beefy man at the bar before the two of them promptly left.
"So, that's Clarissa," Frankie said to me, tossing a healthy measure of whiskey down his throat. "Total bitch if you hadn't noticed."
"I noticed," I said and everybody laughed, the tension shattering in the air and we'd soon long forgotten about her as we fell into idle talk.
I ate my way through three platefuls of food, trying bits of everything and enjoying the explosion of flavours in my mouth. None of the Romeros cared when I used my hands on occasion, even when the waitresses and some of the clientele gave me wide-eyed looks. They were so much fun to be around that the time flew by, all of us laughing at tales of the three boys getting up to mischief together as kids. Nicoli even chipped in with a few stories about him and Sloan winding up the kitchen staff which had everyone in stitches.
I found myself aching to have something to contribute, jealous of their pasts, their families. I had so few good memories to offer and all of them involved Nicoli, and most of them were either wildly inappropriate or totally violent. So I just listened, soaking it all in and loving that I was a part of it all even in some small way.
After another couple of drinks, I was almost sitting in Nicoli's lap with how close we'd gravitated towards each other. My hand rested on his thigh and his arm squeezed my shoulders as he kept me near. Every now and then he'd turn and place a kiss to my temple or my hair and I felt so adored that it made every inch of me tingle.
I ran my hand a little further up his thigh and he cleared his throat, glancing down at me as everyone else looked at Enzo who was up on his feet, acting out the time he'd strung up a guy by his ankles and danced for him to the tune of Wannabe by the Spice Girls in his own special form of torture.
Nicoli's eyes were as dark as two stormy seas and the world faded as I looked up at him under my lashes and inched my hand even higher up his leg.
"Baby doll," he growled a warning.
"Nicoli?" I arched a brow, sliding my hand even higher until my little finger grazed the bulge in his pants.
"Time to go home?" he asked, a note of hope in his voice.
"Hmm, but I'm having so much fun." I leaned in, kissing his cheek and getting to my feet.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"The restroom," I laughed, tossing my napkin at him and he smirked, watching me go and I let my hips sway as I felt his eyes dropping to my ass.
I ignored the stares I got as I crossed the room, the buzz of alcohol in my veins and the happiness in my heart making me zone the world out. I used the facilities at the bottom of the huge staircase and when I exited, I was tempted up the stairs, wanting to see the jungle on the first floor. I headed up the glass steps to the waterfall at the top of it, rushing down the glass to a pool down below. This place was a man-made jungle and it got my pulse rising. I'd never been anywhere like it.
I pushed through a frosted door and a wave of humidity hit me as I stepped onto the balcony, finding myself in a maze of trees and exotic plants. Flowers bloomed from waxy stems and bird music was fed into the place, making it seem so real. Like walking into a dream.
I followed a winding path into the forest as heated droplets of water collected on my skin. I reached up to pull my hair free from the tight chignon it was tied in and kicked off my heels, abandoning them on the path, wanting to let loose. There was no one up here, but as I rounded through a stone archway covered in vines, I arrived at the edge of the balcony, the huge glass box I was in overhanging the restaurant below.
My eyes found Nicoli magnetically where he sat by the far window with his family. He kept glancing towards the restrooms, not really listening as they all laughed and joked together. I could see his anxiety in the crease of his brow even from here and I shook my head at my mountain man. He would