Page 50 of Knocked Up by My Dad's Mafia Boss

“I'll be ready.” He pauses. “Wait, Ricardo? What about Dante?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say flatly, and he barks out a laugh.

“Seems like we’re in the same boat.”

“I’ll see you soon, gotta get ready.”

I hang up and get dressed in a black club dress with a plunging neckline and a slit up one side.

I put on some smoky makeup and curl my hair, and I’m ready. I walk downstairs.

Dante looks up from his paperback he’s been reading on the couch.

I expect his eyes to trail over my body, but they don’t, staying focused on my face. I try not to even look at him, or I’ll start crying again.

“Where’s Ricardo?”

“Waiting at the car. I told him to get ready to take you.”

“Thank you,” I say. It sounds awkward and stilted.

He nods, turning back to his book.

I want to call his name, get him to actually look at me. The only reason I picked this dress was because I was hoping that he’d see me in it and maybe… I don’t know.

React somehow.

Get angry, tell me it’s too revealing. Push me up against a wall by my throat, tell me I’m his again.

I just want him toseeme.

Tears threaten again and I hurry out of the house, slamming the door behind me. Ricardo gives me an awkward wave and I feel kind of bad that I dislike him so much.

He’s not a bad guy, he just gives me a weird feeling. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because he’s balding and not hot like Dante is. Maybe I’m shallow.

But at least Ricardo keeps his mouth shut while he drives me over to Reese’s.

Reese slides into the backseat, already smelling faintly of vodka. “You ass, you pregamed without me,” I tease, and he offers me a half-smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Needed it,” he admits, and I frown, climbing into the backseat with him as Ricardo backs out of Reese’s apartment complex.

I take his hand. “What’s going on?”

Reese draws in a shaky breath. “She broke it off.”

“What?” I screech.

He nods. “Said it was too hard, that she couldn’t keep lying to her father. Sneaking around. I told her we could go public but… She says Luciano will kill me.”

I wince. Luciano Ricciwouldkill Reese for dating his daughter.

Reese isn’t Italian, for one thing, and for another, his association with my family makes him an even worse candidate.

“Maybe she’s right,” I say softly, and Reese sighs, his lip trembling slightly before he wipes a hand across his face.

“Maybe she is. You gonna tell me what’s going on with you?” He pointedly doesn’t say Dante’s name, glancing at Ricardo.

“Maybe later. After I’m drunk.”