Page 70 of Mafia and Protector
JESSICA
Rafael’s words make me blush.
I couldn’t reach the zipper, so I held the front of the dress against my bust and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rafael move and held my breath as he stepped up behind me, meeting my eyes in the mirror as he towered above me.
Slowly, he moved my dark hair to one side, before bending his head and kissing the nape of my neck, sending a visible shiver through me.
He pulled the zipper all the way up my back and then pressed his lips again to my neck in a more lingering kiss.
He stepped back and looked at me in approval.
I looked at my reflection and my breath caught. I moved my hands over the silk fabric.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
Somehow, the color of the dress made my skin look brighter and my chestnut hair more lustrous. “Yes, I love it,” I breathed. I looked so different from the sallow-skinned girl I’d been a few minutes ago while dressed in the black frock.
“I like this color on you. You look beautiful.”
“No, I don’t. It’s the dress, it would make anyone look amazing—”
“Say ‘thank you’, Jessica,” he said, interrupting my self-conscious rambling. His voice was commanding, and I felt my core tighten at his authoritative tone.
“Thank you,” I said in a breathy voice as he looked at me in a way that made my entire body heat.
I found it hard to believe that Rafael thought me beautiful, especially after I had always been told while growing up that I was plain.
Somehow, wearing this dress in my favorite color and seeing how Rafael looked at me made me feel attractive for the first time in my life.
He held out his hand to me when I was ready and led me down to his car.
I wobbled slightly in my high heels, but Rafael tightened his grip around my hand and steadied me, and I found myself squeezing his hand in return. I liked his hand around mine—I liked it when he made me feel safe.
CHAPTER 22
JESSICA
I sat quietly as we drove to the hotel where the evening function was being held. My nerves prevented me from making small talk with Rafael.
This was the first Società event I was attending as Rafael’s wife. And since Emanuel’s death, I was no longer just the new Santino wife—I was now also the Consigliere’s wife. Rafael was now the second most important man in the Società, and that would further increase tonight’s interest in me.
As soon as we stepped into the hotel ballroom, I could sense the immediate interest in our arrival.
Very quickly, various Underbosses came up to greet Rafael and engage him in business talk. At the same time, their wives came to kiss my cheek and ask subtle and not-so-subtle questions about how I was finding married life.
I wasn’t used to drawing so much attention and I wasn’t sure I would ever like it, but I knew it was probably something I would have to get used to as part of my new role as Rafael’s wife.
The most surprising thing was that despite my outfit being more conspicuous than the black dress I had originally put on, the lilac dress actually made me feel a little surer of myself somehow. Perhaps if I looked the part, people wouldn’t realize that I was, in fact, a great fraud who had lost her innocence before her wedding day.
After a while, having endured the endless chatter and questions from various other wives, I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. Then I felt a touch at my elbow.
I looked around and found myself staring into a striking blue gaze.
“Excuse us, ladies. I’d like to dance with my sister,” drawled Jacob.
Of course, none of the women objected. He already carried clear authority in whatever he did, as befitting a future Underboss of the Società.