“Aria, I don’t give a fuck about Grace, believe me. It doesn’t matter if she’s at the party or not.”

“If it doesn’t matter, then why did you keep the party a secret from me for so long?”

“Because I knew how you’d react, and I was right,” I said.

She frowned.

“Come on,” I said, then took her hand and tugged her toward the bed. She followed and climbed back under the covers. I joined her and pulled her on top of me, but her body didn’t soften as it usually did.

“She will try to rub it in that you cheated.”

I stroked her soft back. “I told you before. She is a fucking rat trying to humiliate a queen. Ignore her.”

Aria sighed. “I’m not sure I can.”

“You are a mafia princess, Aria. You were brought up to brave men like me. You can stand up to a wretched whore like Grace.”

Aria tilted her head. “If you think so little of her, why did you spend time with her?”

“It’s not like I dated her. She was a fuck buddy.”

“I can’t imagine sleeping with someone I don’t have feelings for. I’ve only ever made love.” Her voice was a soft exhale.

I ran my knuckles up her spine. “Before you I ever only fucked, Aria. I didn’t care about any of those women.”

“But if you couldn’t stand their presence, wasn’t it difficult to spend time with them after sex?”

My brows pulled together. “I didn’t stay afterwards.”

Aria’s eyes filled with incredulity. “You slept with them and left immediately after you were done?”

“I fucked them and left, yes. Why would I have stayed?”

She regarded me as if she couldn’t possibly understand my reasoning. “But…what about snuggling? Did you never long for closeness?”

I chuckled. “Oh, principessa, you have a wrong impression of me. This version of me is one only you have ever seen.”

She propped herself up on my chest and peered down at me. “But with me you like it?”

That she still had to ask. “No,” I murmured. “I love it.”

Her lips turned up in a gorgeous smile, then she gave me a soft kiss. As if anyone could ever compete with Aria.

Matteo looked like the cat that got the cream. With his sick fascination for trouble, he’d probably end up enjoying being married to Gianna after all. Thankfully, he wouldn’t marry her until the summer, so I didn’t have to bear their annoying bickering yet.

“I hope there will be a nice piece of ass for me at the party. I need a good fuck,” Matteo said.

“You can have Grace for all I care. She gives head like a pro,” I muttered.

Matteo seemed to consider that. “Not sure I want your leftovers. You wouldn’t mind?”

I snorted. “I don’t give a fuck, trust me.”

“She’ll make a move on you, Luca.”

I fucking hoped she wouldn’t, but I feared Matteo was right. I’d wounded Grace’s pride. She was a spoiled brat who was used to getting her way, and I was the first man who hadn’t fawned over her. I still wished I had killed her after what she did to Aria in the Sphere, but Father had forbidden it and our connections to Senator Parker were too important.

I was about to say something when Aria stepped out of the bedroom and onto the landing, and any sane thought escaped my mind. She wore a floor-length golden dress that fell in soft waves around her legs. It was sleeveless with a jeweled high collar. Her golden-blonde hair fell in wavy curls around her face. Now she looked like a queen.

Matteo released a low whistle. “Grace will throw a fit.”

Aria glided down the staircase and I moved toward her, extending my hand. She took it with a small smile. Nerves filled her eyes. “You are gorgeous, principessa.”

“You are,” Matteo confirmed.

Aria flushed and I squeezed her hand lightly in reassurance.

When we arrived in Senator Parker’s home, Aria’s hand was tense in mine, but her face didn’t reflect her turmoil. She looked regal and elegant as I led her inside his brownstone town house.

And then I spotted Grace, and worse, she spotted me.

Senator Parker sent me an apologetic look and Grace’s brother even tried to lead her away, but she sauntered over to us. She’d gone all out. A tight, gold sequined minidress that ended high up on her thighs and left little to the imagination. Her neckline dipped low, showing off her impressive chest.

Aria stiffened and I turned to her. Aria in her far less revealing dress was so much sexier than Grace could ever be. Aria was a queen, and Grace was not worthy to breathe the same air as her.

“Luca,” Grace said sweetly and actually leaned forward as if she considered hugging me, but the scowl I sent her made her pull back. “Aria,” she said with pursed lips.

“I need to have a word with you,” her brother said as he grabbed her arm and practically dragged her away. Maybe he had seen how much I wanted to end his sister, woman or not.

Aria relaxed beside me, but the first guests crowded around us soon so I didn’t get the chance to ask her if she was okay. Grace tried to catch my attention several times through the evening, but I didn’t spare her a glance and her brother paid better attention to her whereabouts, making sure she didn’t come close again.

Grace got visibly frustrated with my lack of interest and in a last attempt at getting a reaction out of me, she walked up to Matteo, who had been flirting with the daughter of another politician. She gave him her best bedroom eyes, leaning in close to him. Matteo smirked, but his eyes found me above Grace’s head.

I raised my eyebrows at him. Have a go at her.

He whispered something in her ear, wrapped his arm around her waist and cupped her ass. Before she led him away, she sent me a scathing look. Did she really think I gave a fuck? If she thought she could win me over by sucking my brother’s cock, then she was even stupider than I’d realized.

“Please tell me it’s not how it looks,” Aria whispered, looking sick to her stomach.

I squeezed her waist. “Matteo is going to get the blow job of his life.” A moment too late I realized how that had sounded.

Aria’s cheeks flushed and she stiffened in my hold, but I didn’t get the chance to soften my words because the owner of a restaurant chain we protected came over and involved me in a conversation. Aria’s face looked like it had been carved from stone the rest of the evening, and I could have kicked myself for my thoughtlessness. Aria stayed at my side, keeping up appearances, but she didn’t spare me a single glance.

Almost one hour later, Matteo returned to the party, his hair disheveled and a self-satisfied grin on his face. He sauntered over to us when my last conversation partner had left, and I sent him a warning look but of course Matteo, being an asshole, ignored it.

“Now I get why you kept her around for so long. Damn it, that woman doesn’t have a gag reflex.” That and she took it up her ass, but Aria didn’t need to know that.

She stiffened, paling. Matteo glanced at her, then back at me, dark eyebrows climbing his forehead. I sent him a death glare.

“Excuse me. I need to freshen up,” Aria said in a formal tone, stepping back from me.