A tall man in an expensive suit approaches from behind. He says something to Zoe, and she turns, shaking her head with a polite smile. But he doesn't back off. Instead, he moves closer, placing his hand on the small of her back, fingers splaying possessively against the red silk.
The glass shatters in my grip.
I don't feel the sting of whiskey in the cuts as I push through the crowd. My vision narrows to a tunnel focused on that hand touching what's mine.
In three seconds, I'm there. My hand closes around his throat, lifting him slightly off his feet. His eyes bulge with shock as I slam him against the nearest pillar.
"Touch my wife again, and I'll tear you to pieces," I snarl, my voice deadly quiet despite the pounding music.
He claws at my hand, face turning red. "I didn't know?—"
"Now you do."
I drag him through the crowd, people parting like water before us. Daniel appears at the door, taking the gasping man from my grip and escorting him outside. I know Daniel will make sure our message is perfectly clear.
When I turn back, my eyes lock with Zoe's across the dance floor. She stands perfectly still amid themoving bodies, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her green eyes are wide, a mixture of shock and something else—something that sends heat surging through my veins.
I stalk back to her, aware of every eye in the club watching us. When I reach her, the air between us crackles with tension. Anger at her recklessness mixes with a possessive fire I can't control. Beneath it all runs an undercurrent of attraction neither of us wants to acknowledge.
Lucrezia stands beside Zoe, her eyes wide as she watches us. I see recognition in my sister's expression—she senses the shift happening, the dangerous energy pulsing between her brother and his new wife.
Zoe's lips curl into a smirk as she steps closer, tilting her head to look up at me.
"Overreacting much?" she whispers, the scent of her perfume hitting me like a physical blow. "He was just asking me to dance."
"He had his fucking hands on you."
"And?" She arches one perfect eyebrow, challenge written across her features. She leans in, lips nearly brushing my ear. "We're not really a couple, Damiano. I can do whatever I want with my sexual life."
The words hit like ice water, then ignite into fury. The thought of another man's hands on her body, another man's mouth on hers?—
I laugh, low and dangerous, watching her eyes widen slightly at the sound. "Don't push me, lupacchiotta. Not tonight." I lean closer, my voice dropping to a growl only she can hear. "Not when you're wearing that fucking dress."
She steps back, but her eyes never leave mine. I see the pulse hammering in her throat, the slight hitch in herbreathing. Despite her defiance, something in her responds to me.
Blood and adrenaline pound through my veins. The club seems to fade around us, the crowd, the music—everything but her.
Lu clears her throat beside us. "Maybe we should?—"
"No," I cut her off. "We're staying. Wasn't this what you wanted so badly, Lu? To come to Omertà?"
Lucrezia's eyes dart between Zoe and me, sensing the tension crackling in the air. Zoe's chest rises and falls with each breath, her green eyes never breaking from mine.
"Fine," she says, reaching for Lucrezia's hand. "Let's dance, Lu."
Before I can react, Zoe pulls my sister deeper into the crowd. The slit in her dress reveals flashes of thigh with each step.
Daniel appears at my side, his stance alert despite the casual way he leans toward me.
"Everything good, boss?"
"Keep eyes on them," I growl. "Both of them."
He nods, signaling to the security team positioned around the club. I watch as Zoe and Lucrezia find a spot in the center of the dance floor, bodies moving in sync with the pounding beat.
The crowd seems to part around them—my sister in shimmering silver, Zoe in that blood-red dress that's been driving me crazy since I first saw her in it. They're laughing, heads thrown back, hair down on their backs as they dance.
The tension in the car ride home is suffocating. Lucrezia sits in the back seat, unusually quiet. She's pissed off with Damiano and the scene he caused.
