Page 33 of The Mafia Bachelor

AVERY

I think I’m going to blow chunks.

The other girls and I walk into a room full of the most powerful men and women in London. This, apparently, is the “meet the friends and colleagues” stage of the process. And Kill’s friends are the London Mafia Syndicate.

A group of the deadliest mafia bosses in London.

It’s a black-tie event, and there’s a sense of us being thrown to the wolves. I’ve spent all week half in disbelief that Kill pushed me against the door of my bedroom, called me his good girl, made me break with pleasure, then tucked me into bed and left.

In the morning, there was the now customary handing out of roses. He gave me a rose second, after Jemma. And since, I’ve been boiling with jealousy and confused. Second. If he didn’t want me, why would he make me come like that?

It’s been a looooonnnnggg week with my own thoughts and insecurities for company. A dress arrived for me, and it’s as stunning as everything else Kill has selected. Fits perfectly. But what’s making me miserable is that there’s no private dinner that Kill could take me to after this. The event is the whole thing, there are so many people, and Sue is lurking like an evil mafia mother.

“It can’t be any worse than when they shot at us,” Jemma, who’s next to me and has been more friendly since the airport incident, mutters.

“It can. They have real guns,” I say under my breath. And it’s true. The men might be in dinner jackets, but there are weapons obviously concealed beneath them.

My eyes immediately find Kill in the crowd, as though I’m drawn to him. He’s magnetic, even amongst a lot of very tall, attractive men. Kill just has something they don’t. It’s like he glows.

“This is really the London Maths Club! I’m so excited!” squeals Violet.

“The what?” I whisper to Jemma.

But there isn’t time to get an answer before we’re noticed.

“These are your ladies, Archway?” One of the impeccably dressed women has approached our little group.

“Well, one of them is,” Kill says, not moving, and his gaze drifts across the others before coming to rest on me. He gives me a quick wink, so fast I think I imagined it. But there’s softness in his eyes. His hands are in his pockets, and his tie is loose. He looks… Gorgeous. And relaxed with these people. His friends.

That makes me all the more jealous.

There’s a whole barrage of introductions, and I probably remember less than half. The women introduce themselves with their first names, and the men just with their territory name. And it’s a scattered map of London and I can’t keep track.

“It’s a surprising way to get a wife, Archway. You’re all competing to marry him?” Callie glances between Kill, the other women, and me. She’s the wife of… I can’t remember, honestly.

“Isn’t that what women have been doing for decades?” I say, my heart beating beneath my flippant comment. “Competing for an eligible bachelor?”

Everyone except Kill laughs. He scowls, and I smile back at him innocently.

“So many potential wives. It’s going to be a huge commitment for him. How is he going to kidnap you all?” Jessa asks lightly. I think she said she’s an interior designer, and Lambeth’s wife.

“I have ways. And a big… car.” Kill’s eyes gleam as he makes the joke, but he’s lost the relaxed vibe when our eyes met across the room.

“Need a people carrier.” Jessa waggles her eyebrows. “Which is perfect, because you can repurpose it afterwards.”

Katy giggles. “A big family! I’ve always wanted lots of children!” She strokes her hand over her hair and looks at Kill with a cute and suggestive expression.

Resentment curdles in my gut.

“Have you got any questions for us?” A man with the posh accent asks, jerking me back to the conversation.

There’s silence, and it’s awkward for a few seconds. No one is going to say anything.

“Westminster, why’d you have to make it like a job interview?” says a man with a Russian accent and I realise he’s Rotherhithe, from the airport ambush.

“What’s the London Maths Club?” I blurt out after some awkward seconds.

“The London Maths Club? Oh, it’s so cute. You’ll love it,” Jessa says, eyes shining. “The story is that the kingpin of Canary Wharf, that’s Rhys.” Jessa points at one of the men from the airport. “He was pretending to be a CEO and not a mafia boss because his assistant had redesigned his office with an excessive number of plants and spent a fortune on a new carpet.”