What the hell does that mean?
What girls need to see him? My blood begins to boil. That fucking bitch, demanding he go to Sicily with her so she can try and get her hooks back into him. And who are the girls?
How many of them has he fucked?
I get a vision of him in the luxurious brothels, and the beautiful girls all lining up to try and get picked to have sex with him.
What a prize he would be among them all. Enrico Ferrara a badge of honor. Is that what Sophia was? His favorite girl? That one he always took home because she was just so good in bed?
How many times did they fuck? How many times did she please my man?
Because I know for sure that he would have pleased her.
An ugly vision of her on her knees, sucking his dick comes to me, and I pick up the wine bottle to pour another glass so fast that it sloshes over the side. I sip it with a shaky hand.
Anger pumps through my blood.
Stop it. Stop being a hormonal bitch.
I know what I’m doing. I can feel myself being moody and insecure. I know I need to turn it off. I inhale deeply as I try to not think about it. Bringing that shit up when I’m feeling this crazy will never end well.
Right now, I feel like taking his phone and flushing it down the toilet so Sophia can never call or message him again.
I breathe deeply to try and regain some composure. After a few moments, Rico comes back into the room wearing black jeans and a black button-up shirt.
“You ready?” he asks.
“Uh-huh.” I snatch my handbag from the counter. I should really tell him he got a message from Sophia, but I can’t push the words past my lips.
He takes my hand in his and we leave the apartment. We stand in the elevator and he stares straight ahead. He seems off tonight, too. Cold and detached.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Yes.” He glances down at me. “Why?”
I widen my eyes. “No reason.”
We ride the elevator in silence, and then walk out into the underground parking lot.
I glance up to see Sergio’s hungry eyes drop down the length of my body. I can almost feel him mentally undressing me. The hairs on the back of my neck rise in disgust. I want to tell him off for being so disrespectful to both Enrico and me, but now is not the time. For some unknown reason, my man is angry today.
The car pulls up and Maso is in the driver’s seat, with Marley in the passenger side. Enrico opens my door in a rush, obviously impatient.
I slink into the backseat, and he slams the door shut. He storms around to his side.
It seems everyone’s hormonal tonight.
* * *
Two hours later, we’re sitting at the table. The bar is bustling. Chilled dance music is being piped throughout the speakers, and the mood is loud, filled with laughter and chatter. Enrico is talking to Giorgio, and I to Natalie at the other end of the table. Giorgio’s boyfriend is away for business, so it’s just the four of us.
Giorgio is talking non-stop. Enrico is listening to him but he is quiet and pensive. Every now and then our eyes meet across the table and a trace of a smile crosses his lips.
A warm glow heats my blood every time he lights up. I’ll never get sick of the way he looks at me.
I glance over and see Jennifer at the bar.
“Oh, look. It’s my friend from the gym, Jennifer.” I smile. Jen sees me at the same time and we wave. “Come and meet her. She’s so nice. She’s new here, like us.”
“Okay,” Nat replies.
I look over to Enrico and point toward the bar. “Just going to see my friend.”
He looks to where I pointed and then frowns. His gaze comes back to me in question.
“Jennifer from the gym,” I say.
He nods, and then goes back to his one-sided conversation with Giorgio who is now discussing politics in great detail.
I lead Natalie to the bar.
“Hi.” I smile at Jennifer.
“Hello.” She laughs and kisses me on both cheeks. “What are you doing here?”
“Drinking.” I gesture to Natalie. “This is my friend Natalie; the Aussie girl I told you about at the gym.”
“Oh, hi.” Natalie smiles and shakes her hand. “You’re the one who’s looking for a job?”
“And failing spectacularly.”
We all laugh.
“This is my partner, Diego.” She introduces us to her boyfriend, and we shake his hand, too. He’s tall and muscular. Good looking, too, actually. “Are you guys here alone?” she asks.
“No, we have my boyfriend and a friend with us,” I tell her.
“Oh, which one is your boyfriend?”
I point to the table, and Enrico looks up at the same time. “That’s him in the black shirt.” I give him a wave, and he gives us a sexy smile in return.
Jenn smiles and widens her eyes, as if impressed.
“I know, right?” Natalie giggles.
I curl my finger at him, but he ignores me and stays put. Five minutes later, he glances over and I wave him again. Finally, he gets up and comes over.
“Enrico, this is my friend from the gym, Jennifer, and this is her boyfriend Diego,” I introduce them.
“Hello.” He shakes their hands and gives me the sideways look. I can read his mind as clear as day. He doesn’t want to talk to these people.
“Nice to meet you.” Diego smiles. “Can I get you a drink?”
“No, thank you,” he replies politely.
I widen my eyes at him. Don’t be rude.
He fakes a smile, and then his eyes go back to Diego. “Okay, just one.” He calls Giorgio over, and I can feel his discomfort at being made to talk to strangers. I smile to myself, knowing he waved Giorgio over so that it will save him having to talk.
Giorgio is in all his glory when the center of attention. He loves to talk. I think he could do it underwater.
They make idle chitchat. Enrico puts his arm around me while I talk to Jennifer and Natalie.
Look at us, being all normal and shit.
Enrico chucks his chin toward the door asking if we can go, and I give him a subtle shake of my head before I carry on talking to the girls.
“Let’s go and sit down,” Giorgio says with on over exaggerated eye roll. “My feet are killing me.”
Enrico exhales and I inwardly smile. He really hates this socializing business. It’s kind of fun watching him squirm.
“Yes, okay,” Diego replies. “I could do with a seat, too.”
They walk back over to the table and Enrico puts his arm around me.
“We are leaving in half an hour,” he whispers in my ear.
“Yes, dear,” I tease as he kisses my temple.
He ambles over to the table with the boys. I watch him sit down, and I smile as he joins the conversation. Giorgio is talking and I don’t think anyone can get a word in.
I don’t want to go home yet. He can talk to my friends for once. It won’t kill him to be friendly to someone outside of Ferrara. In fact, it might do him some good. He needs to realize that there are plenty of nice people in the world if he just gave them a chance.
We talk for another ten minutes, and then I feel an arm slip around my waist from behind. I lean back against him. I knew it wouldn’t be long until he came back. “Hello, Olly,” a strange voice purrs.
I spin around and the blood drains from my face.
Franco.
My Tinder date from hell.
“You look happy to see me,” he slurs as he reaches for me again. He’s visibly drunk, and he stumbles to the side, off balance.
Natalie must see the sheer terror on my face. “Go away, please,” she says.
Jennifer winces at the smell of his breath when he laughs out loud.
He puts his hand around my waist and slams my body up against his.
I push him away. “Stop it.”
I step back and out of his reach but he leans for me again.
I feel him before I see him. A large arm reaches past me and grabs Franco around the throat. “We meet again,” Enrico’s deep voice growls.
Franco instantly gags at the chokehold around his neck. His feet are now dangling off the floor.
“R-Rici,” I stammer. “Just leave it. Let’s go.”
Franco struggles free. “I should have knocked you out last time, prick.” Franco throws a punch and misses spectacularly as we all dive out of the way.
Enrico grabs him by the throat, once more. “I told you. Go near her again, and I’ll kill you.”
Natalie and Jennifer’s eyes widen in horror as they watch on. Oh hell, this is appalling.
I glance over and see Maso and Marley standing to attention.
“Enrico,” I whisper angrily. “Leave him. He’s drunk, let’s go.”
“Oh, I’m so scared,” Franco goads him. “I’ll show Olly what a real man can do.” He grabs his crotch for added affect. “She’s going to fucking love it.”