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6

Valentina

Back on Verona soil, finally. Up until recently, my papa was dead set against allowing me to study here at Verona. That is until I convinced him that being in Russo territory meant I could sift through their dealings and report back home. Only, the real reason I chose to attend Verona was to get away from my papa and the bodyguards he enlisted to not-so-discreetly watch my every move. I have zero intentions of spying on Enzo and his family. Vito doesn’t get the same damn treatment. The double standards shouldn’t shock me anymore, but a small part of me hopes one day I will be treated as an equal.

“Valentina,” I hear my name called across the courtyard.

I turn and squint as the sun’s rays distort my vision. “Amber, baby.” I hold out my arms as she skips into me.

“When did you get back?” She squeezes me tight.

“Last night. I made my driver deliver me back here. I couldn’t face my papa.” I pull my bag strap back up onto my shoulder.

Amber steps back and eyes me for a moment, her dark eyes scrutinizing my reaction. “So, it’s official.”

“It’s not official until I sign those stupid papers, and that isn’t fucking happening in this lifetime.”

“Either way, it's shit.” Amber frowns. She would know all too well the powers of the family business.

She pulls on my hand to lead me to Sinatra’s. “Have you got time for coffee?”

Not a second after our coffee is delivered to our table, I hear raucous laughter coming from behind me. The noise could only belong to two distinct cousins. I turn my head as their disturbance gets louder and can’t help but grin like a schoolgirl when her crush pays her any attention.

“You’re here.” Leonardo walks up behind me and grabs my jaw in his hand, pulling my head back possessively so I’m looking at him upside down as Dante takes a seat.

I smile up at him, memories of what he didn’t finish last night still fresh in my mind.

He leans down and plants a kiss on my lips before letting go of my jaw and settling into the seat beside me. There’s a storm in his calm; I can feel it brewing under his skin. Whatever is going on inside him, it’s filling the space between us and making me feel like the biggest asshole here.

I stretch my arm out and play with the hair at the nape of his neck, hoping to soothe the woes he is harboring.

“You’re in trouble,” he says without looking at me.

“Me? What the fuck have I done?” I pull at his hair and his head jerks back slightly.

“You never collected these.” He holds my panties up, displaying them proudly for all to see.

I snatch them from him and watch his face light up with mischief as his chuckle starts deep in his belly and tumbles out of his mesmerizing lips.

“Please, stop. No one needs to see underwear while drinking their first coffee for the day. Leave that shit for after alcohol.” Amber pretends to gag.

“Leonardo, I’m going to kill you.” I shove my panties in my pocket.

“Add it to your endless list of reasons.” He grabs the back of my head and pulls me into a kiss. Our mouths finding their rhythm instantly.

I know from that one kiss that everything is okay. For now. Leonardo and I aren’t exactly official or exclusive or whatever the fuck you want to call it. But there is a connection. He gets me in ways no one else does. He doesn’t try to change me and that right there is why I am slightly infatuated with him. We’ll need to talk about my soon-to-be engagement to Giovanni and where we go from there. I doubt Giovanni will let me out of his sights once he puts a giant ugly ass rock on my finger. There is no fucking way I’m going through with the wedding, though. They all can all stick that idea up their shiny mobster asses and smoke it.

“What’s going on tonight?” Amber disrupts my thoughts.

“Family shit,” Dante replies. His eyes dart to Leonardo and back to Amber.

“You know you can talk about this in front of me. I’m not going to go run back to my papa and spill the beans. I couldn’t care less what goes on here in Russo land.” I sip my coffee and wink at him.

“Better to be safe than sorry. I still don’t know why you’re here, apart from getting dicked by this dick.” He points to Leonardo. “And with the impending engagement to that other dick, Giovanni, I’m not taking any chances.” Dante raises his eyebrows at me.

“I’m not a dick.” Leonardo grabs a napkin, scrunches it up, and throws it in Dante’s direction.

“Hey,” Amber scoops it out of her coffee.

“My point, exactly,” Dante chuckles.”

“Fuck off. I’ll go get another round of coffee for you fools.” Leonardo scoots his chair back and disappears inside.

My phone vibrates on the table and I stare at my papa’s name as it flashes at me.

“Are you going to answer that?” Dante watches me.

I sigh and press the answer button. “Ciao, Papa.”

The verbal tirade in Italian comes at me through the phone like a volcanic eruption. I’m sure the rest of the table can hear him. This is nothing new to me. My papa often screams at me about how much I frustrate him. This time, he drives the point of how disappointed he is in me for last night.

I do all I can not to hang up on him. It will only fuel the angry flame that I seem to keep eternally lit in him. I can picture his face as I sit here and listen to his demands.

He hangs up on me. End of discussion.

My gaze slides across the courtyard as Enzo approaches. Fucking great.

“What did I miss?” He sits next to Dante and takes in the silence around the table.

“Just me getting my ass handed to me.” I smile at him. There’s no hiding the caustic tone in my voice.

“Sucks to be you, Princess.” Enzo watches me, his face showing no sign of emotion.

“Why are you still here? Don’t you have important boss business to attend to?”

“Education is important. You wouldn’t understand, seeing as you won’t be finishing yours.”

I wave him off. “I’ll do as I fucking please.”

“You’re delusional.” He chuckles darkly.

I know he’s wary of my presence here in Verona. His loyal subjects follow me around like a bad smell. I can put up with the imbeciles to a point, but if one gets too close, I’ll make them eat their balls. I flip Enzo the finger. I don’t care for the man, but I don’t hate him. Our slinging matches are all in good fun. I think. I put up with him because of Summer.

Leonardo returns and seats himself next to me. It’s relaxing not to have to hide our arrangement here, as much as I’m sure his cousins disapprove, bar Amber. If my papa caught wind of me messing around with a Russo, he’d most definitely send me packing back to Sicily to live with my great aunt.

“Are we set for tonight?” Leonardo questions Enzo.

I watch Enzo’s careful movements, he pauses to collect his response before blurting out the wrong thing.

“The men are lined up in case anything goes wrong.” He purposefully doesn’t glance my way.

“Where are we meeting?” Leonardo throws a biscotti in his mouth.

Enzo shoots him a glare. “Same as usual.”

“I seriously don’t care what you get up to. I’m not here to spy, you idiot,” I sigh in frustration. “I’m here in Verona to get the fuck away from my family and the bullshit that goes with it. Why the fuck would I want to get caught up in more bullshit?”

“Watch who you’re talking to.” Enzo’s voice lowers an octave.

“I know who I’m talking to. You’re just fucking frustrating me.”

“I guess I’ll be late tonight.” Leonardo turns to me, pretending like our heated conversation isn’t happening.

“Nope, sorry. Our weekly movie night is tonight.” Amber interjects.

“I almost forgot.” I grin from ear to ear.

Leonardo pouts. “You’re going to pass up spending the night with me to watch a movie?”

“It’s not just any movie,” Amber scoffs.

“Don’t tell me, you’re watching that fucking 365 mafia movie again,” Dante laughs.

“What’s it to you?” Amber pushes at his arm, making him fake an injury.

“Why would you watch that when you’ve got the real thing here?” Leonardo grabs my hand places it over his dick.

“You know I love an older man.” I wink at him and squeeze his dick through his pants.

“Oh, is that so?” He pulls my hand off him and places it back on my thigh. He refuses to even look at me.

I instantly regret what I just said, and I feel like a total bitch for throwing in his face the fact that my impending fiancé is an older man.

“You know what I mean. I have a thing for Michele Morrone. What warm-blooded female wouldn’t?” I backtrack.

“Nice save, but I’m not buying it.” Leonardo leans away from me as our coffee arrives.

Everyone stares at me, waiting for me to save myself from the hole I just inadvertently dug. I can see both Enzo and Dante quietly enjoying every second of my squirming. “Fuck, I didn’t mean Giovanni,” I say a little louder than necessary to get my point across. I glance at Enzo and his stupid face is lit up like it’s Christmas. He’s enjoying this, the bastard.

Leonardo slowly moves his head so he’s facing me, his features composed, and he stares like I’m going to try to fill my already dug hole back up. He waits for a few more beats of a second while studying my mouth and finally, he looks into my eyes. “You know, I don’t mind sharing if that’s what you want.” He licks his lips and fire dances in my belly, one to match the sparks in his ebony eyes.

“No more talk of threesomes. I don’t need mental images of my cousin in my head.” Amber puts her fingers in her ears.

“Well, that’s my cue to get the fuck out of here before I need to put a stop to sharing between families. The less I know the better.” Enzo leaves his coffee untouched and stands, throwing a warning look at Leonardo before nodding for him to follow.

“I’ll call you,” Leonardo licks the whole side of my face before darting after Enzo and Dante.

“You fucking better!” I call after him.

“You two are something else.” Amber shakes her head in disgust.

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