Mafia Heir

Chapter 43

Charlotte

"And this idiota lit the entire thing on fire!" Pablo finished his story to a round of thunderous laughter at the table.

Luca and I sat with a group of his associates who were all in town for the opening. Esme and Pablo Salinas were just the beginning. Nick Caponelli and his wife were part of another Cosa Nostra group that worked out of New York, Garrett Molanari and his wife who ran a syndicate out of LA,. The Avenetti brothers were also here from New York, and George Petrov and his wife were here all the way from St. Petersburg. In all my life, I had never been around such powerful and terrifying people and it was exhilarating.

"Well, I was young and stupid. What can I say?" Luca chuckled, reaching underneath the table and resting his hand on my thigh.

"You may have been young, but you've never been stupid." Nick snickered.

"I'm not so sure about that." Angelo rolled his eyes. "I've got some stories I could tell..."

"Which you won't, if you know what's good for you." Luca smirked, and then shot me a wink.

I was mesmerized by him. Luca was dominant and in control in every aspect of his life, but seeing him in his element was entirely different. The way he commanded the attention and adoration of everyone in the room was incredible. It was like without even trying he had everyone hanging on his every word. Every woman wishing they were going home with him. Every man wishing they could be him. He was the star of the show, and he couldn't care less. As cool and collected and poised as ever before. It was like nothing phased him. 

Even with all the attention and all the curiosity on him, he couldn't take his eyes off of me.And somehow, even in this room full of beautiful and important people, I wasn't the least bit self conscious. I felt on top of the world when he looked at me that way. Possessive. Insatiable. Like I was the only one in the room.

A few of the other men got up to go smoke cigars on the deck. 

"You can go with them, if you want. I promise I'll sit here by myself and not speak to anyone." I teased. 

"You're hilarious." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my cheek. "I'm exactly where I want to be."

Esme stood up and headed to the bar, and blew us both a kiss as she walked by. 

"She looks at you like she's slept with you." I laughed, stroking Luca's forearm with my fingertips. 

Luca let out a sharp laugh. "You can tell that from a look?"

"I'm perceptive, remember?" 

"Yes, you are." He smirked, and then leaned in close so I was the only one who could hear. "Once. Before she and Pablo." 

I arched my eyebrow at him in surprise. 

"Don't look at me like that." He shook his head, chuckling. "She used to work as a waitress in a bar I came to when I was down here." 

"I'm not judging you." I insisted, holding my hands up in defense. "She's a beautiful woman. In fact, I'd consider sleeping with her, too." 

The look on Luca's face was priceless. His eyes widened as he tried to figure out if I was serious or not. "You... uh..."

"I think this is the first time I've ever seen you speechless." 

Luca ran his fingers through his hair, clearly flustered. It wasn't lost on me that I had the power to  disarm him this way, when he was the pillar of composure all evening with his partners. 

"You want to get out of here?" He asked, reaching for his suit coat. 

"Really?" I frowned. "We haven't even had dinner yet."