My Mafia Madness

Chapter 27 - Raising the Stakes

“Alright, time for a game.” Matteo announced with a sinister grin spread wide across his face.

Alexa gave a small laugh and shook her head at him.

“You Romano’s and your drinking games...”

Both Roberto and Matteo shared a confused glance at her words, but Matteo didn’t seem to budge at the idea of proceeding.

He was determined to woe the beautiful woman working for his eldest brother; damn the consequences and his brother’s warning.

When one of the Romanos had their sights set on something or someone they wanted, nothing could stand in their way!

Matteo simply turned to face Alexa now with a challenging stare.

He too had emerald green eyes just like his two other brothers; a family trait perhaps.

“Ever play spin the bottle, bellissima?” (gorgeous)

As Alexa gave a shy giggle in response, Dante suddenly spoke up, enforcing his power over them as Don.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

The youngest Romano furrowed his brows and playfully pouted for a moment at his brother’s inability to simply let go and enjoy himself.

“Oh come on Dante, have a little fun.” Matteo pushed.

“I said... no.”

This time Dante’s voice sounded stern, commanding even.

But unfortunately for him, his protectiveness made no difference in the end.

“I’ll do it.”

Alexa suddenly spoke up, adding her approval to the idea.

By now she had consumed around two glasses of tequila and was on her first glass of scotch.

The new assistant was feeling on top of the world... tipsy, but on top of the world nonetheless.

What she had said not only shocked the Mafia Boss as he turned to face her with an angered expression, but it infuriated him!

By agreeing to play his brother’s twisted game, his assistant was flat out disobeying him.

He chose to withhold his anger, for the time being. He needed to convince her to change her mind, and fast!

“Miss Myers, there is no need to play along with my brother’s twisted desires.” he reminded calmly.

She merely shrugged, smiling back at her boss.

“What’s one kiss?”

As Dante silently seethed at her, the other two brothers cheered at her courageousness.

“That’s the spirit!” Matteo mused.

Roberto reached out and grasped one of the empty bottles of tequila they had already conquered as a team in the past hour or so.

He placed it down in the middle of the kitchen’s island counter and leaned on the edge.

“So, how does this work exactly?” Alexa asked with a confused frown.

“I mean, what if Roberto lands on Dante? Do you two have to kiss?”

Dante appeared to scrunch up his face with disgust at the idea.

The others chuckled at such a ridiculous image before shaking their heads.

“No, no, no... that’s not how this game works, bellissima.” (gorgeous) Matteo explained.

Now it was her turn to frown.

“What do you mean? How does it work then?”

“Well, seeing as you are the only woman playing the game...”

He paused, reaching out and taking her hand in his.

“...you’ll be our spinner.”

He pulled her hand gently over to rest it on top of the bottle and let her go.

“I don’t understand.”

“You spin the bottle...” he explained.

“Whoever it lands on will be the lucky man.”

Matteo was being purposely vague with the information so as not to frighten her off from the idea of continuing on with the game.

But Alexa was a smart woman, even while partially intoxicated.

She knew what she was getting herself into by agreeing to play along.

Still, she needed to set some ground rules first.

“And it’s just one kiss for this... lucky man... right?” she quizzed cautiously.

Matteo nodded his head.

“One kiss. Sì.” (yes)

“And I can stop the game whenever I want?”

He nodded his head in silence.

With a long inhale to prepare herself for the possibility of it landing on one of the other two brothers, Alexa’s chocolate brown eyes quickly darted to glance at Dante as he stood in silence with both his hands buried deep in his pant pockets.

His expression showed just how unhappy he was with this supposed game; one he himself was not in control of.

Usually Dante was always the one in control.

He hated situations where he wasn’t, such as this.

“Go ahead.” Matteo urged her softly.

Roberto simply watched on with curiosity. He wanted to know if this new assistant would go through with this clearly one-sided game.

It was obvious that his little brother wanted her, but it was ultimately Alexa’s choice in the end.

Biting her bottom lip, a nervous trait she had inherited since her youth, Alexa grasped the bottle and gave it a spin.

All four pairs of eyes curiously watched as the liquor bottle spun around and around against the wooden surface of the island counter, slowly beginning to come to a halt.

Dante’s face immediately hardened when he saw it wasn’t him the bottle pointed at...

It was Roberto.

The taller of the brothers appeared shocked for a moment as his cheeks slowly began to redden in embarrassment.

He chuckled nervously, clearing his throat as he met Alexa’s eyes.

She too was chuckling nervously.

“So how do we do this?” she asked hesitantly.

“However you want.” he shrugged with his reply.

Pursing her lips together, Alexa stepped in closer towards him and stopped in front of the taller Romano brother.

Momentarily finding it difficult to meet him eye to eye, she surprised them all with what she did next...

She leaned in and instead kissed him on the cheek.

Blushing, Alexa smiled as she took a step back from him and returned to her side of the island counter to continue the game.

Matteo was laughing to himself, while Dante fought to hide the smirk he now had from their view.

Secretly, he was glad that she had only kissed his brother on the cheek.

In Dante’s opinion, his were the only lips that should ever be allowed to taste hers.

“Alright, time to raise the stakes a little.” Matteo suddenly suggested.

Everyone turned to him, baffled by the mere concept.

“What do you mean by raise the stakes?” Alexa asked him cautiously.

He chuckled.

“This time, it’s a kiss on the lips.”

All three of them heard Dante’s deepened growl, but Matteo had simply chosen to ignore the familiar warning and continue on.

He was determined to have a kiss from this angelic woman.

Taking a moment to think it over, Alexa turned to face Matteo confidently.

“You’re on.”

“Ah, that ’a girl!”

Matteo smirked as he used his hands to drum-roll against the wooden counter with excitement, his eyes fixed on the bottle as Alexa reached out to spin it.

“Come on baby...”

Her fingers flicked and the bottle began to spin as it had before.

Slowly but surely it began to slow down in speed and everyone watched with great interest to see where it came to point...

Slower and slower... until...

It pointed to none other than Dante himself.

The Mafia Boss couldn’t stop the obvious side-smirk as it instantly appeared upon his face. His brother’s game had backfired on him.

Matteo let out a growl and slapped the counter top with his open palm.

“Fanculo.” (Fuck.) he cursed.

But all their reactions paled in comparison to Alexa’s as she stood staring at the bottle nervously.

She suddenly found herself unable to move, as if her heels had been glued to the floor and her legs had turned to jelly.

Was she… nervous about this?

About kissing Dante in front of other people.

After all, it was just a game… right?

And it’s not like she hadn’t kissed the man before in the past.

The memory made her relax a little more as she came to make her way around the island counter, towards where he stood waiting for her to approach him.

Dante watched as her hips swayed from side to side with each of her steps, her warm brown eyes never left his as she came to stand in front of him.

He could tell that Alexa was nervous about kissing him again, even though she appeared confident in front of the others.

She had a tell whenever she got nervous.

She would bite her bottom lip.

Being a highly skilled poker player and infamous Mafia Don, Dante could easily identify someone’s tell.

In fact, he would often use it to his advantage whenever the opportunity arose.

“I’m ready whenever you are, bella.” Dante teased, urging her on.

“Just one kiss, right?” she quickly confirmed.

Dante merely smiled at her, leaning in and cradling the back of her head with his large hand.

He didn’t answer her, he didn’t have to.

She would know the answer by the end of their kiss, he was certain of it.

He knew she would want more.

She felt as he pulled her in closer and pressed his lips against hers.

The exact moment their lips made contact she could feel an explosion of tingling warmth emerging from down below.

Soon after, their mouths began to move in perfect rhythm with one another as the kiss began to deepen.

Both Romano brothers stood by and watched as the couple almost consumed one another using nothing but their mouths and tongues.

Alexa’s fingers ran through Dante’s dark hair while his hands continued to hold both sides of her face.

Roberto silently nudged Matteo who appeared to be sulking where he stood.

It was clear to the brothers that something was going on between these two.

Assistant or not, Dante obviously wanted Alexa.

They thew their older brother; this kiss was Dante laying claim over her.

Labelling her as his and his alone to pursue.

When the two finally parted lips and opened their eyes, both Dante and Alexa appeared out of breath.

Their eyes were hooded with raw desire as they simply stood staring into one another’s eyes for a moment.

Roberto clearing his throat broke through their dazed trance and the silence.

“If you guys are finished over there…”

Alexa’s cheeks suddenly blushed a soft crimson shade as she lowered her head in embarrassment and smiled.

She had honestly forgotten that they were being watched during their kiss.

At the moment it happened, the ruthless intensity of the kiss had pulled her right in, managing to block out the entire world happening around them.

She had never been kissed like that before!

“Capo, we should probably have a quick catch up before the meeting this evening.” Roberto suggested, glancing in his older brother’s direction with a stern expression.

“Just to make sure we’re on the same page as one another… you know, with upcoming events and all…”

The taller Romano brother was being purposefully vague with his comments around Alexa.

Keeping secrets was common practise in the underground world. You never knew who to trust and this continued on a daily basis for each of the brothers.

Dante nodded his head at his brother’s suggestion.

“Yeah, that’s actually a good idea.” he announced, turning to speak to Alexa.

“Make yourself comfortable. We’ll return shortly.”

With that Dante spun on his expensive heel and, along with his two younger brothers, headed towards one of the back rooms for their apparent discussion.

Roberto was right; with their secretive mafia meeting scheduled to take place this evening they would need to go over their game plan one last time.

Just to make sure they hadn’t left anything else out.

Tonight needed to run smoothly.

And that meant no mistakes.