Lucifer: A Mafia Bad Boy Romance (Sinsations Book 1) (4 page)

 She looked at me with wide eyes. “I can’t stay with you tonight.”

“Of course you can. We’re engaged.”

“Not really.”

I smiled at her. It was always so cute when a woman played hard to get. But I had just kissed her, and her reaction had told me she was more than ready to share my bed. I actually couldn’t believe my luck. After she disappeared, I had worried that she had left the casino, worried that I’d never see her again, which was a strange way for me to feel. There was something about her, something that drew me to her like a moth to a flame. I just had to hope that I better luck than the moth. Hopefully, this connection I felt would enhance the illusion. This had to look real. Uncle Vinny wasn’t
stupido
, as he would say.

“Stop smiling at me like you know you’re going to get your way,” she snapped. “I am not spending the night with you. Last night was…,” she cleared her throat. “Last night can’t happen again.”

Damn! She was really working the hard-to-get angle. If it was just a roll in the hay, I’d let this play out to its inevitable conclusion – her legs wrapped around me as I pounded her into my mattress – but this was business and there wasn’t any time for games. “Two thousand dollars.”

“What?”

I chuckled. She had gone pale and her mouth had dropped open in a huge ‘O’. She had heard me, but we could play just a bit longer. “I said this was a job. I’ll pay you two-thousand dol—”

“I’m not a whore,” she yelled. Loudly.

I pulled her to me again, holding her tight against me. She gasped, feeling my hardness press against her. My lips were mere inches from hers as I looked into her eyes. “I never said you were.” I leaned closer. “I’m not paying you to have sex with me. There are a hundred women in this casino I could fuck for free right now.”

“Bastard,” she muttered, trying to pull away.

I held on tight, crushing her against me. “I’m paying you to pose as my fiancée for my uncle.” I flashed a grin. “The sex is just a bonus.” She started to say something but I didn’t let her. I claimed her mouth with mine, enjoying the soft surprised moan that escaped her, the feeling of her nipples pebbling against my chest. I broke the kiss. She opened her eyes, glazed with lust. “Say yes. Say you’ll pretend to be my fiancée tonight and tomorrow.”

“Yes… but I’m not sleeping with you.”

I nodded. Her mouth could say whatever. Her eyes, her flushed cheeks, her hard nipples told a different story. “We won’t do anything you don’t want to do,” I promised. I removed my arm from around her waist, holding back a grin as I noticed she remained standing close to me.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll do it. I just need to go home and get some clothes.”

I shook my head, reached into my jacket, and pulled out my money clip. “No need.” I pulled out twenty one-hundred dollar bills and held them out to her. “This is in addition to what I’ll pay you. Go shopping and buy some nice things.”

She stared at the money in my hand like I was trying to hand her a snake. “Go ahead. It won’t bite you.”

She stared a bit longer, looked up into my eyes, back down at the money. Finally, slowly, she reached out, tentatively wrapped her fingers around the money, not moving. I let go and she gasped, shocked to suddenly being the only one holding the money. She glanced around, as if worried she might be robbed at any moment, quickly folded the cash, and shoved it in her pocket.

I watched a couple walk by, talking excitedly about the man’s good fortune at the poker tables. The overhead lights made the diamond ring on her left hand sparkle and I suddenly realized I had forgotten an important element to the illusion I was trying to create. I plucked out another two thousand dollars and held it out. “Buy yourself an engagement ring, too. A nice one.”

She took the money, looked at it, and put it in her pocket. Her face was expressionless, shock in her eyes. She stood there in front of me, not seeming to know what to do next. I took her hand in mine and she looked up at me. “It’s okay. It’s just money. This is supposed to be fun, and you look scared to death.” I reached up with my other hand and caressed her cheek. “Smile for me.”

She smiled. It was slow in coming, and probably fake. Her eyes still had that vaguely lost look in them. But it was a start. I nodded towards the front of the casino. “Go shopping. Have fun. I’ll call and have my limo waiting out front for you. My driver will take you anywhere you want to go.” I leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss, telling myself it was in case Uncle Vinny was watching, but it was really because I wanted to feel her lips again, and she looked so lost and helpless right now. It took everything I had to not wrap her in my arms and pull her close against me again. The urge – the need – to protect her was strong. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

“We’ll have dinner tonight in my penthouse so we can talk, find out a little about each other, just in case Uncle Vinny tries to trip us up.”

She nodded, turned towards the front of the casino, looked back quickly over her shoulder at me, and walked off.

Four thousand dollars. Within the space of ten minutes, I had been handed more money than I had ever had at one time. By a man who was basically a complete stranger. Was I really going to do this? Pretend to be his fiancée? I had come back into the casino to look for a job, but this definitely wasn’t what I’d had in mind.

I stepped outside and saw a long, black limousine waiting at the curb, a chauffeur standing at the back door. I shook my head. This was too much, but my parents didn’t raise a fool. I could buy a couple of things, being careful of how much I spent, and use the rest for things like rent and groceries, things that would be needed when this strange fantasy ended and I had to return to real life.

I nodded and smiled at the chauffeur as he opened the door for me. “Thank you,” I said, sliding into my very first limo. I couldn’t help but stare at the luxuriousness around me. My apartment wasn’t even this nice. “I’m supposed to go shopping,” I said to the driver as he slid behind the wheel, “but I don’t really know where to go.”

“No worries, miss,” the driver replied. “Mr. Libonati told me where to take you.”

“Oh.” Well, that was unexpected, but appreciated. He probably decided I needed a little help since I hadn’t done anything but stare at him like a dead fish.

Very smooth, Krista. Good thing he wants your body because you definitely didn’t wow him with your personality.

I shook my head. There was no reason to wow him. This was business. Nothing more.

Our first stop turned out to be a jewelry store, and Lucifer had already called ahead. The sales clerk had selected four different engagement rings for me to look at. When I had suggested looking at others, I was informed that these four had been selected because they met Mr. Libonati’s high standards. They were definitely gorgeous. Even with only four to choose from, it was almost impossible to pick just one.
Almost
impossible. I finally decided on one with a band twisted like a Celtic knot that had a ring of small diamonds surrounding a larger princess diamond in the center. Even though it was just for show to fool Lucifer’s uncle, I couldn’t keep the goofy grin off my face. As I slid into the limo, I had to resist the urge to open the case and look at it again. Clothes shopping would seem boring after this.

My phone rang and I had the crazy idea that it was him. The number was unlisted but it was still possible. I pushed the button, wondering if he’d be able to hear the smile in my voice. “Hello?”

“Hello, Baby. How ya been?”

The smile fell from my face like it had been slapped off, a cold chill racing down my spine as my eyes automatically searched the street. “How did you get this number?”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Baby. Do you know how many favors I had to cash in to find you?”

“I don’t care. I’m going to hang up now… and I’m changing the number again.”

“You do what you need to do, Baby, but I know where you are now. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Vegas. I’m looking forward to seeing you when I get there.”

Before I could respond, he hung up.

The driver eyed me in the rearview mirror. “Everything okay, miss?”

I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes as I tried not to cry. No, nothing would ever be okay again. I was foolish to think I could escape him. “Take me back,” I said.

“You still need to get clothes, miss.”

“I said take me back,” I almost yelled. “Now!”

The driver nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

I felt bad for being mean to him. It wasn’t his fault my life was falling apart. I looked at the jewelry box sitting next to me. Not even it could diminish the feeling of dread running through my veins. I’d pretend to be Lucifer’s fiancée until tomorrow night, and then it would be time to leave town.

I practically ran inside when we got back to Sinsations, not even taking time to thank the driver or apologize for my earlier outburst. He could already be here, or have one of his buddies here to keep an eye on me. Being outside was dangerous. Hell, being anywhere was dangerous. I still had Lucifer’s money for the clothes. I could make a run for it right now, just disappear like I’d never been here. Lucifer would probably be upset about the money. I glanced around at the glitz and glam of the casino, looked at all the people at the tables and the slots. Who was I kidding? The cash he gave me was, quite literally, pocket money to him. He’d never miss it. He would, however, miss the use of his legs if my ex showed up here. Lucifer was a dog who did most of the thinking with his penis, but he didn’t deserve a confrontation with Mike. Nobody did.

Damn it! Things were just starting to look up, and then my lousy past had to catch up with me. Running would be the smart thing to do, the safe thing to do, but Lucifer was counting on me. I’d given my word, and that was about all I had left to me. If I betrayed his trust, then my ex’s victory over me would be complete, proving that he still had control. I gritted my teeth until my jaw ached, anger burning through me. That bastard was NOT going to be the boss of me.

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I wasn’t watching where I was going until I collided with something that felt like a brick wall, knocking me off balance.

“Whoa there, honey. Where’s the fire?”

Two strong hands grabbed my upper arms, catching me before I could fall backwards. I looked up and saw a familiar face. I didn’t know his name but I had seen him talking with Lucifer.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my cheeks glowing red with embarrassment. “I should’ve been watching where I was going.” I had been really lost in my thoughts to not see this guy. Not quite as tall as Lucifer but as broad as a door, and just as solid.

He flashed me a smile. “No worries, sweet cheeks. You can bump into me any time you like.” He winked.

Yep. Definitely one of Lucifer’s friends. “I’m just trying to…” Well, this was going to sound all kinds of wrong. I cleared my throat. “I’m trying to find Lucifer’s place. I’m… having dinner with him.” Technically true, without any of the weird fiancée stuff.

The man looked me up and down, and then recognition dawned on his face. “Oh, you’re Krista, aren’t you?”

“Umm… yeah.” Holy hell. Had he told everyone I was going to be staying with him?

The man held out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Dante.”

I couldn’t help grinning as I shook his hand. “Lucifer? Dante? Seriously?”

He shrugged. “Not the most common names. Probably the reason we became best friends. I’ve known him since we were in the service.”

I gasped. “Lucifer was in the military?” I couldn’t picture the Vegas playboy wearing fatigues and crawling through the mud.

Dante nodded. “Yeah. He doesn’t like to talk about it. We saw...” His smile faltered for a split-second. “We saw some bad things over there.” The smile popped back like it had never been gone. “But that was then and this is now, and I really appreciate you helping Luc with his uncle. The family can be a real pain in the ass.”

I laughed. “I always thought my family was difficult, but not so difficult that I had to fake an engagement for…” I tilted my head. “He never actually said why he’s doing this.”

“Not my story to tell, but maybe he’ll tell you if you ask him.”

I nodded. He had said we could get to know each other over dinner. It wouldn’t hurt to ask.

Dante’s phone buzzed and he glanced at it. “Duty calls.” He pointed towards the stairs. “The elevator next to Luc’s office will take you straight up to the penthouse. Olivia can give you the code.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Have fun tonight.”

He walked off, not realizing he had given me great advice. So what if Mike, my bastard ex-boyfriend, knew I was in Vegas? It was a big town. I could easily be gone before he had a chance to find me. In the meantime, I was going to be spending the night with a sexy, drop-dead gorgeous man. Aside from that little restroom tryst with Lucifer, I hadn’t been with anyone since Mike, and it was about damn time that changed. I wasn’t a nun, and I sure as hell wasn’t getting back together with him so there was no reason to take the celibate route.

Even better, since I’d be leaving tomorrow night, this thing with Lucifer would be over soon. There was no chance of getting involved, because while Lucifer was awesome in the sack, he definitely wasn’t long-term material. I smiled as I headed for the stairs. I finally had a plan. I was going to have fun. Things couldn’t get any easier than that.

I held my forearm against the guy’s throat, pinning him against the wall as I held a gun up to his face. The door down at the end of the hall opened and Dante entered, his eyes going wide when he saw the situation.

“What’s up, Luc?” There was an edge to his voice, a nervousness that sounded completely alien coming out of his mouth. I realized he hadn’t seen me hold a gun since we had returned to the States. It was understandable. I actually hadn’t held a gun since returning. Until now. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I had sort of missed it.

I nodded towards the guy. “This chump pulled a gun on me.”