Chapter 2

Arianna POV: 

“So you two are brothers?” I turned and asked Marco not trusting the man beside me not to turn this into some form of foreplay. 

“Cousins,” Marco corrected me it made sense they were much farther apart in their coloring than me and my sister to be siblings. Marcos's blonde hair screamed Nordic not Italian. 

“But we’re as close as brothers,” Gio slapped his cousin on the back. “We’d do whatever the other asked,” 

I saw for a split second some agreement linger between the two but vanish as soon as it had appeared. 

“Can you believe this baby face is actually twenty-five he looks twelve,” Giovanni smacked Marcos's cheek. 

“No he doesn’t but it makes him fit with Guilia,” I raised my glass in my sister's direction and she pulled off the perfect blushing bride look. 

“Gio is actually a year older than you,” Guilia raised her eyebrows at me and sipped her champagne. 

I squinted at my sister now realizing her evil plot to see me and Gio get together. It was a little too cliche for me and while he was as handsome as they come I didn’t trust him, he was far to pleased with me to give any woman real intent. 

“Oh!” My sister pulled her fiancé away as she was flagged down by another pack of her friends and they started squealing about her engagement. 

“You don’t seem too pleased about their engagement,” he commented and my ire spiked again. 

“I’m happy for my sister and your cousin,” I knew it wasn’t entirely true but I also knew what he was about to insinuate. 

“It must be hard sharing her so quickly after getting her again,” he hit a nerve I didn’t know I had, I’d assumed he’d say I was upset my younger sister was getting married before me. 

“And without a husband by your side,” he grinned. 

There it was. I huffed and straightened “I love my sister and am happy that my family has grown so much in such a short period of time. As for your second remark, I’m fairly accustomed to my freedom and am ever grateful I don’t have a self-satisfied man to haul around at parties,” I turned on my heel and marched off. Muttering under my breath “Non sei un uomo,” 

I parked myself in my seat as the meal started. My father was the only one making a speech tonight. 

“It’s a wonderful thing to be a parent,” my father announced with a glass raised into the night sky. “To raise your children in your values to see them grow into the person they were meant to be. To be proud of your child is even better and my daughter, marrying this man has made me very proud if only every father had daughters like I do,” he cheered and sipped his glass.

I couldn’t help the sense I was missing something. I ate my small tiny plate of food and continued my people-watching until my sister and her fiancé stood and went to the centers of the dance floor. It was shocking but her gorilla fiancé seemed graceful in his steps as he danced her around the room. 

She beamed like she’d won the lottery and I felt guilty for worrying so much. She seemed happy and though she tended to ignore the darker pets of life she did seem at peace. 

“Arianna?” A voice called to me. I could picture his greasy, over-producted hair already. 

A young boy who was a son of my father's business associate who teamed with desperation and cologne. He sat down beside me a smirk on his face and I breathed through my mouth trying to stomach the stench. 

“I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl,”  I wanted to throw up, you would assume with age comes wisdom or a sense of smell.  “It’s my lucky day that you grew up to be so sexy,” he sipped his drink as he appreciated my looks and I hid a shudder. 

“Darling there you are,” Gio cooed behind me. I could hear the satisfaction. 

Goddamn. I hated that man. He was arrogant and awful but he had me between a rock and a hard place. I would take him over whatever lame pickup line was about to be thrust upon me. 

“I’m sorry but I wanted to see my sister dance for a moment,” I looked over my shoulder at him with as much fake care as I could muster it shocked me at how easy it was. 

“Sorry sir,” and the rat scampered back into the night. Why he was so terrified I couldn’t say. 

“Let’s dance,” he grabbed my hand before I could protest and led me to the floor. 

“It’s customary to wait for your partner to agree to dance you know,” I almost scoffed at him. 

“And a man who rescues a woman usually gets a favor,” his words were dripping with innuendo and I wanted to smack him. 

I hadn’t known him an hour but he’d insulted me, my sister, and now was forcing me to dance with him while he suggested I repay his good deed with sex. 

“You should watch your words around me,” I gave him an icy glare and rested my features into hard stone. 

“You’re dancing with me, that's all I ask,” he grinned. He seemed to enjoy my ire with him.  

I relaxed it seemed all he wanted was a rise out of me. “It was kind of you to rescue me,” I begrudgingly thanked him. “Thank you,” I almost mumbled. 

He laughed low and deep and my body tingled at the sound. “You are not what I expected after knowing your sister so long,” 

“How so,” my defense was up again and I was trying not to give him the satisfaction of annoying me again. 

“She is a wonderful and kind girl who wants only to see everyone happy,” he showered my sister with compliments. 

“But…” I dragged the sentence out for him, I could tell by his tone there was a second less pleasant half that he was holding in. 

“She does not look horrible things in the eye. She turns her nose up and enjoys life instead. It’s a way to go about things but not one that gives you a full life,” he looked over my shoulder to my sister talking with a friend while she danced with her fiancé. “When I heard she had a sister I wondered if your different lives had somehow made you worse than her but instead,” he closed the small gap between us holding me tightly to him and his hand then moved to touch my bare back. 

He was warm, more than that he was a match and I was the gasoline. I had been in relationships before and I had felt lust before but he seemed to be a polarizing tsunami on my body. My mind and heart seemed to hate him but my body wanted to wrap itself around him and be swallowed whole.

“Instead I was met with a fierce and mature woman who saw life as what it is. A horrible wonderful thing,” he looked into my eyes and if we’d have been alone I might have given into my baser instincts. 

“You got all that from one conversation?” I should have sounded uninterested, instead, I sounded somewhat touched he’d seen all that in me.

“You are a true beauty. Inside and out. No man can deny that,” he whispered. 

I kept my face as blank as I could, still, my heart flip-flopped in my chest wavering on distaste or desire. 

“A dance with my daughter if you don’t mind Giovanni,”  The ice-cold water of my father's voice washed over me and I stepped away from the man. 

My father extended his hand to me and dared Gio to say no with his overbearing shadow. 

“Of course,” Gio gently passed my hand over, but the mask on his face slipped for a second as he looked at my father and I felt like a doll being held between two children.

There were shockwaves of a power struggle between them and I stared at my father quizzically. He took my hand and danced me effectively away from the dark stranger. 

“Giovanni Risci, a businessman who has his eyes on the city. He’s using your sister's love and his cousin's luck to get to know our company,” my father scoffed. 

“Oh,” I was surprised I hadn’t suspected Gio to be so calculating. 

“I have no doubt he’s dancing with you to see me squirm,” my father growled. 

“It’s not as if it matters I’m the Maid of Honor and he’s the Bestman it makes sense for us to dance so no one will think otherwise,” I placated the fury look in his eyes, and made it sound as if I hadn’t looked at it any other way. 

He smirked. “You’re too optimistic Arianna. He likes you, that much the whole room can see, but I ask you to be careful,” it sounded as if he was threatening me as we danced. 

“Papa I’m too invested in my work to care about a silly man,” I brushed it off. 

He chuckled. “I just got you back into my life, forgive me for not wanting to see you in any more pain,” his features softened and I relaxed. 

“You don’t have to worry where men are concerned. I know well enough not to take any sort of mistreatment,” I nodded to him. 

“That’s my girl,” he patted my back. 

For a second I wondered if he realized it was something I learned from my mother. That she had taught me the lesson of; if a man wanted to he would When I looked at my father and how quickly he had swooped in to save me it shook my belief that maybe he had neglected my mother. Was he a monster or just a man who learned from his mistakes? 

The song ended and my father and I applauded the band and I went over to my drink. I spent the next couple of hours greeting old cousins and great aunts and uncles from my father's side. They all were so happy to see me. Not one of them had come to my mother's funeral and I could tell they only really wanted to inspect the estranged relative. 

After hours of repeating my job, my schooling, my town, and that yes I was happy and it was *so good to see everyone again. I gave my sister and father a hug before I slipped out of the house. 

The valet went off to get my car and I stood alone in the wind of the blue night. 

“Did he warn you off me,” I almost grinned as he sauntered towards me again. 

“Of course,” I teased him. I wasn’t going to play into the daddy issues of going for a man just because my father said no but there was something about him that had me excited and terrified at the same time. 

I had never felt a feeling like this and it was hard to say no. Was I that woman who gave in to desire even when there were reasons not to? 

“I wouldn’t know the protectiveness of a father but I imagine he’s right to tell you so,” he shrugged. “Still I trust you’re grown enough to know that I will not be deterred from getting to know you if you wish,” he stepped closer to me and I ached to find out what it was between us. 

But my mind flashed to Gulia beaming as she danced tonight. I didn’t want anything to go wrong for her. “As entertaining as this is I don’t think it’s a good idea. Guilia needs my support right now and I don’t want any problems to arise,” 

“You’re too smart for your own good,” he smirked at me. 

The valet rolled up in my car. It was not the fanciest one here but I wasn’t ashamed. I nodded him a good night and walked over to the open car door. 

“I’ll see you soon,” he called to me. “Arianna,” 

When I got home and laid my head down that night the way he said my name replayed in my head over and over again.