Page 47 of Nico

“Wonderful.” The ambassador truly looked pleased. “I’ll send an invitation to Nico’s office. My wife will be excited to meet you, Bianca. She is Italian too.”

I chuckled. “I wouldn’t exactly call myself Italian,” I replied softly. “My grandmother accused me quite a few times of being too American. She even said sending me to Italy for the summer was a mistake because I turned my cousins into Americans.”

Both Nico and the ambassador laughed.

“I can’t wait to introduce you to my wife next Saturday then,” he replied, his voice full of laughter.

Hmmm, won’t next Saturday be the wedding day?I questioned silently. But maybe if Nico accepted this invite, it meant we could push it out. I decided it was better not to bring it up.

Nico and the Ambassador exchanged a few more words, and I marveled at this weird situation. I never would have imagined myself speaking to an ambassador, even less being invited to an event at the embassy. William and I mostly hung out with people we went to school and college with, people from the neighborhood, other families.

“See you soon, dear,” the ambassador greeted me one more time as he left us.

“He seems nice,” I muttered, not sure what else to say.

“He is usually a tough person to deal with,” Nico claimed. “And the event he invited us to is actually a very important event covering Italian real estate along the coast of Amalfi. It is a very small event and usually they limit it to only individuals with Italian background from that area.”

It meant nothing to me. “Sounds exciting, huh?”

He chuckled, “You don’t seem too impressed.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I answered. “Not really.”

“I presume your cousins live on the Amalfi coast?”

I chuckled. “Yes, though I haven’t seen them in almost ten years.” He raised his eyebrow, and I wondered what crossed his mind. “Is that a problem?” I asked him.

“No, just a curious coincidence,” Nico’s deep voice vibrated through me, his body close to mine. Though his words didn’t make any sense. Coincidence to what? “It’s past noon. Traffic out of D.C. can be bad. I’ll take you home.”

“Don’t be silly,” I objected. “It is ridiculous to drive me to Maryland and then come back.”

“My place is in Maryland too.” He wrapped his arm around me and guided me off the balcony. “You’ll be on my way.”

“What about Bear?” I still choked calling him that.

“The bodyguards will be right behind us.”

“Why do you need bodyguards?” I questioned him as we walked through the room full of people.

He chuckled darkly. “I don’t think you need the answer to that one, Bianca.”

He was right. He probably had a long list of people that wanted him dead. Just as he had a long list of people he wanted to make pay. Why did I feel like I got stuck somewhere in the middle?

We finally got into the elevator and my cheeks warmed remembering the kiss on our way up the elevator. I lost all control, completely lost it. Just like at the restaurant yesterday. It scared the living daylights out of me. I didn’t care to evaluate why his touch, his kiss had such a strong impact on me. As if he could read my thoughts, Nico’s hand on my hip pulled me closer to him, his heat seeping through my pores and into my bloodstream.

When we exited his building, Bear was already waiting for us. The Bentley he drove was parked behind another fancy car and two black Land Rovers, surrounding it. Whoever drove that car would be stuck till the Land Rovers left.

“Sir, we are ready,” Bear told Nico.

“Thanks,” Nico replied. “Tell the men we are ready to go.”

Bear spoke into his wrist while I watched in amazement as five other men in dark suits appeared out of nowhere. It was like a scene from a real mob movie.

What in the hell did I get myself into?

Nico opened the door to the fancy car for me. “This is yours?”

“Yes.”