“Why I’m bringing this up is because while I want Anna to enjoy Paris, even attend the occasional party with you at her side, I still need you to make sure she abides to our rules and is safe.”
“I assume you are talking about boys.”
“If Clifford and the Clarks decide to break the engagement for whatever reason, they’re not bound by our oaths and honor so I won’t rule it out completely, I need to make sure Anna won’t face an unfortunate scandal if she enters a marriage with one of our men. Our world remains old-fashioned in this regard and my and Valentina’s efforts to lead to a change haven’t been successful, at least in that point.”
“I’ll make sure Anna stays away from boys, don’t worry.” I’d thoroughly enjoy cockblocking any guy who wanted to put his paws on her. I tried not to dwell on why this gave me such a fucking thrill.
“I appreciate it,” Dante drawled and slowly strode closer to me. Now it was coming, the warning I’d been waiting for. “As a father, I try to ignore certain developments, but I’m not blind to the fact that Anna has become a beautiful young woman who’ll soon be of age, and you aren’t committed to anyone. Living in such close quarters might make Anna or you forget certain boundaries.”
I chuckled as if this was completely unrealistic. “Trust me, neither Anna nor I are at risk to lose sight of any boundaries. Anna is very driven and dutiful. She’ll focus on her studies, and if she fawns over a boy, it’ll be some Frenchman who’s into drawing and the opera. But even if Anna suddenly had any interest in me, I’m not in the slightest interested in her. I’ve always been more drawn to older women.” That was the absolute truth. All of my affairs and even short-term girlfriends had been older. Arturo, in a rare moment of being funny, had called me the MILFinator once. I wasn’t sure what it was about Anna that was different, that made me show even the slightest interest in her. But it sure as fuck wouldn’t be enough to make me land in bed with her. I’d go looking for a nice French MILF to keep me company. “My Dad was more worried about me making the moves on your wife than Anna when I started working here,” I said in a true foot-in-mouth moment. One day I’d end up with a bullet in my head, because of my dick or my mouth.
Dante’s eyes flashed, and he raised one eyebrow. “That’s certainly reassuring,” he said in a low voice.
I decided to keep my mouth shut before it spewed some even stupider shit. Dante was a controlled man and even more controlled Capo, which saved my life right now.
“I don’t think I’ll have to tell you what will happen if I find out you acted in any way inappropriate to Anna, or my wife, in Paris or at any other place.”
“I’ve been your Enforcer, Capo. No need to give me any details. And knowing Arturo’s freaky brain, he’ll probably see it as an even greater challenge to torture me.”
“Rest assured, I’d handle you myself in this case.”
I chuckled and nodded. “While it would be an honor to die at your hands, I assure you it won’t come to that.”
Today was Clifford’s eighteenth birthday, which meant it was the beginning of August and only two more months before our engagement and six months until I’d move to Paris temporarily.
I already had a list of events I’d have to fly to Chicago for to uphold my social responsibilities but I was still excited.
As promised, I snuck Leonas, Rocco, and Ricardo into Clifford’s party. Clifford didn’t mind. It was a huge party with over two hundred guests so nobody would notice three pot-headed tweens.
Santino pretended he didn’t care. He’d hardly talked a word to me since I made him help me with Paris a few weeks ago. When I’d thanked him for helping me, he’d given me a murderous look and growled, “Don’t thank me.” That was our longest interaction since then.
Mom’s words had been replaying in my mind constantly. Well, her warning. That was why I’d respected Santino’s desire for distance. Breaking my promise to Mom wasn’t something I could do lightly, and I’d sworn myself to at least try to stay away from Santino. Of course, that had only fueled my nightly fantasies of him. But there wasn’t any harm in that, right?
Right.
I was determined to have as much fun as possible at Clifford’s party, without wasting a single thought on Santino. He was off limits.
Off limits.
We picked up Luisa first. I grinned when she got into the back seat beside me and Leonas. She’d never accompanied me to a party before and I was glad to have her at my side. She could talk some sense into me in case I forgot my own limits…