Page 40 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Niccolo

I t was all going so well –

And then it completely went to shit.

I’d just asked her to ditch Aurelio and sneak off with me.

Rather than shut me down, she asked me with just the barest hint of a smile, “Is that all we’re going to do?”

“Well, since you’re a sapiosexual,” I grinned, “you can consider it foreplay.”

Then – for the very first time in our conversation – she looked away from me.

Not out of discomfort –

But to see if she could slip away from Aurelio.

I was sure of it.

Her lower lip had swelled up slightly over the course of our conversation.

Her face was flushed a light pink…

And I swear I could see her nipples harden beneath the material of her dress.

In fact, I was halfway hard myself.

I wanted nothing more than to drag her into a bedroom inside the house…

Throw her down on the mattress…

Lift up her dress…

Softly brush my lips against her –

And then everything changed.

It was like someone had flicked the ‘Off’ switch.

Her eyes squinted as she caught sight of something, and all the color left her cheeks.

I looked over to see what it was –

But it was just Fausto and Aurelio talking to my family.

Huh – the asshole cut his ponytail off, I thought. Wonder why.

I turned back to Aurora and tried to read her expression.

She seemed to be lost inside her own head, making calculations –

“Bellaaaaa?” I teased her. “Earth to Aurora – come in, Aurora.”

When she turned back to me, her expression and voice were all business. “Americans have a saying: dance with the one who brought you.’”

Shit!

Shit, shit, SHIT!

I couldn’t figure out where I’d gone wrong, but I seemed to have stepped on a landmine.

Maybe I’d pressed her too hard.

Some women like a challenge. Perhaps I’d signaled I was too easy, and all her interest had evaporated.

I tried a callback to when she’d corrected me on the French quote. My humor was gentle rather than biting, but it was an attempt to reengage her in our previous repartee.

“I think it’s specifically people from the region of Texas, and I believe the saying is, ‘Dance with the one who brung you.’ Lucky for both of us, then, that you’re neither American nor Texan, hm?”

Suddenly, I heard Valentino shouting.

I looked over to see him and Aurelio about to go at it.

Val, you little prick –

If you fucked up my chances with the most interesting woman I’ve ever met –

Thank God Massimo and Lars intervened.

Massimo handled Val while Lars gently put his arm around Aurelio’s shoulders and tried to guide him away.

Aurelio, being Aurelio, acted like an asshole and pushed Lars away.

I prayed silently for him to attack Lars and see what that got him –

But then Fausto stepped in and pulled Aurelio away from the others.

He smiled at everyone and played it off, then looked over at –

Us.

“Aurora!”

SHIT.

NO!

She turned back to me and said, “Time to go.”

In desperation, I reached out to catch her arm. “Wait – ”

But she intercepted me and shook my hand instead. “Goodbye.”

And that was it.

I was left standing there, bewildered and stunned, as the most beautiful, intelligent woman I’d ever met walked away from me.