THE MAFIA FAKE FIANCE

SIX

ANDREA

Nathan De Luca came to where I stood, he slid his hand to my waist and pulled me against him like I was his. His mouth pressed against mine like he had done this a hundred times before. Like kissing me was second nature.

kissed me like he owned me.

Not just a kiss. Not the polite, chaste kind my father would’ve tolerated. Nope. This was the kind of kiss that made the whole ballroom forget how to breathe.

And me? My brain completely flatlined.

I should’ve shoved him away. That would’ve been logical. Rational. Responsible. But apparently my lips didn’t get the memo, because they parted for him without a fight. My stomach dropped, heat shot through me, and for a split second, I forgot this was fake.

Forgot he was Nathan. My childhood rival. My enemy. The guy who once replaced the answers on my math test with doodles of pigs.

Instead, all I could think was ‘holy hell’ he’s damn good at this.

Then just as suddenly as it started… It ended, Nathan pulled back slowly leaving me breathless and blinking like I had just been hit by a truck, his face was blank and calm like he had just handled a routine business transaction and not detonated a bomb in the middle of my life. His hand stayed on my waist firmly and possessively.

The ballroom had gone dead silent, one whisper, not one glass clink. Just a hundred pairs of eyes locked on us like they had just witnessed a murder instead of a kiss.

Lucio’s whiskey sat abandoned on the bar, and his face…oh God.

If looks could kill, I’d already be six feet under. The man radiated fury, his smug mask cracked wide open. His eyes burned like I had just ripped something precious out of his hands.

My father’s expression was worse. Massimo Costa wasn’t red with anger. He was pale, his glass shattered against the marble floor and the shards scattered across.

And me? My lips were still tingling and my chest buzzed but I smiled anyway because f I didn’t, I was going to crumble.

“Congratulations,” someone finally muttered.

And then it was chaos. Gasps. Whispers. People leaning into each other like gossiping schoolgirls, trying to process the scandal of the year. Andrea Costa, engaged to Nathan De Luca. The ultimate betrayal. The juiciest twist.

Nathan bent his head and lips brushed my ear. “Try not to fall in love already, Princess.”

I wanted to elbow him so bad or maybe break one of his ribs. Instead I hissed back, “You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“Of course I am.” He smirked, casual as ever. “You just gave me the best show of my life.”

I hated him. I hated myself for noticing how warm his breath was against my ear.

⸻

Dinner was hell.

Not because of the food—I didn’t taste a single bite—but because I was stuck sitting next to Nathan like we were already married. My hand in his, his arm draped behind my chair, every move perfectly staged to sell the lie. The entire mafia world was watching us like hawks, and Nathan was thriving.

“Smile, Princess,” he muttered under his breath, reaching for the bread basket. “People are starting to think I kidn*pped you.”

“You basically did,” I whispered back, forcing my lips into a grin at some old family friend across the table.

He chuckled softly, slicing his steak. “If I had kidn*pped you, trust me, it would’ve been much quieter than this circus.”

I stabbed my salad like it had personally wronged me.

Lucio's eyes stayed glued to me the whole time, every time I dared glance his way, I found the same thing.

Nathan, meanwhile, kept up the act like he was born for it. He answered questions, told stories that made us look like some star-crossed power couple, even brushed his thumb over my knuckles like he’d done it a million times.

“You’re disturbingly good at this,” I muttered at one point.

He shot me a lazy smirk. “Maybe I’ve been practicing.”

The entire dinner felt like a hostage situation where I was the hostage and the performance artist all at once. I laughed when I was supposed to and smiled when eyes landed on me while I played the part of a woman blissfully in love with the one man she’d sworn to hate forever.

Inside, I was dying.

The second dessert was cleared, I bolted.

“Powder room,” I lied, then I slipped out of the ballroom with my heels clacking against the marble and inhaled like I had been underwater the whole night.

Then a hand grabbed my wrist. I turned to see that it was Lucio, his face was inches away from mine. The whiskey on his breath hit me like a punch but his voice was worse.

“What the hell was that?”

“Let go,” I snapped while yanking against his hold.

He didn’t instead he shoved me back against the wall and pinned me there like I was prey.

“You f*****g humiliated me,” he hissed with his fingers digging into my skin.

“In front of everyone. Do you even realize what you have just done?”

“Yes,” I spat, though my pulse was racing. “I saved myself.”

“Saved yourself? You think this saves you? You just declared war pup.”

His face inched closer, his breath hot on my cheek.

“You think De Luca can protect you? You think that kiss makes you untouchable? All it did was sign your death warrant.”

My stomach dropped.

Just then Nathan appeared and Lucio’s grip tightened painfully before he finally let go. But his eyes stayed locked on mine dark and full of promises I didn’t want to hear.

“Get the f**k out of here” Nathan snarled.

“You’ll regret this,” he whispered in my ears and he stepped away.

I stood frozen, my chest was heaving and my heart pounding so loud because suddenly, I realized something.

This wasn’t just about a fake engagement anymore.

This was war.