Chapter 5 The Man in the Shadows

Rebecca Windsor

My hands are trembling when I return inside.

My heart is racing.

And I’m smiling so much that I’ve started sighing like an idiot.

How crazy can I possibly be considered for spending so much time talking to a complete stranger in the garden?

And even crazier, what level of insanity am I reaching when I realize I didn’t even see him while we were talking?

But that wasn’t even the most remarkable part of the whole situation.

The best part was that I loved talking to him, and I could have stayed there for hours if no one had been waiting for me.

A kind gardener.

Definitely much more pleasant than the men in suits wandering around the mansion, talking business with that air of superiority, as if women were nothing more than part of the décor.

As if our opinions, dreams, and desires existed only to be ignored.

He didn’t do that.

He listened to me.

And maybe that was exactly what caught my attention so much.

He was the first man who paid attention to something beyond my appearance.

“Where were you?”

My mother’s cold voice strikes me, interrupting my thoughts.

My smile dies instantly when I see the fury on her face.

“Getting some fresh air,” I whisper, looking around for my friends.

I spot them talking to their suitors, which reminds me of mine.

Thinking about Clark makes me feel even more repulsed now.

“Your fiancé was looking for you.”

My mother gives voice to my fear, and I press my lips together to keep myself from grimacing.

“But he didn’t find you.”

“So he left?” I ask, hoping the answer will be yes.

“No. He’s still looking for you.”

“Good. Then I’ll go look for him outside,” I reply, already planning to return to the garden and try to talk a little longer with the stranger.

“Wait.”

She interrupts me, her eyes widening.

My mother looks at something behind me, and at that moment, it’s as if an overwhelming silence takes over the ballroom.

Even the music seems to grow quieter.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, turning around to see what has caught her attention.

“Lower your head, Rebecca. It’s the Don.”

A shiver runs through my body, but I obey her command.

I’ve seen him only a few times, but no one dares hold a Mafia boss’s gaze for too long.

Everyone looks away.

“Is he with his sons?” I ask without thinking, suddenly feeling my curiosity about William Belinni awaken again.

“He’s only with the younger one. The older one apparently didn’t come to the party.”

“To the disappointment of every single young woman here.”

Mary’s voice sounds beside me, and I realize my friends have already joined us.

My mother scolds her under her breath, but all we do is laugh.

“Where are your boyfriends?” I whisper, seeing the smiles appear on both her and Harper’s faces.

“They’re not our boyfriends yet.”

“From what I understand, they’ll soon be husbands, which is even more official,” I tease.

“Like you and Clark?” Harper shoots back, sending a wave of revulsion through my body.

“Our suitors went to talk business,” Mary answers, and I breathe a sigh of relief at the change of subject.

“I think they’re going to try to talk to the Don,” her twin adds. “Everyone wants a little bit of his attention.”

“But they’re nice,” Mary continues in a whisper. “At least the fact that William didn’t come to the party helped me. I think if I saw him in person, my boyfriend would suddenly seem much less interesting.”

“Ladies! I can’t believe you’re talking about such things!”

My mother looks scandalized by our conversation, and I’m certain I’ll spend several weeks grounded and forbidden from seeing my friends.

But I’m not thinking about that right now.

Mary and Harper are going to be responsible for making this party less boring for me, so I keep talking.

“Should we go get some appetizers?” I ask the twins, eager to get away from my mother so we can gossip in peace.

“Careful, Rebecca. Don’t eat too much. No man likes fat women,” my mother warns.

I suppress the urge to roll my eyes.

If men suddenly started preferring women without arms, I’m sure my mother would find a way to remove my limbs.

“Okay, Mom,” I reply, dragging my friends away from her.

Spending time listening to their stories is infinitely better than sinking into the melancholy my future with Clark insists on provoking.

I spend the next thirty minutes listening to my friends tell me every detail they’ve discovered about their suitors, and I’m genuinely happy to see how excited they are.

They’re handsome boys, with normal-sized hands and scents much more pleasant than cleaning products, which, let’s be honest, makes the entire process much easier.

I consider telling them about my conversation with the stranger in the garden, but I want to go over everything in my head alone first.

In my bedroom.

Reliving and memorizing every interesting thing he told me.

Creating a thousand theories about what he looks like and imagining what a future reunion might be like.

“Oh my God!” Mary whispers, her mouth falling open.

“He came!”

“Who?” I ask, frowning.

“William Belinni,” Harper answers for her, and suddenly a wave of heat rushes through my body.

My back is turned toward the direction where he supposedly is, and I take a deep breath to suppress the completely inappropriate urge to whip my head around like the girl from The Exorcist just to sneak a peek.

I can practically feel my mother’s critical stare on me.

“Good heavens… He’s even bigger and stronger in person. How is that possible?”

“People are practically drooling all over him, but he seems distracted,” Harper comments.

“He looks like he’s searching for something,” Mary observes.

“Or someone,” her twin finishes.

Another wave of heat hits me.

Why am I feeling like this?

“Weren’t you the one who was in love just seconds ago?” I tease, trying to distract myself instead of turning around to look at him.

Mary glances at me for a fraction of a second.

“If that man wanted me, I’d send my suitor straight to hell without thinking twice!”

Her sudden comment makes me burst out laughing, and a heavy silence settles around me.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”

The good twin practically panics, and her sister jabs her in the ribs to make her lower her voice.

Mary looks like she’s about to faint.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, feeling like my heart is about to leap out of my mouth.

“He’s looking this way!”

Mary is still frantic, but Harper looks at me with such seriousness that my stomach turns cold.

“Rebecca, he’s looking at you.”

My self-control lasts exactly three seconds.

I slowly turn my head, giving in to the temptation to finally look at William Belinni up close.

The first thing I notice is his absurd height.

He looks capable of covering half the ballroom with his shadow simply by existing.

Broad shoulders.

Arrogant posture.

Massive, well-defined muscles.

The future Don radiates physical strength and testosterone.

The second thing I notice is the tattoos running up his forearm and disappearing beneath his shirt, giving him a hard, dangerous appearance.

The third thing I see is the blood staining his knuckles, as though he had recently smashed them into someone during a fight.

I’ve heard Dad mention that William Belinni participates in and controls illegal fights, but was he doing that now?

On Christmas?

But the fourth thing I see…

That is enough to make me forget everything else.

Because William Belinni smiles.

It’s a small, crooked smile, but it’s still so wild that every cell in my body trembles.

There’s a flash of amusement in his dark eyes when my gaze meets his, as though he knows exactly what effect he has on people.

Fear.

Admiration.

Desire.

God.

What am I thinking?

I immediately look away, turning my attention back to my friends.

“Your cheeks are red, sweetheart,” Harper teases, biting her lips to keep from laughing.

But her laughter doesn’t last long, because Mary’s eyes, which were already enormous, now look like they’re about to fall out of her head.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, turning around to see what’s happening.

And that’s when my body freezes in place.

Because William Belinni…

is walking toward me.

Everything around me seems to disappear.

I feel as though everyone is staring at me now, but I’m so hypnotized by the gleam in his dark eyes that I can’t move.

The future Mafia boss stops inches away from me, and his smile widens.

But the gesture is so careful that even without placing his hands on me, I feel as though he’s touching me.

“Hello,” he whispers.

His low, deep voice sends a shiver down my spine.

I know that voice from somewhere.

But I’m absolutely certain I’ve never spoken to this man before.

If I had, I would remember.

William Belinni is not the kind of man you forget.

“Hello,” I whisper back, feeling the need to introduce myself.

“Rebecca Windsor.”

I extend my hand toward him, which now seems like an extremely stupid idea.

It’s as though I don’t know what to do with my hands.

I’m nervous with him this close to me, but the first thing I notice is that he smells good.

“William Belinni,” he says, extending his hand to take mine.

He gently takes my fingers, bringing them to his lips and kissing them softly.

My stomach freezes the second his mouth touches my skin.

It’s warm.

Soft.

I’ve never felt anything like it.

And the second thing I notice about our touch is just how large and muscular his hands are.

Everything about this man is enormous.

Rough.

Wild.

Completely different from my fiancé, with his small hands and disinfectant smell.

Speaking of my fiancé…

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Clark approaching.

William seems to follow my gaze, and his expression changes instantly.

He doesn’t smile when he looks at my fiancé.

Then his attention immediately returns to me.

“Would you give me the honor of dancing with you?”