For Adriano (19 page)

Camera flashes blind us, and I can hear a journalist screaming, “Here’s our favorite entrepreneurial bad boy, Adriano Montesi! The only one allowed to smoke on the red carpet. Who’s your date, Adriano?”

My cig hangs off my lips as I pull my date to my side and whisper, “Introduce yourself.” And I wink at the reporter as the model starts rattling away.

Scanning the people behind us, I search for familiar faces and lock eyes with Cam’s brown ones as she steps from a limousine.

My breath is robbed from me. My jaw hangs open, and the cig almost falls off my lip before I take it between my forefinger and thumb.

Looking away isn’t an option when she’s an absolute knockout in a backless white silk gala dress that’s tied around her neck and drapes behind her on the ground – she’s close enough that I can see she’s comfortable in her own skin, her scars on her lower back are hidden. She’s unbelievably tall, so she must be wearing fuckable stiletto heels, and I swear my dick jumps to attention instantly. She’s a Greek goddess with so much bare skin showing, her arms, back, and neck exposed. A sleek auburn bob that’s tucked tightly behind her ears gives her a sophisticated look. Absent of layers of makeup like most of the women here, she’s the most dazzling person at this event.

Noise around me is muted.

Of course, she’s with a date too. But why the fuck is she with Wade? Former Detective Wade, Fallon’s friend, who’s single. Why is Luca consenting to this? And why the hell didn’t he tell me? I’m going to strangle him.

She arcs a perfectly plucked brow as I take a draw of the cigarette and throw the butt to the side. Wade’s hand moves to Cam’s lower back, and I’m tempted to aim my gun at this dude. She breaks from our stare and turns to him as he says something into her ear. And I’m pulled by the hand to move along the line.

Inside, we’re escorted to the grand dining room. First, there’s an intimate dinner and then a party at nine. Intimate dinner among Italians is never intimate.

The room is filled with dozens of people seated at rectangular tables covered in white cloths. Black drapings and centerpieces finish the decorations. The dress code is black and white to match the venue.

“Adriano, we’re seated near the front,” Milla says, and I already see James and the family.

James, Alessa, and Rosalia sit next to each other at the front. Across from Milla and me are Luca and Fallon.

I tilt my head to the side at Luca as I scoot Milla’s chair back and mouth, “Wade?”

Luca throws a scowl at Fallon. Clearly, they had words about this.

Cam and Wade also join us and sit next to Fallon.

Much to my chagrin, Milla comments radiantly while motioning at Wade, “That guy looks like Leonardo DiCaprio.”

I just stare at her blankly and then turn my head away in agitation.

Dinner is a strained glaring contest between Luca, Fallon, Cam, and me.

Wade and Cam are talking much too closely, and I want to fucking punch the smile off his baby face while Milla keeps babbling on and on about her boring modeling gigs.

When Fallon whispers something to Cam and both their gazes land on me, I see Cam’s eyes filling with tears. Then she gives me an appalled look and excuses herself with Wade trailing after her, to my utmost annoyance.

I follow her movement with irritation, and Luca warns me with a shake of his head to stop being so obvious.

I can’t go after her, and after the minutes pass, she seems to have been gone forever.

What the hell is Cam doing? Why isn’t she back?

CHAPTER 21

Camilla

The venue is spectacular, but enjoying dinner isn’t possible with Adriano across from Wade and me with a gorgeous model sitting next to him.

I’ve poked and prodded Fallon to find out about Adriano’s daily life. Fallon, in turn, hasn’t seen much of him either, but she does drill Luca, who’s tight-lipped as always.

Wade and I met at Fallon’s penthouse a couple of days ago – he’s a close friend of hers. He’s a former detective and good-looking with his short, blondish brown hair and blue eyes. Luca and he don’t get along, but Luca accepts Wade for Fallon’s sake. He’s protective of Fallon like an older brother, and somewhere, I think Luca does trust him or else he wouldn’t condone the friendship.

After a talk with Wade, I found out he works as a private investigator now. This made him interesting to me – he might come in handy, so when I received a formal invitation to Rosalia’s birthday and saw that it was with a plus one, I invited him to accompany me, especially since attending alone supposedly isn’t done.

With much resistance from Luca, he agreed, and now I’m on the receiving end of Adriano’s foul mood.

The first thing I did when I got out of the limo earlier was search for Adriano, and the first person I saw was him, looking distinguished in his neatly pressed black tux and with his freshly cut hair.

When he looks at me, my nipples harden, and he always makes tingles flare to life in my lower stomach. I’ve been losing my determination to get him back with every rejection; however, the moment I see him, I want his hands exploring my skin.

I can overhear bits and pieces of Fallon and Luca’s heated murmuring, and I eavesdrop while pretending to listen to Wade.

“So where has he been? I can tell you’re hiding something from me,” Fallon states.

“I’m not. You don’t want to know.”

“Tell me, Luca,” Fallon insists.

“At headquarters, the club. Now let it go. I won’t discuss him with you now,” Luca warns in a low voice, and Fallon rears back then slightly toward me in her seat.

“Adriano’s been sleeping in the strip club this week,” she reveals with an empathetic expression.

I feel as if someone has slapped me across the face. While I’ve been pining for him, he’s found entertainment with other women?

We both glance at him, and a wrinkle crosses his forehead when he catches us.

I ask her, “Do you know if he stayed with one of the girls?”

She lifts her shoulders in denial as the corners of her mouth pull down.

Adriano’s model puts her arm around him as she says something, but his eyes are transfixed on me.

You want distance?
Fine! Let’s see how long you’ll last, ass.

And I decide it’s time to rebel against him. I can’t let it go back to the way it was. Don’t I deserve better?

I hold Adriano’s dark stare and murmur to Wade, “Come with me.”

Everyone looks up as we stand, and I can feel Adriano’s eyes boring holes into my back.

“Is everything okay?” Wade asks, concerned.

“Just needed to get out of that suffocating room.”

He chuckles. “It’s a stiff affair.”

“Want to have some fun?”

“What did you have in mind? Nothing illegal,” he warns, the old cop in him peeking through.

“No. Just messing with someone.”

“Hmmm... Possibly Adriano?”

I stop, and he collides against my back, both his hands on my shoulders. “Was it that obvious?”

“Unless you’re blind, yes,” he teases and urges me forward. “What are you going to do, Cam?”

“Make him a little jealous? After I annoy him.” I grab the chef’s arm as he passes me. “See the guy on the left at the front? He prefers nuts in his starters, main course, and dessert, please. He likes the bite.”

Wade rolls his eyes and laughs at me.

“Yes, ma’am.” The chef nods agreeably and starts shouting orders to his kitchen staff.

“Now”—I entwine our fingers and point one at the dining room—“flirt with me in there.”

Wade groans and brings me to a standstill. “I’m not up for this.”

“I’ll owe you.”

“You do realize you just said that to a P.I.?” he retorts with an arched brow.

“I’ll owe you,” I confirm. “Come on.”

Another groan. “
Only
because you amuse me, and maybe this will liven up this party.”

And for a man who wasn’t up for it, he’s a surprisingly good actor.

We sit back down and gradually scoot closer together while we’re seemingly in an interesting conversation, but he’s just talking nonsense, and I’m trying to focus on Adriano from the corner of my eye. His lips are set in a hard thin line.

Salads are being served, and Adriano’s absorbed with his food. “I’m starving.” He picks up his utensils and shifts greens and nuts around. “It’s filled with nuts,” he complains to no one in particular and looks up to wave over a waiter.

I’m concentrated on him until he catches it. Then I bite a piece of lettuce off my fork.

Adriano slouches back in his chair. He slides the plate away, and then the waiter comes up, and they have words.

“Never mind,” Adriano utters, “I’ll wait for the next course.”

Wade and I touch shoulders, and he mumbles, “Never mess with a man and his food.”

We each break out in a smile.

Fallon clears her throat, observing us questioningly.

Adriano’s spitting fire at Wade and me. His date is trying to gain his attention, also shooting me the evil eye when she follows his gaze that’s glued on me.

When James finally starts to pay attention to his guests too, I focus back on my food.

Steaks are served with side dishes, and Adriano’s are filled with nuts again.

The crease between his brows deepens, and he immediately meets my eyes.

I grin innocently, and one side of his mouth tilts up in recognition. His smile is hiding his anger.

“Enough now?” Wade asks close to my face, draping an arm around my shoulder. His fingers caress the bare skin on my upper arm.

“You are good.”

“Listen, Cam, I obliged you because I like you. You’re Fallon’s friend, so you’re also my friend. But look around, you didn’t only make Adriano jealous enough to kill me.”

I check the guests, and Luca and James are also aiming a scowl at Wade.

“Be careful before you decide to bait these men,” he advises and sits back.

I swallow and realize he’s suspicious of Luca and Adriano’s Mafia connection. And I’ve learned that I’m not allowed to talk about the Syndicate except with the four high ranking men.

For the rest of dinner, I’m lost in thought. I can’t chase someone who doesn’t want me.

As we relocate to the adjoining room that has a white dance floor in the center and a band playing, Adriano falls into step between Wade and me and bends his head to Wade. “It’s time you stop touching her, Leonardo.” He snags Wade’s hand from my lower back.

He doesn’t wait for an answer and stands pressed up against me. “You’re pushing me too far.” His tone is menacing. “Move.”

Adriano places both hands on my bare skin right above my hips and leads me forward to the far corner of the packed dance floor.

“Dance with me.” He entangles our fingers, rotates me, and pulls me close to him, fingers splayed right above the swell of my behind.

His hand glides up my arm, and he twines it around his neck while the singer starts to perform one of my favorite songs: Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’.

My other arm loops around his neck as well, and every part of my front is pressed to his as he sways me around, ever so slowly.

When your legs don’t work like they used to before.

And I can’t sweep you off of your feet.

Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?

Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?

He tightens his clutch, and so do I, wanting to hold on to this serene moment between us as we both search for peacefulness amidst our personal war.

Darling, I will… be loving you till we’re seventy.

And baby, my…heart…could still fall as hard at twenty-three.

After minutes of silence, his breath fans across my temple. “Why are you mad at me, Cam?”

We can’t see each other’s faces, and I think we’re both perusing the room to ensure James hasn’t spotted us.

“Because you’ve been ignoring me, and you spent the night at headquarters,” I reply, feeling my frustration grow.

He must feel it too because he starts to caress a path up and down my back. I almost moan from the quiver his touch causes.

Then I’m being led backward until I hit a hard surface. We break apart, and Adriano pushes down the lever and drags me inside, practically hurling me to the center of the small room.

“And that makes it okay for you to throw yourself at Wade?” He inches closer after shutting the door.

I pay no mind to his question. “Were you with one of the girls?”

He tilts his head and stays silent too long.

He might not be used to having to answer for himself, but I can’t take this anymore, so I stride past him and crack open the door. But his arm shoots out from behind me, over my shoulder, effectively slamming it closed.

In the softest tone, laced with regret, he whispers against my ear, “I should stay away, but you make it impossible. I’ll never allow you peace with another man!”

His nose buries into my hair, and I lean back against his chest while his hand slides down the exposed skin of my side, edging under the satin fabric of my dress, to my stomach. His lure is sweet and agonizing temptation.

I mutter, “Why do you do this? I won’t accept this anymore. I deserve more than your pushing and pulling me in ten different directions, Adriano. I want you, but you have to stop this man-whoring of yours.”

His fingers weave into my hair, and he roughly turns my face, murmuring against my lips while our eyes lock. “You know what makes me furious? You always think the worst of me. I was in the strip club, yes. I’ve been sleeping in our room because I can sense your presence there.” He releases my hair, and his other arm also winds around my waist. “No other woman has been in my bed.”

I flatten a palm against the door and throw the other back around his neck, arching into him. “I’m sorry.”

“Cam, if you could only see yourself through my eyes, you’d know there’s no need to make me jealous. I’m already in Hell.”

“Then fight for me. Fight for us.” I brush my lips against his as his fingers dig into my stomach, but he won’t return my kiss and pulls me back by my hair.

“I don’t know how.”

And before he gets the chance to reject me again, the door handle rattles.

“Adriano? Cam?” Luca’s voice comes booming from the other side. “Open it.”

Adriano releases a deep sigh, takes a step back, and opens the door.

Luca looks in and probably sees our flushed expressions. “I’ve been looking for you two. James needs you, Cam.”

Adriano and I trade a glance.

“You two are treading on thin ice. Come on.” Luca checks to see if it’s safe, and I hurry to James and Rosalia.

The rest of the evening, we both ignore each other for once.