Dealer and his Bestowed Bride (The Rossi Family Mafia Book 2) (6 page)

My other family members grumbled and left for the tables to lick their wounds as Matteo basked in his victory.
 

The party went on for quite a while and finally it was time for us to get up and have the first dance. The DJ announced us and I turned to my new wife.
 

She looked like she was going to be in tears, her eyes watering. Oh great, she was an emotional drunk.

"Come on, dear," I told her. "Let's go show them what we’ve got."

When she turned to look into my eyes, the angry and belligerent woman was gone. She had given way to a scared mouse of a girl.
 

"Please, I c-can't-" She was starting to slur her words from the wine, but the bitch of a woman was replaced with a little girl who had her special day stolen from her.
 

My stomach sank, did I actually feel sorry for her?

"Hey," I said, grabbing her hand. "One dance, then we can get out of here. These people are all pieces of shit anyway."

The tip of her mouth curved up in a smile, but it was soon lost. Her eyes were watering and her dress was stained with wine, but she let me lead her to the dance floor anyway.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rossi everybody!" The DJ announced. The lights changed as we got to the middle of the dance floor, the spotlight glaring.
 

Piper was barely standing. I was actually impressed she could teeter on such tall heels while being drunk as all hell. My hands wrapped around her waist, touching her curves. I could feel her body heat underneath all the satin. She wrapped her arms around my neck, practically hanging on to me for dear life.
 

The DJ started to play The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra. I couldn't help but look down at the woman that had been chosen for me.
 

Her first impression wasn't as grand as it could be, no, but there was something underneath those rough edges. That something seemed to come out with a great deal of alcohol. Perhaps I'd be able to crack her, find that person beneath the tough facade without the help of wine.
 

"You look beautiful." I said, so only she could hear. Finally, a woman who caught my interest more than the hundreds of tramps that filed through the club.

She didn't tell me to fuck off, or answer me for that matter. She just looked defeated, sad, and distraught. I wanted to do something to help her, but I doubted anything would help on the dance floor.
 

As we swayed to the music I tried my hardest to bite my tongue. There was so much I wanted to say, but that could wait for the honeymoon. What I had to do quickly was to get my bride out of the reception before she threw up on a family friend or found herself passed out in the cake.
 

Finally, the song ended. Piper blinked and then finally looked at me for the first time since the song started, gripping my shoulders.

"Why's the room spinning?" she groaned.
 

She clutched at me, almost falling over but I caught her. Luckily, the DJ changed the music to something more upbeat and invited people out onto the floor to dance. Strobe lights started to flash everywhere and suddenly the reception turned into one of our clubs. Simone must have given my mother a list of the vendors we used for our business.
 

As I thought of my twin I spotted him across the way, watching people dance with a dark look on his face. Having to interact with family was not his strong suit.
 

I grabbed Piper and let her lean against me.
 

"Let's get out of here," I told her, slowly bringing her off of the dance floor and toward my brother. When he caught sight of us, he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, yeah," I told him, waving him off. His judgment was so apparent that he didn't have to say anything. "You try having an arranged marriage and see how sloppy drunk you get." I cleared my throat and bumped Piper with my hip before she drifted off to sleep while standing.

"Wha?" She jolted awake only to stumble a bit into me. I winced and Simone hid a chuckle.

"Cover for me, I can't take a minute more of this."

"What about the send off?" he asked.
 

"Just … FUCK. Say we were so excited to be married that we couldn't keep our dirty little paws off each other. That'll make all these old perverts happy."
 

My brother shook his head and stood, coming over to stand before me. He smiled and placed his hand firmly on my shoulder.
 

"I'll take care of it," he said. "That and your business. I'll make sure nothing goes wrong while you're gone."

"Just don't let those Russians near the warehouse," I joked. He grinned back at me.
 

"Congratulations, to the both of you. I mean it." he said.

"I don't know whether to thank you or tell you to fuck off," I replied. "I’m leaning towards the later."

Simone rolled his eyes and turned his body to motion me toward the exit. Piper was having issues with her tall heels and was starting to find it difficult to keep a grip on me, so it was our time to depart. I nodded to my brother and then we made our way out of our false wedding, with no one the wiser.
 

I slid the card in our hotel suite door and the light blinked red. "Damn it," I swore as I tried to swipe it again. Piper was leaning against the wall, her hands gripping her dress.
 

"All I want to do is sleeeeeep!" she whined as I struggled to open the door. I had underestimated the amount of booze I had consumed during the party while trying to make sure my blushing bride didn't black out. It was to the point where I was like a pirate who hadn't gotten his sea legs.
 

"Shhhh! I'm trying to open this door...." I said, finally turning the keycard the correct way, the light blinking green.

We both stumbled into the hotel room and I flipped on the lights. It was an amazing suite. It overlooked New York City and was enormous. There was a bottle of champagne that was chilling in ice and rose petals that lead to the plush bed.
 

"We'll pass on the champagne," I muttered, holding Piper's hand as I led her to the bed. She flopped down on it face-first and groaned.
 

I shook my head at the woman. She had gone more than overboard on our wedding, but I didn't blame her. It was a lot for a woman to go through, being married to some sleazy drug lord. I knelt down to her feet and helped take off her shoes as she muttered and groaned on the bed. They were taller than I thought. Why wear such impossible heels when you couldn't even see them underneath the dress?

I threw them aside and then stood back up to look at her.
 

Her wedding dress was huge and looked uncomfortable, sleeping in it would most likely be impossible.
 

"I'm going to take off your dress," I said, raising my voice so she could hear me.
 

"Whatever," she said in reply.
 

I sighed. Even though I had seen underneath all that fabric when I had taken her garter belt from her leg, it was still a bit nerve wracking taking off Piper's dress.
 

What was wrong with me? I had taken off hundreds of dresses in my life, and none left me pausing to think beforehand.
 

I tired to be gentle, unhooking the back then unzipping the dress. Slowly, I wriggled the dress down and off her.
 

She was beautiful, even if she was drunk as all hell. She rolled over once the dress was off and grumbled. Piper wasn't wearing a bra, and she flashed me her perky tits as she stretched out. I so wanted to touch those pert mounds, her nipples erect from the cool air. I wanted to kiss them and feast on her flesh. But another part of me knew that it would have to wait.
 

I sighed, adjusting my newly-formed erection in my dress pants, then gathered the covers on the hotel bed and opened them for her.
 

"Get in," I whispered, moving my lips close to her ear. She groaned, but did as I said, climbing under the blankets so I could tuck her in. I then went about grabbing a water from the hotel fridge and setting it beside her on the table, since she'd probably need it. As I was about to walk away from the bed to take a shower in the bathroom, I felt a hand reach out, then grab the front of my pants.

I was still hard, having spent much of my time staring at her half-naked body. Jumping slightly, I looked down to see Piper, with her eyes half-lidded staring at my junk.

"Nice package," she said, raising an eyebrow.
 

"Nice tits," I replied.
 

We stood in a grid lock, eyes blazing into each other. That sensation I had felt when we kissed at the altar started to come alive again, but died as soon as it started as Piper's hand dropped and she passed out on the pillow.

After a few seconds of silence, I chuckled and that turned into a laugh. I laughed myself all the way to the shower. While I was disappointed that we didn't have the ability to consummate the marriage on our wedding night, it didn't matter in the long run.
 

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror as I undressed, my tattoos visible without my shirt.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Piper, her sleek body and our kiss at the alter. I wanted to taste her again, but it would have to wait.

My head felt like it had been hit by a truck or two, despite taking pain medication.
Luca had told me it was just over the counter stuff, but I had been wary anyway. Yah, I was just as involved with the Mafia as he was, but I was always distrusting of drug dealers, especially those who were full of themselves.

We were standing in the airport, waiting in line to get through baggage security. After the shit show that was my wedding, the last thing I wanted was to get on a plane and have a fake honeymoon in another country. All I wanted was to curl up in a ball and hug my pillow.

"What's a six letter word for Ethiopian export?" Luca was fully into a crossword puzzle he had picked up at the Hudson News store. I grimaced at him.

"My brain doesn't work," I grumbled.

"Neither does mine, and I bet my brain has been through way more damage than yours.”

"Wanna bet?" I shot back.

He glanced up from his crossword puzzle, squinting at me. He was a strange man, a lot different than most I knew. He was handsome, with chiseled features and tan skin, but he was also put-together. There was a certain air of authority that he gave off and I wondered if that was why he had been chosen by the Mafia for whatever crappy job they wanted us to do.

"Well, if last night is one of your daily rituals," Luca said, "I stand corrected."

Crap. The reception was mostly a blur. I did remember a fair deal of it, but mostly the parts where I made a fool of myself and acted out. The anger that had been bubbling in me all week had surfaced, and the only way I knew how to deal with those feelings was to drown them in expensive wine.
 

For some reason, I felt ashamed for being such a bitch to Luca and his family. His family was the reason I was getting married against my will and I kept telling myself that my feelings were legitimate ... but something was bugging me.

"Hey," I said, poking Luca in the side.

"Do you have the six letter word?"

"No, I need to talk to you about something else."

He nibbled on the tip of his pen and stared at the puzzle for a few seconds. His eyes brightened and he looked up as though a light bulb had been turned on over his head.
 

"Coffee, of course!" Luca scribbled on the paper.

I poked him in the side again. "Hey."

Finally, he put the puzzle down and turned to me, giving me his undivided attention. I took a few deep breaths, butterflies forming in my stomach. The longer I was silent, the more worried Luca looked.

"I-I think we started this off on the wrong foot. No ... I started this off on the wrong foot."

"You shot me," Luca said monotonously.
 

My face became red and I started to get flustered. "Um ... yeah, I mean—yeah. Sorry." There was an awkward silence that formed between us as I tried to figure out what I was going to say to him. Damn it, why was I suddenly such a dunce? I blamed my hangover.

"We're two professionals," I finally said after clearing my throat. "We were hired to do a job and I didn't handle the transition professionally."
 

He was looking at me, a smile faintly playing on his lips. It looked like he was trying his hardest to be serious. That made me a bit pissed. Here I was trying my hardest to make peace and he just thought I was a joke. But he was right. Our jobs were jokes and whatever our marriage was, it wasn't that serious either.
 

"I hope that we can be better colleagues in the future," I said, trying to swallow my pride. My hand raised up in the offering of a handshake, like I would do for any professional peer. You would have thought I grew two heads from the way Luca was looking at me.
 

Before he could shake my hand in agreement, I felt a few taps on my shoulder. I whipped around, lowering my hand. Mr. Armento stood next to the line and gave us his polite smile.

"Congratulations you two. Sorry I wasn't able to offer my well wishes at your reception. It seemed like you were swept away by passion rather early."

I rolled my eyes. "What do you want?" I asked.

“I was just visiting to see you two lovebirds off.” He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. Not for a second did I believe what he said, especially after what he pulled with this job. I crossed my arms across my chest and waited for something better.

“Here,” he said, reaching into his inner jacket pocket. A card was deposited into my hand soon after. I turned the business card over. It was grey, with a number on the back of it and a fleur de lis on the front. The symbol was embossed with shining silver.

“When you get to Florence, call this number. He will give you a time and place to meet the men you’re visiting.” He handed the same card to Luca, who placed it in his own back pocket.