Chapter 23
Lily
“So, I hear you were one of the last people to see my husband alive.” The statement from the beautiful woman sitting next to me catches me off guard, and I splutter on the sip of champagne I have just taken. Without looking at me, Dominico hands me a napkin while gently stroking my back.
“Amelia,” Dominico warns, his gaze still averted as he continues his conversation with Massimo Bianchi, the head of one of the Three Families.
Amelia Anna Esposito, the wife of the late Lorenzo Luigi Esposito, must be close to fifty years old. Yet, thanks to plastic surgery and fillers, she looks my age. It was a strange match, but then again, Dominico was thirty-nine years old, ten years older than I.
She swats her hand in his direction and smiles, sipping her wine before leaning close to me.
“You know he was like twenty years older than me and fucking other men? So when his body was found in the lake, I was the happiest I have been in years. No more pretending.”
Amelia beams and winks at me before forking some salad and taking a bite.
“How long were you married to him?” I ask, popping an olive into my mouth.
There is so much food and drink, excessive and extravagant.
Only the best. Yet, I am so nervous my appetite is almost gone.
Being in this room with all these clearly powerful people is intimidating.
The only thing stopping me from escaping this situation is the reassuring caress Dominico gives me every now and then, reminding me that I am by his side and imbuing me with some of his strength and power.
“My father gave me to him when I was eighteen, so quite a while.” I can’t stop my jaw from dropping at her words.
“He gave you to him? Like, an object?” She laughs at the shock in my voice, her eyebrows dipping as if I am the one saying something bizarre.
“How sweet and na?ve you are. That’s how it works in the mafia world.
” Her blasé answer makes me realize how little I know.
Perhaps that is how it should remain. The more I know, the more dangerous it becomes for me.
Even just being here at this gathering is probably not a good idea.
Now, everyone would know where Lily Valentine was.
Not that they didn’t already. Senator John Underwood would have confirmed it.
The hairs on my neck rise at the thought, and I shake it off, not wanting to give the wolves in this den any sign of weakness.
Everyone here was looking at me like the outsider I am.
It was nerve-wracking. Not just the power that coated their auras, but the immense wealth reflected in every watch, outfit, and piece of jewelry.
The women looked magnificent, while the men appeared vicious and powerful in their suits.
The potent energy in this room was suffocating.
Yet still, none matched the man beside me.
While I had been in rooms with influential people before, this experience was different.
“Yeah, I suppose I don’t know anything about this.” I take another sip of champagne and nearly choke, spluttering when Dominico puts his hand on my leg under the table, squeezing it reassuringly.
“Damn girl, you okay there? Though I must say, I would probably also be choking on my drink if I had a man like yours feeling me up.” Dominico throws her a glance, but she seems unfazed, smiling at him angelically before taking another sip of her wine.
“So, let's get you up to speed then.” She claps her hands together and pushes her chair back, extending her hand for me to take.
Damn, she is gorgeous. Slim, busty, tall, and naturally beautiful even with all the work she has had done, possessing a classical bone structure, as if she belongs in a 1980s pinup magazine.
I glance at Dominico, who looks at Amelia expectantly.
“I’m just taking her for a walk,” she says, like I am a dog. “I will look after her.”
When he remains silent, I take his hand and squeeze it.
“It will be fine. If I’m here, I should be making friends, right?
” His grey eyes hold mine for a minute, and then his hand cups my neck, pulling me closer to him before capturing my lips in a possessive kiss.
He tastes like whiskey, and his kiss makes me feel drunk and giddy, leaving me breathless when it ends.
I blush, sensing multiple pairs of eyes on me.
“Have fun.” His voice is gravelly and oh-so sexy.
When I look at Amelia, she is fanning her face.
“Wow, that was hot. Now, come on, let's get this party started.”
Once we are up, we move around the room slowly as she points out various people, sharing some history with me. Curious glances are cast our way, but no one approaches us.
“So, the mafia is made up of the Three Families. The Sante family, obviously, with the head of the mafia, the Don, Dominico, his capo, Dante, and his underboss, Nero. Then, you get the Esposito family, run by Luca and Lorenzo Esposito. Well, now, only Luca. He is married to Isabelle.” She points to another beautiful goddess standing nearby.
“Don’t be fooled by her innocent looks. She is a viper. Actually, we all are. Watch your back, and don’t trust anyone.” She laughs, but it doesn’t reach her eyes; the truth in her words is clear. This is the mob, after all.
“The third family is the Bianchi family.” She points to the good-looking man Dominico is talking to.
“Unfortunately, married to Ginevra, the actual sweetest woman around. A fine fucking man if ever there was one. But not as fine as your man,” she jokes, nudging my arm playfully.
“He is not my man.” I look up at Dominico now across the room, and as if he knows we are talking about him, his eyes are already on me.
I blush as his gaze sweeps over my figure, lingering on the slit of my dress.
I shiver, and he smirks, the raised eyebrow almost a challenge.
I shift on my feet so that the slit opens wider, revealing more of my leg, before flipping my hair over my shoulder and smiling.
His eyes narrow, and his hand rises, cupping his chin as his thumb glides over his lips.
The action is far too erotic, and I look away when I feel my core tighten with excitement, imagining those lips on me.
Licking. Sucking. A blush creeps up my neck and flames my cheeks.
“Sure.” She drags the word out, rolling her eyes as she does.
“Dominico never kisses anyone. Ever. Not in public. I don’t know about privately, but I doubt even then.
I also heard he sent all the men out when you interrupted their meeting the other day.
The last woman who did that was a woman named Veronica.
She was dragged from the mansion, never to be seen again. ”
Geezus, my stomach turns at the thought of how close I came to potentially being killed. Amelia must see the blood that had quickly crept up my neck and cheeks drain from my face as she starts laughing.
“My god, girl, you must toughen up to be in this world. She wasn’t actually killed. She was sent back to her family in Italy. An exile of sorts. For a mafia princess, that is worse than death.”
She takes two glasses of wine from the passing server and hands me one.
I take a sip and notice a group of women standing nearby, one of whom is looking at me with pure hatred.
While looks of dislike have been usual tonight, this is the first time it has been so openly displayed and with an intensity that feels personal.
She says something to the others, who turn to look at me. None of them look pleased to see me.
“Who is that?” I ask, not even bothering to be subtle as I gesture toward the group.
“Ahhh, I wondered how she would take this...relationship between you and the Don. That is Dominico’s first love.
” Thankfully, I don’t have any wine in my mouth; otherwise, I would have choked on it.
Jealousy flares, igniting like a bonfire as my hand tightens into a fist, my nails digging painfully into my palm.
I look at Amelia, waiting for more, needing to know more.
Dominico doesn’t seem like a man who loves easily.
Was it because of this woman? What was it about her that he loved?
How long were they together? Was he still in love with her?
All unvoiced questions as my mouth clamps shut, my teeth grinding together.
“That is Elena Bianchi, Massimo’s sister.
They all grew up together. Joined at the hip.
Dominico and she were a couple for a long time, on track to be married, but something happened, something no one knows about besides the three of them.
Elena wanted the relationship to continue, but whatever it was, it must have been too much for Dominico.
Many speculate she cheated on him. But who would cheat on a man like that?
” Amelia asks, her eyes darting over to Dominico.
“The way Elena looks at me clearly indicates she still has feelings for him,” I mutter, staring at the gorgeous woman who stares right back.
She is bleach blonde, has blue eyes, and a curvy figure, though it seems she may have had work done—breast implants, fillers.
She embodies perfection, the kind one would expect to see hanging from the arm of a powerful man like Dominico.
A red-hot rod of fiery jealousy shoots through me.
Perhaps she sees it on my face as she stops talking, and then she and her trio saunter over, the sway of her hips almost exaggerated to draw attention.
“Amelia darling,” she greets haughtily, pasting a smile on her face as she leans in and air kisses Amelia's cheeks before her gaze drifts over to me.
“And who is it we have here?” Her voice is sweet, but her eyes scrutinize my form, and she frowns as if what she sees is unpleasant.
“Like you don’t know. Anyway, this is Lily Valentine. Lily, this is Elena Bitchy, I mean Elena Bianchi.” Elena rolls her eyes at Amelia's obvious jab, not even bothering to respond.
“Valentine? I don’t know the name. You must not be from one of the Three Families then.” Obviously. Everyone here knows it, including her, but she is saying it out loud as a reminder of how I don’t belong.
“No.” I smile sweetly, not giving her the benefit of seeing how much her words bother me.
“I wonder then why you are here? How did you worm your way into a world so exclusive that people would kill, have killed, to get into it? You don’t look like you can kill anything except maybe yourself.
Or maybe you failed at that, too.” She laughs, pointing to the large scar on my arm while her hand covers her mouth coyly .
“Stop being a bitch, Elena. You know she is with Dominico, right?” Amelia says quietly, looking from me to Elena and then around us. Some people have started to eavesdrop on this interaction.
“For now. It’s only a matter of time until he gets tired of you. Like he did with Veronica. Like he did with Lucille. Like he did with so many others before you,” she says smugly, the dip of her eyebrows feigning sympathy.
“Like he did with you.” My words wipe the expression from her face and replace it with anger. I don’t know where my boldness comes from. I can only imagine that jealousy is making me brave.
“I will always be here while you and others like you come and go. When the time is right, he will come back to me. You do not belong here. The sooner you realize that, the better it will be for you.”
Her words sting, but I remember what Dominico said before we entered the hall.
“Well, I may not belong here, but I am here. Living in his house. Sleeping in his bed. And it's my legs he is kneeling between, not yours. For someone who deems themselves to be so important to him, he has not even mentioned you. Perhaps he didn’t have time while he was eating me out.”
Elena's face turns red with rage, and before I realize what is happening, the sound of the slap echoes around the room, followed by the stinging sensation, as my glass cracks and shatters on the ground.
I start laughing.
“Really. That’s the best you’ve got? A slap in the face is child's play compared to what I have endured.”
My reaction shocks and infuriates her, and she raises her hand to hit me again, my eyes closing in preparation. But it never comes.
Instead, a loud crack of a bone followed by a scream echoes around the room .
Then I feel him beside me, the whisper of his finger against my cheek makes my eyes flutter open.
Dominico.