Page 9 of Dirty Mafia King

“You think so?”

“Yes.”

Gorgeous blue eyes flash with surprise. “Huh.”

I stare at him, mortified. Wishing I could take my admission back.

His stare feels like he can see straight through me.

Then he steps closer.

It takes all my willpower not to run as he lifts the ice bucket lid, tosses it aside, and plucks an ice cube out. Slowly, ever so slowly, he presses it to my lips. The cube feels ten times colder, probably due to how the rest of me burns from his proximity.

“I’d ruin a kinky little voyeur like you.”

Everything stills except my racing heart.

“Get lost, before I change my mind. I’m not a man who indulges curious little sluts in pure pink dresses, no matter how ripe they are for the plucking.”

He pops the ice cube into his mouth.

Then the door slams in my face.

CHAPTER4

ALESSIA

Six months later

Misery comes in many shapes and forms. A teeth cleaning that morphs into a root canal. The New York City subway system. Being forced into the spotlight at social events, such as Father’s gubernatorial gala or like now, Sienna’s engagement announcement.

I’d prefer a subway ride to the Beneventi estateaftera root canal if hopping a flight back to Rome afterward were an option.

It’s not.

Father canceled my tuition payments, broke my lease, and ordered me home. When I protested, he callously informed me, “You can make spaghetti in New York.”

I was flourishing in Rome. Making new friends. Nights out dining and dancing. Even dating, first a sweet, sensitive Italian boy who brought me flowers and held my hand and then a naughtier boy who liked to push me into dark corners and steal kisses from my lips. I changed after the risky encounter on the Amalfi Coast. Like two hot wires, the stranger’s words and my reaction sparked life into me.

“I’d ruin a kinky little voyeur like you.”

God, how I crave to be ruined by an older man like him. Ravished. Violated.

It’s ridiculous, really. Dangerous men in powerful positions devour innocents like me. As if I’d find the courage to be with someone like that.

Baby steps until I’m ready, I kept reminding myself.

Except my dreams are on hold while I’m stuck stateside and forced to play dutiful daughter and sister-keeper.

Dangerous men, like mafioso capo Sebastiano Beneventi, haven’t given Father pause. No, Daddy Dearest’s jumped headfirst into a political arrangement with him and offered Sienna up like a gourmet feast. Father’s wedded and bedded the mafiosi, and now Sienna will, too, in a marriage between my sister and Alessandro Beneventi. Guests are gathered in the Beneventi estate outside Providence, Rhode Island, for the surprise announcement. We mingle inside a great room while waiting for Sebastiano Beneventi’s arrival, though an hour’s passed without sign of him. Speculation about the reason everyone is here has Beneventi’s associates abuzz. They don’t know what’s coming. Only my family and my future in-laws are aware of the pending union.

Father says Sebastiano Beneventi will kill him if the news is leaked.

If I don’t do the job first.

“For Christ’s sake, Alessia, pretend you’re excited for your sister.” Father’s hiss is low, his demeanor relaxed.

“Don’t you feel the slightest remorse for selling your daughter for political gain?” My spine straightens. He’s ruining my sister’s life. Upended mine. All because of his twisted ambition.