The maids around were judicious with how they bowed constantly for Damien as he led us to where I presumed would be the dining room.
A long, luxurious table sprawled out before us with silky table linens, wine, and glasses.It was currently void of meal dishes.
“Hello, brother.”
Damien’s frame stiffened against me.We turned at the same time to see a tall man who shared an uncanny resemblance to Damien’s father.I never really met Damien’s family.We saw each other briefly on the wedding day.As soon as the ceremony was over, Damien’s obsessive ass whisked me out of here before we could exchange proper pleasantries.
“Luciano,” Damien acknowledged grimly.
“How nice of you to join us.You are late.”Luciano smiled, a cold, empty smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
His eyes locked in a stare with Damien’s.Something was menacing about Luciano’s appearance.It kept me on edge.
His sinister blue eyes drifted to me.“Ah.You brought the lovely lady.”
“Get the fuck away from my wife,” Damien growled.
Luciano raised his hands in mock surrender.
“That’s enough, boys.”A cold, enigmatic voice floated into the room.
I turned to the stairs to see an older version of Luciano strolling down the stairs in his black button-up and slacks.He glided into the room with such ease that he commanded the air in the room.
If you didn’t look harder, you’d think Luciano and his father were the same person.But the difference was in their blue eyes.Domenico Romano’s eyes looked lifeless and harsh at the same time.The kind that told you that you couldn’t mess with him.They were his most intimidating feature.
Luciano, on the other hand, looked alive in such a twisted way through his eyes.They passed off a deceptively charming notion but gave away a psychotic edge.It made him unpredictable.
“Good evening, Isobel,” he greeted me curtly.“I hope my sons are not giving you much trouble?”He was polite, but it was clipped.
I smiled.“Not at all, Mr.Romano.”
“Please, call me Dad.”He dismissed the title.“We are family now.Aren’t we, boys?”His eyes never left mine, but the subtle threat in his voice didn’t go unnoticed.
“Of course,” both men acquiesced at the same time.
“Baby, I didn’t—” a feminine voice came from a different direction in the room, earning our attention.
Silvana Romano.
The matriarch of the Romano family.
She had struck me as a beautiful woman the first time I saw her, but right now, I felt so intimidated being in the same room with her.
Her exaggerated satin kimono with puffy sleeves floated behind her, hanging around her mid-arm as she sashayed toward us with a bottle of wine.It complemented her beaded ivory dress with a criss-cross plunging neckline.The dress molded against her body with a sultry intent.
Her honey-blonde hair was wrapped in a messy bun atop her head.Her soft makeup made her olive-green eyes pop with so much life.She was elegance and seduction personified.
“Oh, hi!”she chirped.She turned to Domenico.“Dom, I told you to let me know when they got here.”It was supposed to be a whisper, but we could all hear her.
My lips twitched.She was a dramatic breath of fresh air.It was no wonder she had her husband wrapped around her fingers.
Domenico—I meant Dad—couldn’t see anyone else in the room anymore.For the first time tonight, his blue eyes softened and oozed with so much softness as his wife walked toward him.
His hand found her waist like he couldn’t wait to have her in his proximity.He kissed her forehead.
“The boys didn’t let me get there, Mia Cara.”His voice was so soft.
It was as though she gave him life when she walked in.She made him feel real, not like some cold, icy monster that haunted people’s dreams.
