Page 27 of The Proposal
His comment has me seething. Giovanni Mancini Junior may not share our family’s bloodline, but my brother has accepted that little boy as his, and that’s good enough for me. I used to see how much it hurt Alexander when Papa would refer to him as that.
My father was beside himself with joy when his grandson … his namesake, was first born. But when we found out a few months later that Alexander’s wife had lied and that my brother wasn’t, in fact, the father, Papa wiped that little boy from his life without a second thought. That heartless move only pushed Alexander further away from this life … from us.
“You talk about my nephew like that again, and I’ll cut you where you sit, capeesh.”
My threat has Edoardo rearing back. “Where is the respect? I’ve given this family forty years of my life. I was doing this before you were even born, son. Are you trying to punish me because I wasn’t here when your father was killed?”
“Again, I’m not your son. And I’m simply doing what is best for theFamiglia.” My eyes peruse the other men. “Let’s see another show of hands. Who would rather see Edoardo in this seat?”
It’s a risky move on my part, but I’m going to nip this shit in the bud here and now. If it backfires in my face, then so be it.
When not one single hand is raised, I retake my seat.
“Now that we have that settled, let’s proceed.”
Chapter 8
Arabella
“Mmm, something smells good in here,” Dante groans, coming up behind me in the kitchen like he did this morning.
He’s close … way too close. I’ve been reeling from his actions all day. I feel like I’m caught in an alternate universe, and my emotions are running rampant.
“I swear on everything holy if you manhandle me again as you did in front of your men earlier … I’ll?—”
“You’ll what,Bellezza?”
My eyes scan the countertop, looking for a weapon … anything, but all I see is the pasta wheel I was just using. It’s completely lame, but it’s better than nothing.
I snatch it up, holding it high in the air so he can see it over my shoulder. “I’ll run this over that smug face of yours.”
He throws back his head and laughs at my idiotic threat, angering me further.
“What’s that going to do? Leave a pretty pattern on my skin?”
I growl as I spin around to face him, obviously not learning my lesson from this morning because I’m now mereinches from him …again. Thankfully, this time, he’s at least wearing clothes.
“If I rammed it straight into your throat, it may break the skin,” I growl.
He chuckles. “For the record, I’m not scared of that … thing or you, Mrs Mancini.” I hate that I get a little thrill when he calls me that. “And I’d hardly call what I did manhandling.”
My free hand moves to my hip. “You pulled me down onto your lap.”
“That doesn’t count as manhandling, Arabella.”
“You kissed me!”
“It was a peck at best, and youaremy wife. Husbands kiss wives … it’s what we do.”
“You slapped my backside.”
“In my defence, your backside is very slappable.”
“Grrr.”
He gives me one of his disarming smiles. “Did you just growl at me?” he asks, bopping the tip of my nose. “Adorable.”
“I will do more than growl at you if you don’t leave my kitchen.”
