Page 77 of Mistaken
“Are you shitting me?” she wheezes, and I can’t stop laughing.
“This is my brother’s idea, isn’t it?” Ekaterina is giggling, too. “He is such a… what is it called? He is such a wine snob.”
“This is true,” I’m still laughing at the expression on Tania’s face.
“Well, who do we have here?”
Oh, you have to be kidding me. It’s that skeevy Dante.
“Hey, honey. We meet again. And look at your hot friends! I was watching you all on the dance floor. There's not a man in this club that's not sporting wood right now.” He’s eyeing Ekaterina and Tania, who clearly have the same visceral reaction to him that I did. “Now that I’m the Don, I wanna establish closer ties to your family.”
Yeah,I thought,like a grizzly bear wants to establish closer ties to a salmon.
“Ladies, this is one of Maksim and Yuri'swork associates,”I say repressively, “Dante Toscano.” Forcing a smile, I add, “Dante, this is my friend Tania and my sister-in-law Ekaterina.”
This vile weasel is about to kiss a cringing Ekaterina’s hand when he pauses, looking from me to her with a huge grin. “You’re the Bratvaprincessa?” Our bodyguards stiffen at the “B” word and I want to slap my hand over his big, stupid mouth. His overstyled head dips again to her hand, his greasy mouth kind of slobbering on her.
“Hey, Dante!” I said sharply, “Can you please let go of her hand? I’d hate to see my husband throw you over yet another railing.”
That gets his mouth off of her skin, and I see Ekaterina wipe it on her dress out of the corner of my eye.
Leaning in close, Dante tells me, “You’re gonna want to be nicer to me. I’m the Don of one of the most powerful Mafia families in the world. So why don’t you shut that smart mouth and just… look pretty?”
I see Ivan stepping up with some alacrity, his hand going to his jacket where I know he’s got a gun in a shoulder holster. I also see four other men, Italian, by the looks of them, moving in to cover their boss.
Standing up between him and Ekaterina and Tania, I smile with all my teeth on display, like I want to tear his throat out with them. “Why, thanks for such a lovely talk,DonToscano. I’ll be sure to pass your good wishes on to my husband.”
He sneers, but it evolves back into a weird smile as he looks at Ekaterina again. “You do that, honey.” He swaggers off with his little entourage of scoundrels.
Ivan shakes his head mournfully, grumbling in his thick accent, “I wish he would give excuse to shoot him.”
“Not funny, Ivan,” I sigh, “No shooting Mafia creeps. I like all of your organs on the inside of your body where they belong. That man’s such a douchebag that he’ll get himself shot soon enough, I’m sure of it.”
Dante turns around and gives that weird grin again, the one that makes him look like he has no idea what it means but he’s aware that it’s an expression humans use and he’s giving it a try. But on him, it’s horrible. And he’s not looking at me. His gaze is fixed on Ekaterina.
Chapter 21 – The Reckoning
In which there is disillusionment, heartbreak, and hot Italian guys.
Ella…
“Hey, you know what I noticed tonight?” Tania grinned at the sight of a dozing Ekaterina, her head already on my shoulder.
“What did you notice tonight, my bestie?”
“Well,” Tania stretched, giving her ribs a scratch, “I noticed that this is the first time you have ever called Maksim ‘my husband.’ Not only that, you said it twice.”
“Really?” I frowned, “I did?”
“Oh, yes you did.” Grinning at me meaningfully, Tania used her most arch, inquiring tone. “You went all Bratva Queen on that weasel. ‘You better get out of here before my husband throws you over another railing,’ in that super intense tone.”
“Well,” I adjusted my shoulder carefully, trying not to disturb my dozing sister-in-law, “that guy was a spectacular ninnyhammer when I met him on our honeymoon-“
“Ninnyhammer?” Tania interrupts
“Ninnyhammer – ninny, simpleton or fool,” I answered absently. “But tonight?” My voice dropped to a whisper, “I don’t like how he was looking at Ekaterina.”
“I remember you pointing out his folks at the New Year’s Eve party,” Tania said, “he wasn’t there, but didn’t he have two hot brothers?”
