, I won’t hold you to any of this in the morning.”
When Elena returns, I step away from my mother and take her arm again. Immediately, my rod stiffens in my pants as I make contact with her soft, warm skin. The memory of our kiss reappears, the ghost of her lips telling me to do it again and never stop.