“It’ll only be for one night,” she said, lowering her voice and batting her lashes, sending my thoughts straight to the gutter. “Only for the family and friends night. It’s not like I’ll be able to do much more, considering I’m getting married.”
She rolled her eyes. I wasn’t entirely sure why Giuseppe wanted to marry her off so quickly. Still, we suspected it had to do with the land Adriano’s family-owned, territories untouched by crime families. Most of it was near ports. It would be fantastic for business. According to Loren, this marriage would probably triple Giuseppe’s profits. The fucker. I pushed that to the forefront of my mind. She was getting married. And she was Dominic’s sister. And she was Giuseppe’s daughter.
“Why did you take mixology classes anyway?” I stirred the ice in my glass.
“Why did someone, who is about to marry a duke, take mixology lessons?” Her smile was small, making her look shy. Innocent. Delicious.
“Yeah.”
“I guess for the same reason I went to university and double-majored in Business and Sociology. Am I going to use those degrees? No, but it stupidly gave me a sense of freedom.” Her face crumpled a little. I hated it. “You wouldn’t understand. After all, I’m ‘just a woman,’ as every man in the room likes to remind me.”
“That’s offensive.” My brows hitched.
“What is?” She raised an eyebrow back at me.
“You’re insinuating that I’m a misogynistic, sexist pig.”
“Aren’t you?” She raised an eyebrow and waved a dainty hand in a circle. “Look around.”
I did look around, mostly because I was still taken aback by what she’d said. She couldn’t seriously think I was misogynistic. Or her brother. Or Gio. Or any of us. We were surrounded by boss bitches who made it very clear that without them, our ships would sink. Looking around the room, I understood what she meant. I knew most of these men; they were exactly who she thought they were. I didn’t like her implication that I was like that, though.
“So you’re assuming I’m like that because your father is?”
“And because you’re in the same line of work. You are the company you keep and all that,” she said, pressing her mouth together as if she wanted to shut herself up but couldn’t.
“I. . .” was at a loss for words.
“My brother, Gio, and Loren are like that.”
My brows pull together. “No, they’re not. At all.”
“Right. So, you think women belong everywhere you do?” she asked quickly.
“Absolutely.”
“Above or below you?”
“That sounds like a trick question.” I couldn’t help the smirk on my face. She blushed fiercely as if realizing what she’d said.
“You know what I meant.” She frowned. I couldn’t help it. I laughed. This was adorable. On top of being drop-dead gorgeous, she was fucking adorable. She pursed her lips and added, “I don’t find you funny, you know.”
“That’s a shame because I find grown-up Lenora quite entertaining.” I winked and took the last sip of my now watered-down tequila.
Again, she blushed. For a moment, I let myself just look at her, taking in her big brown eyes, high cheekbones, and thin nose. Her face was a work of art. Her curves were distracting. Her skin was flawless. If I were to build my ideal woman, she would look like Lenora. I remembered where we were and who she was and forced my eyes back to hers. She shivered slightly as if I’d touched her in all the places I’d imagined, and fuck, wouldn’t that have been fun?
“The party starts at nine,” I cleared my throat. “Make sure you’re at Scarab around eight, so you can be acquainted with the bar.”
“Will you be there at eight?” she asked, licking her pouty lips slowly. Christ. I needed to get out of here.
“I’ll be there.”
“Good.” Her smile was blinding. “As far as alcohol, does the bar have a lot of variety?”
“We have more than most,” Lorenzo said, joining the conversation again. He was the one overseeing the shipments of alcohol. The one Dean had “stolen.”
“If you need more rum, Isabel can always get it,” Rosie said.
“True. Jamaican Mike can drive it over,” Cat added.
