“Si.Just home for two days. I have an exam on Monday, so I have to head back.”
“What are you studying?”
“Fine art and the history of art culture.”
“That’s…” I couldn’t think of a word. Why couldn’t I think of a word? Because Finn’s intense gaze was fixed on the side of my face, and my whole body was simmering in his heat.
She laughed. “You don’t have to pretend to be interested. Art isn’t for everyone.”
I smiled and picked up my drink, trying to hide how my brain was malfunctioning. The next few hours passed in a blur. Talk of business was out the window with the ladies present, and the atmosphere was relaxed and casual. For a moment, I could pretend I was socialising with friends, not allies. It felt… good. Nice. But it also made me realise how lonely I was. The alcohol was hitting, and the buzz it ignited lowered my guard a little, especially around Elenora. She was lovely. Bubbly, fun, and easy to talk to.
Most mafia women I had come across were always so submissive and timid. My sister and mother, for example, were constantly put down by our father and treated worse than the dirt beneath his shoe. I’d been raised in a household where women were silent unless spoken to and existed for men’s entertainment. It made me sick to watch how he’d treated them.
On the occasions I’d tried to intervene, I’d been beaten within an inch of my life, and Cami had begged me not to do it again. It made everything worse for all of us when I tried to stop him. That was why I was so relieved she’d married into this family. They were different. They cared for and loved their women fiercely. They protected them instead of mistreating them. Elenora was an example of that.
No matter how beautiful she was, my attention kept being drawn to the dark figure standing behind her, always watching. Constantly watching. I realised he was Elenora’s personal bodyguard and that it was his job to watch. But did he haveto watch me so intensely? It was making my dick twitch with unwanted need. He needed to fuck the fuck off.
“I’m going to bed,” Elenora suddenly declared to the group, standing up, a little unsteady on her feet. I jumped up and caught her elbow, while Finn stepped forward and took her other one. She giggled, looking between us.
“Look at that! Two handsome men coming to my rescue!” She laughed, wobbling in her heels. “Shame one is gay, and the other looks like a runway model, so not my type. No offence.”
My eyes widened, and a strike of pure panic shot through me. Then I realised the gay man she was referring to was Finn. I hadn’t just been outed. Finn’s eyes narrowed at me in a lethal warning, and I removed my hand from her arm. Why the fuck had I done that? He was a high-ranking soldier. I was a Boss. I could do what I liked.
“Let me help you,” I said, placing her hand in the crook of my arm.
“I’ve got her,” Finn growled, throwing her arm over his shoulder and pulling her into his side.
“Don’t fight over me, boys. You can both help me if you really feel that strongly about it. Wait!” She suddenly bent at the waist, stumbled again, and removed her heels. She shoved them into Finn’s chest. “Finn can carry my shoes. They are more precious to me than my life.” She grabbed my arm and smiled up at me in a drunken daze. “And you, Enzo Aiani, can protect me from all the trouble my brother thinks I can get into while walking from this club in my own house up to my bedroom.”
Finn gritted his teeth but stayed silent as he walked behind us. We reached the bottom of the staircase in the foyer, which led up to the Buccinis’ private floors. Elenora spun around on the bottom step and waved her finger in my face.
“Access denied,SignorAiani. I’ll be going to bed alone.” She grabbed her shoes from Finn’s chest and kissed him on the lips. Itried to hide my shock that her lips had touched his so flippantly. Since when did mafia princesses kiss their bodyguards? And I thought he was into men?
“Go home, Finn baby. You are officially off duty.”
She swayed up the stairs, humming a tune. A large, older soldier appeared on the landing, nodding at Finn in silent understanding that he’d take over from there.
“Marco! Oh, Marco! I love thee, old Marco!” Elenora began singing and wrapped her arms around the man. It seemed Finn wasn’t the only soldier she was overfamiliar with.
“Had a good night, Elle?” the soldier asked, guiding her towards her bedroom with a small smile. Once they were out of view, I turned to face Finn, my heart pounding because I’d somehow ended up alone with this man again. He smirked at me, mischief in those dark brown eyes, then stormed out through a side door the staff used, heading towards the garage.
I should have let him go. I should have signalled to my men to fetch my car, but I’d told them to stay behind in the club while I helped Elle. Instead, I followed him outside.
A new Range Rover pulled up on the driveway, and a man got out, throwing Finn the keys before striding away. I stopped on the top step and watched as Finn walked around the car to the driver’s side and opened the door. He paused, glancing up when he saw me standing there. Those dark chestnut eyes made my heart race.
“You coming then?” he asked, swinging the keys around his finger once before climbing into the car and vanishing behind blacked-out, bulletproof windows.
The way he said it, so casually, with an air of arrogance, as if he knew I was going to follow him and get in his car, had my blood boiling. But there was also excitement coursing through my veins. Why was I so drawn to this man? I hesitated, glancing over my shoulder to check if anyone had seen us. The last thing Ineeded were rumours starting because I was seen in a car with a gay Buccini soldier, but everyone was still in the club.
I didn’t know what drove me to make the most reckless choice of my life, but my feet moved before I could stop them. I threw myself into the passenger seat, and the tyres spun on the gravel before I’d even shut the door.
“If you don’t want them to see you, get down,” he said calmly, his eyes fixed straight ahead on the enormous iron gates securing the Buccini residence.
Armed soldiers stood on either side, and I quickly sank into the footwell, my heart pounding with addictive adrenaline.What the fuck was I doing?Finn nodded at the guards, who recognised his car and opened the gates for him. As soon as we were a safe distance down the road, I shoved myself back into the seat, panting hard. My eyes darted everywhere but refused to look at the man driving.
This was a mistake. Why the fuck had I got in his car? What had I thought would happen?
“Where are we going?” I asked, hating how my voice trembled slightly with nerves. There was just something about this man that made me feel out of control.
