Page 66 of Dangerous Games

“I should have brought something. Why didn’t you tell me to do that?” I ask, the panic really setting in as we climb the massive steps.

“Because Ma would lose her ever-loving mind if you tried to help out. Next time we can bring something if it will make you feel better.”

Gio doesn’t wait for me to respond before he opens the front door, leading us inside.

My eyes widen as I take everything in. This place is insane, and I’ve never felt so out of place before.

“This place is fucking massive, isn’t it?” a woman who looks around my age says as she approaches us. “You probably won’t believe me when I say this, but you’ll get used to it.”

Gio playfully rolls his eyes. “Once I get a drink in her hand, she’ll be good. Bronwyn, this is Matteo’s wife, Wren. Wren, this is my woman, Bronwyn.”

Wren’s eyes widen as a smile takes over her face. “Matteo told me you had someone, but I didn’t believe him. It’s nice to officially meet you. I’m happy Gio’s crazy ass hasn’t scared you away yet.”

I let out an awkward laugh. “He hasn’t yet.”

He hasn’t yet?

That’s all I could come up with?

God, she probably thinks I’m so stupid.

“Don’t worry, there’s still time.” Wren laughs.

Gio’s arm wraps around me and pulls me in close. “She’s not going anywhere. Let’s get a drink.”

Gio leads me through the house. Voices get louder as we near the living room. I feel like a deer caught in headlights as we enter, and all eyes move to us as they all stop talking at once.

Matteo is sitting on a loveseat with a little girl on his lap as he watches us, his face giving away nothing. The man who scared the shit out of me in the driveway, known as Enzo, is over by the bar, shaking an empty rocks glass in a man’s face who looks like a mix between Matteo and Gio.

“Gio, tell Alessio to make me a drink!” Enzo glares.

Alessio must be Gio’s other brother. Now that I look at him, I think I’ve seen him around the pizzeria before. He doesn’t come by often, but it’s hard to forget the Adduci men. Their aura commands your attention and traps you in.

“I’m not making you a fucking drink. You’re a grown-ass man. Make it yourself,” Alessio grumbles as he snatches the glass out of Enzo’s hand and sets it on the bar. “And keep your glass out of my fucking face.”

Gio leans down once again, his breath grazing my ear. “Alessio is… grumpy.”

I can barely contain my shiver, but Gio senses it. He nips at my lobe, dragging it between his teeth before letting go.

“Stop,” I hiss as I try to step away from him to give us some space without being obvious, but his arm that’s wrapped around me is locked solid. “We are at a family dinner.”

I anxiously look around the room, hoping no one saw what he just did. Everyone but Matteo is busy with something else. His attention is on Gio and me, and the weight of it is enough to make me throw up.

“No one cares, cara,” he rumbles in my ear. “This is your family now, too. Get comfortable.”

This is your family now, too.

He says that as if it’s a given. Like it’s the easiest choice in the world. He doesn’t understand how uncomfortable I am right now. You can’t take someone who has never experienced a fraction of the family structure the Adduci’s have and expect them to just mesh right in. The lingering fear that I’m not good enough and I need to keep proving myself to have the love and attention that should be a given, but isn’t, never truly goes away.

And with Matteo studying us in a way that makes it seem like he’s waiting for me to somehow fuck up or slip through the cracks, it makes me feel…not like family.

I plaster a smile on my face even though inside I want to crawl in a hole and never come out as I playfully poke him in the chest, trying to play it off. “Save it for later, Casanova.”

A devilish grin spreads across Gio’s face. “Don’t tease me, baby. I’ll always come out on top.”

I clear my throat as my cheeks grow warm. “I’m not—” A loud gasp behind me cuts me off, making me turn around with wide eyes.

“I can’t believe it!” a woman with the same warm brown eyes Gio has exclaims as she brings her hands to her face, cupping both cheeks. “Gio told me he was bringing you, and Matteo told me you were real, but I still didn’t believe it! But here you are, standing in front of me as gorgeous as ever.”