Page 4 of Flowers and Moonlight
Either way, she’s trying her luck with the wrong men. The younger Guidice men would never tie themselves to a woman like Samantha and that has little to do with the man her father is.The woman is insufferable and annoying. I’m sure someone will, eventually, snap her up. I pray for that man’s sanity.
When I get to Dante I give him a nod and then smile at his wife on his arm who is looking damn proud of herself. As she should. “I’ve never seen the Guidice Ball looking so lovely and elegant,” I compliment Jasmine.
“Tony,” Jasmine smiles at me, “charming as ever.”
I wink at her and grin. If I were any other man Dante would already have my head, but he knows where my loyalty lies—at his feet. I would lay my life down for the family. They accepted me with open arms when I had nothing else.
My father worked for his but was low-level. When he was killed while working for the family, I was taken in and treated like a son even though I didn’t need to be. I could have been cut loose, but they appreciated my father’s loyalty. My mother had left him when I was just a toddler, unable to handle the life of being married to someone who pledged their life to a crime family.
If it weren’t for Angelo, I don’t know where I would be.
“What were my brothers looking so serious about?”
“You know it’s hard for Leo to stop himself from working,” I admit. “They were talking a little bit about business with the Saints and their concern about the Falsini Triplets sniffing around.”
Dante nods, his eyes turning hard. “If Mateo, Marco, and Massimo know what is good for them, they’ll take the deal they made with Orlov as a win and not try to poach our connection with the Saints,” there’s murder in his tone.
His hatred for the Falsini family runs deep. They were a thorn in Angelo’s side, one he had to deal with more than once. Unfortunately, they are also an asset and neither Angelo nor Dante has been able to rid the world of the family completely. It goes back to knowing your enemy and keeping them close. However, if they step too far out of line, Dante will have no issue with killing them all.
I glance back over to where Fleur and Viola are laughing and know our relationship with the Devil’s Saints is strong. I give my boss and best friend a curt nod. “I reminded them that this is a party and the effort Jasmine put in to make it spectacular.”
Dante makes a humming sound as Jasmine exclaims, “Oh, that’s a gorgeous dress she has on.”
I turn toward the entrance of the ball to find a woman with brown hair flowing down her back in loose curls that I want to run my fingers through. The dress she has on is gorgeous—it hugs her curves in a way which has my palms itching to do the same. It’s navy blue and decorated with sparkles that make it look like moonlight is pouring over her body.
Most of the people attending tonight are wearing masks, but they don’t hide much because they want to be seen and show they were important enough to get an invite. Not my mystery woman. The mask she has on covers most of her face where only her eyes and lips are visible.
My spine straightens and it feels like I can’t catch my breath when her eyes meet mine. They’re the color of whiskey and I want to get lost on drunken waves in them. She holds herself with a quiet confidence that I can't tear my eyes away from. When she looks away first, her eyes snagging on someone else in the crowd, I don’t bother looking at who it is.
It doesn’t matter because this woman is mine.
When she stiffens and makes her way deeper into the throng of party goers, I barely stop myself from racing to her side. There’s a change in her body language I don’t like, and it sends me on high alert, as if there is a threat I need to take down. It makes me want to deliver the head of her enemies on a platter.
The only people I have ever been so inclined to have such thoughts for are the family. Never a woman. Never.
Jasmine touches my arm and I almost jump out of my skin as I strain to follow the mystery woman’s movements. “Do you know her?”
“Not yet, but I will.”
“Seems you aren’t the only one interested.” My eyes snap to Jasmine’s at her words and she nods toward Viola and Fleur. When I look over, I notice Zeno is watching my woman with a hunger in his eyes that reflects the feeling overtaking my entire body.
I should feel jealousy, but, instead, I feel a sense of peace. It doesn’t make any fucking sense, but I’m going to get to the bottom of it. I don’t look at my best friend and his wife before stalking through the crowd toward my future. I have a feeling, if I take my eyes off her again, she’ll disappear and take my soul with her.
CHAPTER 3
ZENO
I’m not going to lie, I’ve been looking for an excuse to dress up, it’s one of the reasons I’ve been looking forward to tonight. I don’t get the chance to be more than casual often. I guess if I had a date I could, but all the women I’ve come across for the last year have been vapid and boring.
I want more. I need more.
Once I became an enforcer for the Guidice family, proving to them where my loyalties lie, I noticed women were interested in me but it wasn’t for me. They wanted the prestige of being associated with the most powerful crime family in New Orleans.
They would completely ignore the fact that my job, and my life, is dangerous. All for the thrill of it.
I don’t want that kind of woman, or drama, in my life. I need someone I can go home to at the end of the day and find peace with. Someone who chases away the demons I spend my day with.
“We should go back soon, Vi,” Fleur Whelan prompts her best friend, Viola Guidice.