Page 175 of Lovely Venom

Rafe smirks, and Cristian glances back at me.

“I’ll see you soon, gattina.”

“See you soon,” I murmur.

He presses one last kiss to the top of my head and leaves, and only when he’s out of sight do the comments start.

“Holy hell.” Serafina fans herself. “That man is feral for you.”

“I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around when this even happened,” Val says.

“It’s a long story.”

“Not that long,” Gabi argues. “He was so obviously into you.”

“Please enlighten us.” Abella shoots her a look.

“Well, for starters, he always had that stormy expression on his face when he looked at her, and trust me when I say I know it well.”

“Your husband is the king of stormy expressions,” Val agrees.

Gabi’s cheeks pinken. “He really is. But I used to think he hated me, just like Chantel thought Cristian hated her. That’s why it was so obvious to me. He would steal your drinks, make comments to get a reaction out of you, and act like you were the bane of his existence. But when you weren’t paying attention, I caught him watching you more than a few times.”

“Really?”

A flutter stirs in my chest as I imagine the cold, broody Cristian I used to know watching me when I didn’t even realize it.

“Yep.” Gabi shrugs. “I had a feeling this might happen eventually.”

“Well, apparently we all need to pay more attention.” Serafina laughs.

“Yes, we’re all very happy that you’re getting railed by an Italian god every night,” Lucia says. “But more importantly, where do we find one of our own?”

“Well, he does have two single brothers,” Abella points out.

“Yeah, right.” Lucia huffs in amusement. “Those two will live the bachelor life forever.”

“Wait, what happened to Gio?” I ask.

“Ugg,” Lucia groans. “He turned out to be a run-of-the-mill cliché. I caught him banging a cocktail waitress in the bathroom. Mind you, this was while we were on a date.”

“God, what a prick.” Serafina rolls her eyes. “This is why I want to stay single forever.”

“I hear you.” Lucia sighs. “It’s grim out there.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “That really sucks.”

“Want me to have Romeo blow up his entire life?” Gabi asks. “Because he totally will.”

All of us laugh, because as crazy as it sounds…it’s also accurate.

“Eh, I can’t be bothered.” Lucia shrugs. “I’m going to have myself a thank-you-next party and get revenge by living my best life.”

“What does a thank-you-next party consist of?” Val asks.

“Drinking while my friends tell me I can do better.”

We all nod as if we suspected as much.