Page 83 of Niccolaio Andretti (The Five Syndicates)
Aimee breaks the surprisingly comfortable silence that stretches out, “Hey, Loosey Goosey?”
“Yeah?”
“No one shot you down today.”
Lucy smiles. “I haven’t been poisoned either.”
Aimee snorts, and I give them polite smiles that hide the What in the firetruck? I’m thinking in my head. I have to remind myself that I reevaluated my opinions on Lucy after our last talk in Vaserley Hall.
I mean, I still think she’s crazy… but now I understand why. She’s a fifty year old woman trapped in a twenty year old’s body, and all that age old wisdom crammed into that youth has turned her insane.
I’m not sure what Aimee’s excuse is.
“So, Nick, huh?” Lucy asks me.
I look at him, talking at the edge of the dance floor with Asher. He has a smile on his face that I haven’t seen on him with anyone other than me. And while I’d love for it to be reserved for me, I’m glad he has Asher. They seem good for each other.
Around the dance floor, men avert their eyes from Asher and Niccolaio. I saw it in the tunnels, too. The guy who led us through them couldn’t even meet Niccolaio’s eyes. And when we made our way through the pews in the church, people backed far away from us, some of them even noticeably cowering.
And I realized that Niccolaio is an intimidating man.
So why have I never felt that about him?
As if he knows I’m thinking about him, Niccolaio’s eyes meet mine, and I’m ensnared by them.
On the other side of Lucy, Aimee loudly whisper shouts into Lucy’s ear for all of us to hear, “Fuck, they should just sleep together and get it over with.”
Abruptly, I feel several pairs of eyes from the surrounding tables turn to me. Lucy is quick to jab Aimee roughly with her elbow (again).
“What the fuck?” Aimee asks defensively, rubbing her rib cage with a look of surprise on her face.
“We’re in a church.”
Well, we’re in a banquet hall built into the back of the church, but still…
Aimee’s eyes widen. “Shit, I forgot.” Her face half somber and half apologetic, she corrects herself, “Holy fuck, they should just sleep together and get it over with.”
Lucy groans and rubs at her forehead, giving up on Aimee. Instead, she sends me an apologetic look, which I shrug to. As long as Niccolaio didn’t hear that, I’m not too mortified. I steal another glance at the man in question and am surprised to see him making his way towards me.
Around me, I hear the girls quickly reacting, and I wonder if they’d be reacting the same way if he was uglier or if they’d cower away from Niccolaio like all of their male counterparts seem to do.
“Care to dance?” he asks me when he reaches me.
I nod, saying my goodbyes to Lucy and Aimee. He leads me to the dance floor, holding my hand tightly in his. People naturally part for him, for some reason repelled by him when all I seem to be able to do is get closer.
When he pulls me closer, I inhale his seductive scent. I can feel his laughter against my chest, but I don’t care. I’m not even embarrassed by my reaction. I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll always react this way to this man.
“Did you just sniff me?”
“Yes,” I mumble into his suit jacket.
“I think it’s only fair if I do the same.”
He leans into my neck before I can prepare myself for it, and I tense, my skin erupting into a million goosebumps as he trails his lips against the curve of neck. I can feel my
nipples pebbling against my dress, unhindered by a bra, and I push myself closer to hide them from the crowd. Or at least that’s what I tell myself.
When his mouth reaches the space below my ear, he takes me by surprise by lowering my body into a dip, twirling us into a half circle at the same time he raises me back up. A genuine smile spreads across my lips
