I looked around the bar, my eyes stopping on the man standing in the corner, his arms crossed, and giving off intensely dark vibes.
No one wanted to get close to him. I didn’t blame them.
I waved at him.
I could see his jaw tighten. I must have a death wish if I was enjoying messing with Elio this much. I grinned and turnedaway from him, my eyes clashing with another man from the opposite side of the room.
He was tall.
Not as tall as Elio.
And he looked fit.
Obviously not as fit as Elio.
Handsome enough.
Not as handsome as Elio.
I let out a small sigh. There really was no comparing, was there? No man had ever matched up to Elio.
And it wasn’t like I had lived most of my life as a recluse and hadn’t seen that many men out there. Quite the opposite. Dad liked to parade Valentino and me around when we were younger to show off to his men. It stopped when Valentino became his “disappointment,” but there had been other functions I’d been to.
The man smiled at me. I might not have much experience, but I knew when a man was interested in me, even if it was just one shallow thing they were interested in.
I downed the rest of my drink and placed the glass back on the bar top before smiling over at the man. He took that as his sign and made his way toward me.
“Hey,” he greeted loudly to be heard over the music.
“Hi.”
“I’ve been watching you all night.”
One of my eyebrows raised at that. “Yeah?”
He nodded. “Yes. And I have to say, you are absolutely stunning. The most beautiful woman here.”
What a fucking line.
“You don’t say.”
“I do. Would you like to dance?”
I peeked back at Elio. His glare had turned more intense. I quickly looked away from him and back at the man. I didn’t even know his name, but that didn't matter.
I held out my hand to him and let him pull me over to the small, makeshift dance floor in the bar. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in close. I pushed down the panic and wrongness of feeling another man’s arms around me and forced myself to put my arms around his neck.
He obviously liked that because he pulled me in closer to him and started to grind himself against me. I didn’t even think what we were doing was considered dancing.
And the closer he pulled me into him, the more wrong it felt.
Hell.
I might have made a mistake. How was I going to get out of this?
I moved my hands down and placed them on his chest, pushing at the man slightly until he looked at me. He shot me a predatory smile, making my heart race.
I opened my mouth to tell him I didn’t want to dance anymore. But I didn’t need to. One moment, the man was pulling me in tighter to him, and the next, he was sprawled out on the floor, and I was being held against a strong body that I instantly recognized.
