I gesture for Benny to come over so I can hand out the drinks. “Thank you all for celebrating thirty with me. I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else. Salute!” We raise our glasses and shoot them back.
Lena takes the opportunity to introduce Luci to the guys. Although I can’t really hear what they’re saying over the loud music, I can see it written all over Dom’s face that he’s into Luci. She’s a beautiful girl, so it’s no surprise. He’s gonna be disappointed to find out she’s dating someone.
“Come on, old man. Let’s dance and see those moves,” Lena says, grasping my hand and pulling me toward the dance floor.
She looks sexy as fuck tonight. She’s wearing a black skirt that hugs all her curves and falls above her knees with black tights and knee-high boots. Her red scoop-neck top lets me see the swell of her breasts, and it makes me hard. She has no idea how sexy she is. She’s modest in comparison to how most women dress, rarely showing skin. But that’s one of the things I love about her. My imagination runs wild thinking about what’s underneath her clothes, even though I already know—and it’s all mine!
The electric beats cause our bodies to move in unison, her back to my front, and I grasp onto her rounded hips, squeezing and hugging her so she can feel my hard-on. I push her curls back from her shoulder, exposing her sweat-sheened neck, and drop kisses there, inhaling her coconut scent. Lena lifts her hands, wrapping them around my neck, pulling my face toward hers in search of my lips. When our mouths collide, she turns into me, deepening our kiss.
Lena brings her lips to my ear and whispers, “Happy Birthday, Massimo. I’ll give you the rest of your gift later when we’re home, and it’s just you and me.” Her breath is hot, her voice sultry, and I feel my dick straining inside my jeans. She’s rubbing her nose against mine and licking her lips that are covered in dark red lipstick. Lipstick that accentuates her full lips and makes me want to fuck her mouth.
“The only gift I ever want.”
“Don’t I know it,” she responds before eagerly kissing me. Her lips are fiery, and she shoves her tongue into my mouth, caressing my teeth.
She breaks away from me, saying, “I’m gonna go to the bathroom—gotta pee, and my glasses are all dirty.”
“Okay. Take Luci or Stella with you,” I say, my breathing still heavy. We start making our way back toward where the others are still by the bar, drinking and swaying to the music, the bulge in my jeans making it uncomfortable to walk. Thankfully it’s dark and crowded in here. Dom and Luci are off to the side, trying to have a conversation, so Lena grabs Stella and heads toward the bathroom.
I order a tall glass of ice water from the bartender. No more drinks for me since I have to drive later. At that moment, Rocco squeezes in next to me and starts telling me that he was talking to his friend about our next restaurant and what they were discussing. He set a meeting for us for next week where we can sit down to talk business without all the noise around us.
“Will you order me another drink?” Stella asks.
“Where’s Lena?” I respond, glancing over Stella’s shoulder.
“She stopped back there to talk to someone,” she answers, pointing toward the bathroom.
I push past her and rush toward the bathroom when I spot her talking to Stefano. His hand is grasping her left arm firmly, and she’s trying to push it off of her. From this angle, I can’t tell if she looks scared or upset.
I keep forcing my way through the crowd to get closer, and when I reach her, I clench his wrist, shoving it away from her. “Get your fucking hands off her!”
“Massimo, it’s okay. I’m handling it,” Lena says, laying her hand on my arm in an attempt to calm me down.
“So it’s true, you are with this tool. I had heard you two were dating but didn’t actually think you’d go out with him,” he says to Lena while looking at me.
“Stefano, I see you haven’t changed. You’re still an asshole. Come on, Massimo, let’s go,” Lena says, as she’s pulling my arm, but I’m not moving. I want to rip this douchebag’s face off for putting his hands on my girl and for talking smack.
“That’s right! Let your girl save you. You’ve always been a pussy,” he says, a sneer rolling off his tongue. Rage overtakes me, and I yank my arm away from Lena. She must pick up on my anger because before I know it, she’s standing between Stefano and me.
“Lena, move!”
“No. Massimo, let’s go.” Her arms stretch out to rest on my chest. Her eyes are searching for mine, but my blood is boiling, and all I see is my fist breaking this asshole’s nose. “I want to go home. Let’s leave.”
“Lena, fucking move. NOW!”
She flinches.
“Okay. I am moving,” she says, taking a step back, “but I’m walking to the door and leaving. So, you better come with me because I’m going home.”
She’s stoic in her words, but all I want to do is punch Stefano’s face in. She stares into my eyes before turning her back to me and leaving. Fuck!
When I look back to where Stefano is standing, he’s no longer there, and the people around me are all staring.
“What happened?” Stella asks, approaching me from behind.
Without looking at her, I respond, “Go get Luci, tell her we’re leaving.” I shove my way through the crowd, and when I get to the stairs, I take them down two at a time. Lena is on the stairs on the second floor, waiting for me, and her eyes are turbulent behind her wire frames.
“What the fuck was that?” I growl.
“Why are you yelling at me?” She moves to the side to let a group of women pass us as they’re ascending the stairs.
“You’re defending that douchebag now?”
“What? No, of course not!” Her head shakes. “I was handling the situation before you came over and caused a scene.”
“Caused a scene? You haven’t seen anything, sweetheart. I wanted to fucking destroy him!”
“I know, which is exactly why I did it.”
“I can’t believe you defended him. What were you thinking?”
“Are you listening to yourself? I didn’t defend him! I stopped you from getting into a fight.”
Her words infuriate me even more. “Exactly! You defended him. I see where your loyalty fucking stands.” I push my way past her and start taking the last flight of stairs down before stopping to say, “I’m fucking out. Go home with Luci.”
“Massimo, wait!”
But I ignore her, take the rest of the stairs down, and head straight for the door. The bitter cold shocks me yet feels refreshing. I have so much rage coursing through my veins right now that the cold air helps me breathe. I left my jacket inside, but Lena has the coat check tickets anyway.
I sprint to get to my Jeep, stick the key in the ignition, turn it on, and peel out of the spot.
While driving, my phone rings, and I see Lena’s name. I hit ignore. Seconds later, my phone rings again, and this time it’s Rocco. “What?”
“What the fuck Mass? Where’d you go?”
“I left. Make sure Lena leaves with Luci.”
“What? Why?”