Page 103 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

“Follow me,” Giovanni ordered, then headed around the mansion towards the back of the estate. It was late, so it was too dark to see everything properly, but I could already tell these people liked to show off their blood money. I shifted my bag up my shoulder and peered back at the six armed soldiers marching behind me. Clearly, I wasn’t a guest, but I wasn’t quite a prisoner either. Somewhere in between.

Women giggling across the lawn ahead made us all stop. Two muscular men stood a short distance away from two smaller, more petite shadows that seemed to sway and cling to each other unsteadily.

“Cazzo,” Giovanni growled under his breath. “Wait here. Watch him.” He commanded his men, who swarmed around me. I’d barely noticed. My attention was fixed on the woman stumbling towards us, clearly blind drunk. A mess of brown ringlets fell over her face, shielding her from view as she twirled and nearly fell flat on her arse.

Giovanni stormed towards them and started shouting something in Italian.

“Uh oh,” the other woman hiccupped. “Papi’s home!”

More Italian was exchanged between Giovanni and the women, and then he turned his attention to the men, who I guessed were their bodyguards. They stepped forward and took each woman by the arm, guiding them back towards the house. The floodlights on the back terrace flickered on at the motion.

The woman with wild ringlets paused when she noticed us all, swaying and leaning against the soldier. Light spilt over her delicate features. She stared straight at me through her curls.

My pulse spiked.

Bloodshot hazel eyes glistened, and her face scrunched with concentration. I knew I needed to look away. Turn my back on her before she recognised me. But my body wasn’t cooperating.

She shook her head, her face paling. She looked at me as if she were trying to decide whether she’d finally lost her mind.

I knew those eyes. I didn’t remember her, but I knew those eyes. The same eyes I’d been drawing for days.

“Wait.” Her voice cracked. She yanked her arm free from her bodyguard’s grip and pushed him away. “Don’t touch me. I need—” she mumbled, her words slurred, though her English was perfect. She stumbled towards me.

Giovanni glanced over his shoulder as he walked ahead of her, noticing her following him.

“Soraya. Go inside. Now.”

“No,” she snapped, shoving at his chest as he tried to block her path. “He—that’s—”

My feet were glued to the ground. My heart was in my throat from the look in her eyes. Disbelief, hope, distrust and pure agony made my chest crack open; that strange feeling of grief for something I didn’t remember multiplied.

“Soraya.” Giovanni grabbed her arms, trying to stop her, but she wrestled against him. Her eyes widened as she drew closer.

I gritted my teeth so hard my molars nearly cracked. A strange protectiveness surged as the bodyguard and Giovanni caged her, forcing her a few steps back. I took a step forward before I stopped myself. I didn’t like them touching her.

“Get off me, Gio!” she screamed, hitting him in the chest. “Let me see him! I have to—”

Giovanni relented, letting her go but staying close as she swayed towards me. She ignored everyone else, her eyes locked on mine. She pushed through the soldiers between us until she stood right in front of me.

She was close enough to touch. Close enough that I could see unshed tears gathering in her eyes and the tremble in her full lips. She was fuckin’ beautiful. No, beautiful was too weak a word. Seeing her only confirmed one thing. Nolan had to be wrong about us. How would a woman like this… ever want a monster like me?

Every instinct in my body screamed at me to reach for her and pull her closer, to protect her from whatever had put that look of devastation on her face.

I didn’t even know her.

So why the fuck did it feel like I was looking at someone I’d spent a lifetime missing?

Her hand reached hesitantly towards my face, and my nostrils flared. I braced myself for her touch, but she stopped, her hand trembling in mid-air between us.

“You’re not really here,” she whispered, her voice as shaky as her hands. She slammed her hands to her forehead and looked at me as if her life were about to end. “I’m going crazy. You aren’t real.”

My lips parted to say something, but I had no words. She pushed against my chest and then gripped my top, her eyes bulging as if she truly believed she wouldn’t be able to hold on to me. Heat flared across my skin, and my chest rose and fell faster as she stared at her hands on my shirt. Her fingers splayed across my chest, feeling my muscles and my pounding heart beneath the fabric.

“It’s impossible,” she choked. Those pretty fucking eyes darted back to mine, then rolled with her head. My arms wrapped around her instinctively, catching her before she hit the ground. Her body lay limp against me as I stared at her face, breathing hard.

She’d fainted.

“Soraya! Cazzo!” Giovanni dashed forward, lifting her from me and carrying her off. “Alessio, get him inside the pool house and keep him there until morning.”