Page 50 of The Fall Affair

Matteo took out a glass and poured, passing it to me.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” I asked.

“I had one with dinner. That’s enough when I’m driving.”

I nodded and took a slow sip, aware of Matteo’s gaze again sweeping over me. When his eyes returned to mine, I arched a brow.

“Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t help myself.”

I smiled, shaking my head. “I don’t mind. In fact, I think I might owe you some free ogles.”

Luciana emerged with her lips painted bright red and plucked the wine glass from my hand. Downing it in one swallow, she announced, “I’m ready now.”

The ride to the club took almost half an hour. Luciana had insisted I sit up front, and Matteo had barely spoken the entire way. Still, I saw his eyes falling to my legs on more than one occasion. When we finally pulled up, the bass from inside thumped so loud that it vibrated the car windows. Luciana leaned up from the backseat. “You sure you don’t want to come with us?”

He shook his head. “I don’t go to clubs.”

“Shame.” Luciana winked at me. “Allegra could use a bodyguard in dat outfit.”

Matteo’s jaw ticked, his eyes cutting to mine before shifting back to the steering wheel. “She’s from New York. She’ll manage.”

Luciana kissed her brother’s cheek and reached for the door handle. “Suit yourself.”

We got out of the car, and Luciana linked her arm with mine, already laughing. When we made it to the door, I glanced back and found Matteo still watching.

Chapter 16

Allegra

LUCIANA WAS LIKE royalty at the club. When she walked through, the crowd seemed to part, and everyone said hello. She approached a giant of a man with an earpiece, who I was pretty sure was a bouncer. They spoke for a minute, Luciana tossed her thick locks around, and then he showed us to a roped-off area. I felt the house music pulsing inside my chest and tried to yell over it. “You’re like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.”

Her face scrunched up. “Who?”

I laughed. “No one.”

A waitress brought over a bottle of something in an iced bucket and told us to let her know what we needed. “How did they know what to bring you?” I yelled. “You didn’t even order.”

“I’m here all the time.” She leaned closer to me. “I’m also banging da owner.”

“Oh, wow.”

“His name is Lorenzo.” She pointed up to the mirrors at the top of the wall. They went along the length of the club. “He watches everything dat goes on from up there.”

“Does that mean you have to be good?”

She smirked. “Just da opposite. His kink is pissed-off sex. So I get to come drink all night for free and dance with as many men as my heart desires, and den he takes me home and we have passionate sex. He’s a great lover, so it’s a win-win for me.”

I laughed. “You are soo different from your brother.”

She pulled the bottle out of the ice. “Shot of tequila?”

Oh boy. The last time I drank too much, I wound up in the men’s room insulting my boss’s manhood and quitting my job. I’d have to make sure to pace myself. But a shot to take the edge off sounded good, so I nodded. “Sure, why not?”

Luciana and I wound up having two shots, and then the waitress appeared with water bottles. Luciana twisted the cap off one and held it up to the mirror like a toast. “The delivery means he doesn’t want me to get too drunk,” she explained.

We stood at the railing, watching bodies sway to the electronic dance music on the floor down below until Luciana finished her water and tossed the empty bottle onto the tray of a passing waitress. “Come. Let’s dance.”

It had been years since I’d danced at a club, but it didn’t take long for the rhythm of the place to slip under my skin. The heavy pulse of the music, the warmth of bodies pressing close—it pulled me under, and I closed my eyes and allowed it all to wash over me, surrendering to the beat and forgetting all the stress of the last forty-eight hours, of the last month.