Page 16 of Sins of the Orchid

I rolled my eyes. It didn’t take him long to find a girl. Probably record time, and I suspected his last name probably had something to do with it.

“You saying‘scream for me’sounds so suggestive,” I muttered under my breath. Adriano threw his head back and laughed.

“Maybe I’m trying to corrupt you,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

I rolled my eyes. “Please don’t.” Besides, fantasizing about one Russo was more than enough.

With a blonde girl that pretty much entangled herself around him, he walked away. He threw me a glance over his shoulder and winked before disappearing up the stairs. The dorms were on the second floor.

“Care to dance?” A light, male voice had me forgetting Adriano. I met blue eyes and a warm smile.

“Brad, right?”

He grinned. “You remember,” he said, pleased he left an impression.

Truth was I always remembered names. My grandmother insisted on it, saying it was key in running a business to always remember facts and names.

I smiled. “I’d love to dance,” I told him.

As we danced to Tate McRae’s “That Way,” Brad pretty much gave me his life story while I smiled and nodded. I had to admire a nineteen-year-old boy that had a detailed life plan.

CHAPTER5

Santino

New York University held the wildest campus parties. I should know, I frequently attended them while I was a student here.

I pretended to listen to the chick next to me, all the while seeking out Amore with my gaze. She kept yapping about her father that worked for the FBI, hinting she knew who I was. I didn’t give a shit. I got a read on her within the first sixty seconds of opening her mouth. She fancied herself a rebel against her father if she got herself involved with one of the notorious Russo men.

“... Dad’s specialty is the mafia underworld of New York.” This girl talked too damn much. “Do you know that red haired girl is the daughter of Don Savio Bennetti?”

My muscles tensed and my fist closed around the beer bottle in my hand. My eyes latched on Amore’s form gliding across the dance floor, a polite smile on her face as she listened to her dance partner talk her ear off.

A pulse ticked in my jaw, annoyed that anyone dared to look Amore’s way. She shouldn’t be here, especially not alone. I was pissed off that Adriano had disappeared.Damn fool!Didn’t he see every boy in this room staring after her, salivating for her. She was too young to be left unattended. If DeAngelo was here, he’d have her back. His attention never wavered from her while on the job.

But like this, it left Amore open and vulnerable. When I added my number to her phone, I also shared her location with my phone. Good thing too! I had a bad feeling about the two of them tonight, so I followed my intuition.

Adriano would get her killed with his carelessness. He thought with his dick too much, and Amore, the good friend she was, indulged him and covered for him all the time. I’d admire her loyalty if only it wasn’t that it was putting her at risk over and over again.

Just a month ago, Adriano let her drive his brand-new Dodge Viper. She had no license, no experience driving for fuck’s sake, and he put her behind a 624 horsepower sports car. She barely made it five miles down the road before she crashed into a tree. Thankfully, the airbags and seatbelts saved the two idiots.

My eyes drifted back to Amore. She was still dancing with the same guy. They both swayed to the music. His hands rested on her hips, but thankfully, he maintained some distance between the two. Otherwise, I’d have to break his fingers. Nobody would be taking advantage of the girl under my watch. Though this guy looked harmless enough.

Her bright smile lit up her whole face. That happy smile hadn’t left her face since I arrived. She was on her third consecutive dance with the blonde guy. He still hadn’t shut up, and I caught her stifling a yawn a few times. But she still looked deliriously happy and relaxed.

The blonde next to me kept rubbing herself all over me, though I didn’t give her any indication I was interested. It was how it usually worked. You showed them no interest, they ran harder after you.

Except Amore. She refused to run after anyone. Even my brother. I didn’t understand their dynamic, but it seemed to work for them. She even played his girlfriend when an overly obsessive girl he fucked wouldn’t get the picture that she had been dumped.

My eyes went back to the kid I found crying three years ago in front of our restaurant. She had come a long way. My lip twitched at her complaint earlier. I had a sense that for a while now she hated when I called her kiddo. She might not have been a kiddo anymore, but she was a girl, still too young to be a woman.

Though dressed as she was now, she could easily fool these boys into thinking she was of age. She looked beautiful in her blue skater dress with the back cut in a V shape. There was no way to overlook her with her long, wild red hair and her radiant smile. Over the last few years, she had matured a lot, but her emotions were an open book to me. I thought they were clear as day for anyone with two eyes, though sometimes Adriano seemed oblivious to it.

“Do you want to go somewhere quieter?” The blonde next to me purred.

With one last look at Amore's way, I turned my attention to the blonde next to me. She told me her name, but I didn’t retain it. All I knew was that she was twenty-two, flunked two college years, and her father worked at the FBI. I didn’t give a fuck what her name was anyhow. I’d never see her again.

“No, I don’t.” I removed her hand off my arm. For a moment, shock stunned her face. It couldn’t possibly be the first time she experienced rejection.