Chapter 37
Thirty-Seven
REGINA
All I want for Christmas is Nico, apparently, because the more time I spend with him, the more this doesn’t feel as if we are playing anymore.
I’m shocked how quickly this has moved on, and am in danger of developing serious feelings for the man, and unsure what to do about that.
Is this all pretense? Are we engaged for real or, when the New Year dawns and he is off the hook with his family, will he ditch me as fast as he picked me off the red carpet?
It shouldn’t bother me—but it does. It’s not even the serious wealth that he has. It’s him. No man has ever treated me like a queen before, and it’s seriously addictive. Then there’s the mind-blowing sex that reminds me I’m now a super-hussy. Since when did I allow my standards to slip so quickly?
Since I met him.
I’m so far inside my own head that when a husky whisper disturbs my pondering, I almost jump out of my skin.
“Can we talk?”
I blink as Desiree’s pinched face hovers into view and my heart sinks.
Sophia is chatting to Katrina as they drift into the library for eggnog, and as I really can’t stand the stuff, it’s a toss-up between the two evils.
“Of course.” I fix a false smile on my face, and she doesn’t even attempt to pretend. It’s obvious she hates me already for no other reason than I’m apparently engaged to the man she considered was hers.
“We can talk in here.”
She points to the music room, and as we slip inside, she closes the door behind her, causing my heart to thump at the malice on her face.
“Why are you here?”
She doesn’t make polite conversation, and I match her energy with a shrug.
“Nico invited me.”
“My fiancé.” She snaps, causing me to sigh inwardly.
“Perhaps you should tell him that and not me.”
I wander over to the piano, remembering how beautifully Sophia played it, and wish like crazy this woman hadn’t arrived to burst my bubble.
“Do you really think you can handle Nico?”
Desiree’s acid voice cuts through the serene air in the room, and I turn, facing her with bravado that really isn’t what I’m experiencing inside.
“Of course.” I raise my eyes. “He’s a sweetheart.”
Her eyes almost disappear into her hairline.
“If you believe that, then you’re more delusional than I imagined.”
“Delusional?”
“Yes. I mean, you’ve known him for about five minutes, and I’m guessing that’s because this is a fake arrangement.”
My nerves tingle, and I battle hard to keep my cool.
She knows!
“I can assure you it’s not.”
I wait to be struck down by God for lying on Christmas Eve, the holy celebration of his son’s birth, but luckily I am spared for now.
“It’s a little convenient though, isn’t it? I saw the photographs online from the gala. You were strangers then.”
“Pictures! Where?”
I’m surprised, and she rolls her eyes. “The internet, stupid. Nico can’t breathe without it being photographed and put out for everyone to analyze how the devil can breathe like a mere mortal.”
“The devil?” I laugh out loud. “It’s obvious you’re mistaking him for somebody else. I mean, devils don’t raise millions for charity in one evening, and quite frankly, I have never met such a gentleman in my life.”
Desiree laughs out loud, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“What?”
I’m increasingly nervous as she advances toward me, and I’m guessing she could do serious damage with her disastrous nails that are sharpened to points like the blades of several knives.
I’m struck by the resemblance to Edward Scissorhands and stem my nervous laughter as she reaches me and sneers, “Tell me, what do you think Nico does for a living?”
“That’s easy; he’s CEO of Viper Holdings. They buy and sell businesses and make them more profitable.” I resist adding ‘duh,’ at the end because I doubt she would appreciate that.
She rolls her eyes as if I’m the stupidest person alive and waves her hand around the room.
“And all of this, wealth. Where do you think this all came from?”
“The profits, of course.” I shrug. “I mean, Giovanni set the company up, and his sons work in all aspects of that. It’s an international operation, and they are very good at what they do. You’ve got to admire them, really. They are excellent at it.”
“Are you really this stupid?”
Desiree’s scorn cuts the flow dead, and I bristle with anger as I hiss, “Now listen, I sense your anger and disappointment, and I kind of get it. I’m sorry and everything.
It must have come as quite a blow when you rocked up here and found the guy you fancy with somebody else, but well, I can’t help that, so maybe you should talk to Nico about it. I fail to see what I can do.”
“Walk away.”
Her voice drips acid as she sneers, “While you still can.”
“Are you threatening me?”
My eyes are wide as she steps a little closer, her posture threatening and her expression fierce.
“I don’t need to threaten you; any association with this family immediately places a target on your back, and it won’t be long before somebody does it for me.”
“They have security. Nico told me they take their safety very seriously, which reminds me how jealous some people are.”
I glare pointedly at her, deciding I no longer wish to pretend that I like her. I don’t, and if anything, I have had enough of her company to last me a lifetime.
Rather than speak, she laughs, and I shiver inside. It’s low, menacing and devoid of any emotion—the laugh of the devil.
“Do you think I’m jealous of you?” She stills, her eyes flashing as she delivers her words on an edge of steel.
“When I was growing up, it was with the understanding that my duty to my family was through marriage. It was drummed into me along with my earliest memories. The man had already been chosen for me; it was an agreement signed in blood. Nicholas Ravera was – is that man because when we marry two dynasties merge.”
I attempt to speak, to excuse myself, to get away as far from her as possible, but if anything, she is holding me spellbound in a trance as she hisses, “That business is mafia business. Our families are mafia, Regina. They always have been and always will be, and the wealth you are experiencing right now was paid for with broken bones, blood, tears and shattered souls and yours is about to join them.”
I have no words and no witty reply because one word is spiraling through my mind like a banshee screaming in agony. The guards, the protection, the awe and what I considered respect on the faces of the onlookers, plays like a video in my mind as the realization crashes through my brain.
Giovanni, Nico’s brothers, his mother’s sad expression, the emptiness of the house along with the threat that lingers over every word they speak. Mafia. What the actual fucking weird shit is going on right now?
Desiree leans forward, and her words are sinister and reeking of bad promises. “You just accepted an invitation to Christmas with the mafia, honey, so be careful what you wish for because this ain’t no fairy tale, it’s a fucking horror story.”