Prologue
Dimitri
I knew what she thought of me the moment her wide brown eyes lifted to meet mine across the polished wood of the bar.
She was scared of me.
I could tell by the way her lips thinned as the laughter died on them. The way her spine stiffened.
She hid it well though. Better than most men did when I levelled my unwavering gaze at them. There was just a moment, a split second of hesitation in her smile before she pulled herself together.
And that made her even more interesting. Something about me scared her, as it should. But she wasn’t petrified. She was wary.
Most women were split into two groups when it came to me. Those that were scared and those that liked the kind of s*x that I dished out. Usually, it was the women I paid that fell into the latter.
This young dark-haired beauty didn’t seem to fit into either of those categories.
Leaning over I let my eyes take her in. Curves, that filled her simple bartender uniform, pouty lips, and a mass of dark hair pulled back from her face. She should have looked soft and yet somehow she didn’t.
“Vodka.” I barked it out, expecting her to jump at the tone of my voice. Instead, she merely smiled. Giving me a wink. “Coming up. I’ll bring it to the table, sir. A bottle I take it.” Brown eyes settled on the table my brother was sat at.
I didn’t answer. If she worked here I shouldn’t have to.
“The girl.” I had barely sat down before I asked the question. “Who is she?” I turned in my seat, tilting my chin towards the bar where she was now laughing.
“Which one?”
“You know which one”
They would have to be absolutely blind not to know which one. She was the only one remotely interesting to me.
My brother chuckled. “That one.” His accent was thick. Much thicker than it normally was. Which meant he was drunk yet again. “Is not for you. Stefano’s sister is not for you.” He slurred his words but I barely heard him.
Stefano Romano’s sister?
I studied her with renewed interest. No wonder she hadn’t backed down from my gaze. She must have grown up with men like me if Stefano was her brother.
It was puzzling though, why a girl so close to the Moretti crime family was here working behind the bar for us.
“Her name?”
“Sophia.”
“Sophia Romano.” I tried it out, saying it more loudly than I needed to. And her head snapped upwards as she made her way to our table, a tray in her hands.
“Not Romano, no.” My brother shook his head. His voice as loud as mine. “Little Sophia is a bastard.”
I watched as his hand came down, running up Her thigh towards her ass. He pawed at her, as those around the table laughed.
I would have laughed as well if I hadn’t seen something in her eyes, a shift in their dark brown depths. Moving with lightning reflexes I caught her wrist before she could slap his face. She glared down at me. Her eyes flicking between my face and the hand that still held hers in place. She wanted me to let go.
She could want all she liked. I shook my head. And her eyes blazed even more. “Let go of me.” She spat it out between clenched teeth and I laughed in her face. “Nyet.” I chuckled darkly as more and more eyes turned towards us. A hush seemed to fall. “Go back to your place little Romano.” Letting go of her hand I dismissed her.
And I knew she hated it. The anger literally rolled from her in waves but she did as she was told.
All that fire and yet she still followed orders. I liked that. And she was directly linked to the Moretti Family, that was an added bonus. Not that it really mattered. When I saw something I liked I didn’t give up until I had it.
And I wanted Sophia Romano.
I wanted her perfect and docile.
I wanted her fiery and full of temper.
But most of all I wanted her submission. Her total and utter submission. And if I had to break that fiery spirit of hers to get it, so be it.
