But I wouldn’t give Dante that satisfaction.

“Ilaria Riccio.”

My hand slid over the table as I kept eye contact with Dante.

His eyes were deep brown, stormy and dark much like his personality. He seemed annoyed that I was introducing myself but took my hand in his, making a show as he laid a kiss across my knuckles instead of shaking it.

I turned to my father as I withdrew my hand from his, a satisfied smirk on my lips as I tried to play this off.

“Don’t bet against me, papa. I never lose.”

The men laughed like this was a joke but I was used to this.

In my world women were underrated and that made us some of the best allies and deadliest enemies. After Dante’s tantrum earlier and making me late to dinner he was on the latter side of that list.

With another glass of wine in my hand I silently hoped my husband realized what a ride he was in for because this wasn’t going to be easy. This was going to be something he had to work at.

The mafia prince had met his match in me.

3DANTE

We had signed the contract for marriage with a lot of cheers and congratulations from our fathers. Ilaria drinking her wine as she looked like she was going through all the stages of grief in her like a sad movie in her eyes.

My father was giving me the silent warning eyes to do what I was supposed to.

He wanted me to walk her around the neighborhood, maybe down to the waterfront or to the square and give her the big diamond he said she deserved and that he had picked out with my mother for her.

But I wasn’t so sure the brat deserved anything but to be cut off the wine she drank like water and put in her place, probably over someone’s knee where she could be spanked into submission.

My father had already given me a look, several looks in fact, that quieted the glare that I had been aiming at her. He was looking at me like I was the one acting irrationally and not that naughty girl.

Ilaria had caught me glaring at her and had played her role as princess so well. Smiling at me and giving me the fluttering eyelash look that I’m sure had boys wrapped around her pretty little finger.

The idea of anyone looking at her already annoyed me. As if they were disrespecting me by noticing her. And I hated that she had that power so soon.

I needed to be on my best behavior. I had signed the contract after all. It was all put in motion already. We would each be told where to meet and what to do. Have dates like it wasn’t a wedding already being planned.

My father had mentioned us living in the North End, which made sense to me.

The mafia princess had been kept outside the city in a gilded cage of a suburb so she wasn’t used to the noise of the community. But she would learn how to deal with it.

At least she was beautiful. Infuriatingly so.

I hadn’t seen her eyes before but they were rimmed in a dusty cloud of gray, soft blue like the sky. They were the type of eyes that gave away every emotion she had. Storms would brew there just like they had been when she called me out on cornering her.

She was right that I shouldn’t have done that and if someone had tried to play that shit with her now I’d cut their tongue out for speaking to her so forcefully.

Ilaria was as good as my wife now and that meant she deserves the respect of that title. I took care of my things which meant that she would be given the same level of command that I held in the world. The only person she needed to listen to was me.

The one person she didn’t want to listen to.

“Ilaria.”

She looked up at me, a soft wine induced smile sent my way despite her eyes looking like they were steel daggers. It was very obvious she thought little of me.

I had grown used to women throwing themselves at me and to have a challenge was a bit exciting.

“Now that circumstances have changed with us. Maybe you can sign my permits. Tomorrow you can be on my arm at the grand opening for the club.” I said, always thinking about business, even at moments like this.

The way she looked at me showed she wasn’t impressed by this at all.

She finished her fourth, maybe fifth glass of wine looking at me like I was insane for suggesting something like that and this time I saw her roll her eyes at me.

Infuriating little princess. No respect and not even pretending to have any for me. She had been spoiled for too long. Overindulged.

Her pink tongue darted out, licking the wine stained red lips and making me want to tase the merlot that had stained them. My eyes locked to her mouth and made me hyper aware of her presence.

There was no way she was driving home tonight.

My eyes looked over at her father for some help in this matter but he wasn’t looking at us, making small talk instead with my father and seeming excited about the joining of our two families.

My father seemed younger in his joy of this endeavor. He was busy planning my life as I tried to live it.

“A summer wedding would be beautiful!” Her father said, ignoring what I said as she turned to him so quickly I thought she was going to break her neck, and I watched the way her eyes widened as she shook her head at this, clutching his arm as she smirked at him.

The way she looked at him had him eating out of the palm of her hands. Ilaria was very good at getting her way and it was obvious that her Papa had done nothing but spoil her. That was just another one of her many bad habits I was going to have to break.

Money wasn’t an issue.

There would always be money but if that little princess thought she was going to spend all day giving me lip and just take from me she had another thing coming. I licked my lips as I thought of her on her knees, having to say ‘please’ as I doled out an allowance.

This girl was a witch. A spell put on me that made me unable to keep my head around her.

“Papa, it’s July tomorrow. A summer wedding? No, there is no time for that. Too much to plan and all the venues are booked out for years. Unless you mean next summer, of course.” There was her smile again, her eyes on him as she tried to get her way.

She patted his arm as she looked around, obviously ready to go and have all this talk put on pause. So dismissive of the wedding talk even though she had signed a contact that she had just agreed to marry me.

But my father was looking at her too.

Good.

Let her sweat a little bit.

“We will pick a date before we leave this table. And you will be married by the end of the year.” My father left no room to be argued with and I could see another surge of panic across her pretty features. Just a small splash of emotion she hadn’t checked.

The princess was hiding something.