Page 36 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Sofia

“ C iao, bella.”

Hello, beautiful.

My heart skipped a beat as I realized who was standing behind me.

The enemy consigliere …

Whom I had been hired to help kill.

I turned around to see Niccolo Rosolini smiling at me.

He still wore his tuxedo, but he’d undone the bowtie around his neck and opened his collar, giving him a certain rakish insouciance .

He looked almost exactly like Roberto, except his hair was swept back and wild – and his smile was impish rather than polite.

He wasn’t hard on the eyes; that much was certain.

If this were a normal situation and I were a normal woman, this would have been the part where I started flirting with him.

But nothing about the situation – or me – was normal.

“I’ll bet you say that to all the girls,” I said coolly.

“What – ‘Ciao, bella’?” He grinned. “As a matter of fact, I do. But I’ve never meant it quite so much as now.”

“Somehow, I imagine you’ve said that before, too.”

“What, the part about never meaning it quite so much?”

“Yes.”

He laughed. “Tough audience tonight! I’m Niccolo Rosolini, brother of the groom. And you are…?”

I nearly said my real name, I was so entranced by his sparkling eyes –

Until I caught myself and murmured, “Aurora Dispenza.”

“Well, Aurora Dispenza, it is my great pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

He took my hand and pressed his lips to my fingers as he looked me in the eyes, one eyebrow cocked seductively.

I don’t normally respond to men and their flatteries.

But when his lips touched my skin, I felt a tingle – a very pleasant electricity that passed between us –

And I jerked back my hand in alarm.

“Oh, my – did I overstep the bounds of propriety?” he teased me.

“I – I’m here w-with Aurelio,” I stuttered, then cursed myself for stammering.

Why the hell are you acting like this?!

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said apologetically – then smiled mischievously. “Not sorry that I kissed your hand, but that you’re saddled with Aurelio. Whatever did you do to deserve that?”

I struggled to suppress a smile. His charm was undeniable –

And it annoyed me that I was so susceptible to it.

“Do you often insult women’s dates?” I asked.

“Only when they’re my cousin’s,” Niccolo said. “But seriously, though – what the hell do you see in him?”

An excellent question.

And one I didn’t have an answer for.

Aurelio had all the charm of a spoiled teenage brat – and no good qualities, so far as I was concerned.

I simply said, “We haven’t been together long.”

“I would think two minutes alone with him would be more than enough to see the error of your ways. Astounding that you got past the first date. I mean, I assume this isn’t your first date – or is it?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“I’m curious about beautiful women, that’s all. Especially incredibly intelligent ones who make such terrible choices.”

“And what makes you think I’m so intelligent?”

“Well, for one, I’ve been watching you.”

My heart skipped a beat –

Did I do anything suspicious?!

– but I managed to keep a poker face.

“That’s rather stalker-ish of you,” I said.

He grinned. “All in a good cause.”

“Uh-huh. And what evidence led to your conclusion about my intelligence?”

“Your eyes rove constantly. It’s obvious you pick up on small details. Ordinary people don’t inspect their surroundings like you do. You exhibit great curiosity, and you haven’t once pulled out your cellphone – that new opiate of the masses.”

He was making a joke using Karl Marx’s quote about religion as opiate of the masses.

“But not you,” he continued with a suave smile. “Thus my verdict is ‘incredibly intelligent,’ and that’s just from a cursory inspection. I’m eager to find out just how intelligent.”

“Be careful. You might not be able to handle me.”

“Oooooh – confident, too! I like it! But you still haven’t answered my original question: first date or not?”

“Do men like you normally ask women to weddings on a first date?”

“Do women like you normally say yes?” he retorted playfully. “If so, I have a wedding coming up. Or I could definitely find one. Somewhere.”

“That would start some drama, wouldn’t it? Stealing away your cousin’s date?”

“If it meant Aurelio never spoke to me again, so much the better.” He cocked his head to the side. “We seem to be doing a dance here, you and I.”

“A verbal dance, you mean?” I asked drily.

“No, I’m being quite literal. You were over there by the flowers when I first spoke to you.”

I glanced around and realized he was correct.

We had moved several feet away from where he’d first spoken to me…

And I hadn’t even noticed. I’d been too drawn in by the conversation.

“We’ve been moving around,” he said with a smile. “I advance – you retreat. I advance – you retreat. A regular pas de deux.”

French for a ‘step of two’ – a dance done by two people.

“Or a game of chess,” I said coolly.

I wasn’t willing to admit I’d been doing a dance with him; I didn’t want to encourage his little seduction.

“Ah! You play chess?” he asked in excitement.

“You could say that,” I responded drily.

“We should play sometime,” he suggested, then lowered his voice seductively. “How about now? We have a lovely set of pieces in the library.”

“I’ll say it again: be careful – you might not be able to handle me.”

He laughed. “I’d love to try.”

“I’ll bet you would.”

He grinned. “You have no idea.”