“Pakhan,” he said solemnly, before he leaned in. “Would you?—”
“Smile? I know, but why would I smile at De Lucci’s lackeys?” Especially when they were glaring at me as if I’d debauched their princess. What I did and what I was good at doing was smirk. It frequently irritated my opponents.
Sato sighed.
“What?”
“This would go easier if you were less…”
“Less like myself?”
“Well, more human.”
Two soldiers guarding the elevators greeted us and accompanied us to the tenth floor.
I spotted Dominic De Lucci giving instructions to one of his soldiers, but when he saw me, his entire face flashed in fury.
“Fuck,” Sato muttered.
“Don’t interfere. He’s allowed one punch,” I said.
“You son of a bitch.” De Lucci charged just as a door to his right was opening.
“Dom, don’t!” Lucy shrieked.
I leaned away just in time for his fist to glance off my cheek. What? Like I was going to let this fucker break my nose?
“Stop it!” My future bride rushed to her brother and grabbed his arm before he could swing again. She glared over her shoulder just as Moretti appeared. “Don’t you dare cause a brawl in my building, Zio!”
That was when she finally gave me her attention. “Why are you here?”
I raised a brow. “I thought my presence was required.”
De Lucci was breathing laboriously. Oh, he wanted a piece of me for sure, just as Moretti did. I was secretly gratified that my future wife had such control over these two men. The De Luccis were especially known to be psychotically protective of their women. They also spoiled them.
This would be to my advantage. Sato was right. I needed to act human and not the ruthless bratva boss I’d been trained to be. At least, until I got what I wanted.
“I was handling it,” she snapped.
“Shall we move this conversation inside?” I suggested.
“Just you,” De Lucci said, scowling at Sato.
“Of course.” Then I let my facial muscles do that awkward thing called smiling.
Dom and Luca stalked into the room while Lucy fell back to my side. “Stop that.”
“What?”
“Your smile is creepy; it’s not winning you any points.”
Sato snorted a laugh behind us.
I dropped all pretense and rearranged my face to its usual blandness. “Better?”
“That will do.”
My mouth twitched, and I was in danger of genuinely finding amusement. I followed Lucy into her apartment and nearly backed away from the chaos.
