Ruthless Struck In Love Book 1

Chapter 2 Antonio

It was almost 1 am, and I was chilling with my friends in the VIP area of the club. I was talking, watching the women dance in front, laughing, and having a good time.

I just happened to glance over and notice a beautiful woman with her friends seductively dancing. I was so caught off guard by the smile on the statuesque black beauty that I stopped speaking. She stole the breath right out of my lungs. She was so breathtaking to me.

We made eye contact as she walked back to her seat and neither of us could look away from the sudden heat and the strong pull we felt.

She took my breath away and made me so uncomfortable that I had to adjust myself in my pants from the arousal slowly making an appearance while I was in a crowded room.

Finally, I was being drawn back to the conversation by the snap of a finger from my best friend, Carlo Russo.

"Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine; what did you say?"

I took a sip of my drink.

"I said, let's take these lovely women out to dinner and then head back to the house for a nightcap."

Both women were sitting there, smiling inanely, and rubbing on my knee like it was a magic lamp and would grant them their gold-digging wishes.

A few minutes later, the beauty I was eyeing was abruptly stopped by some guy that came up behind her and must have asked her to dance. She hesitated and took a step back, looking around. The music turned to a slower song and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

I began to feel agitated and frustrated by the closeness of this jerk, pushing up on my woman.

"My woman," I whispered slowly.

Damn, I had no claim on her yet, but there was no denying that I felt somewhat protective of a complete stranger.

The guy moved in closer and placed his face in the nape of her neck. She shrugged his head away and shook her head. As the song ended, she glanced around the room and noticed me looking. Somehow, anger overwhelmed me. I was seething to kick this guy's ass for touching what belonged to me.

The DJ started playing faster songs and he started grinding up on her. My attempt to get up and handle this douchebag was halted by one of the Doubletramp twins.

"Where are you going, Tony?" she whined.

One tramp tried grabbing my hand and she must have felt scared by the look I gave her because she dropped it just as fast.

Still eyeing the beauty, I noticed she had gone back over to her table before I could talk to her. I decided just to play it cool before my temper blew up.

Carlo passed me a drink and I knocked it back.

Checking my phone, I received a notification from my boys, Sonny and Lenny, telling me about a new shipment coming in tonight. Having to take on more work from my family's business on top of opening up more clubs, had me annoyed and beyond exhausted.

I replied back.

Antonio: Load and land at Mama's house for dinner.

Sonny: She makes the best meatloaf.

Thinking about this deal and closing our Spain liquor deal would add a lot more dollars to our pockets. Sonny replying in delight about something meant that everything was fine in code and helped to keep things off the Feds' radar in case any of our people got held up and made me feel better about the situation.

I decided to get up and head to my office to finish up some paperwork before leaving.

While noticing my black beauty standing and dancing so close to other guys and watching their hands roam all over what belonged to me, my blood started boiling. I thought of stepping in and pulling her toward me.

"What the fuck am I doing?"

I shook the thoughts of her out of my mind. This would never work. After dealing with Camilla for so long and then her betrayal, my heart was cold and closed off to the idea of new relationships. The only thing on my mind was fucking and fleeing. They didn't even come to my place. One thing I could admire about my parents was the bond they had. Their bond showed that when you meet the one, you never let them go.

"Hey, want to dance?"

"No, sweetheart."

She looked at me with her nose turned up as if I had made the worst decision ever. She moved in closer and slowly ran her hand up and down my chest. I gently grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"If you want to keep your tiny little hands, you'll think twice about touching me again without permission."

"You'll change your mind."

"I doubt it."

Carlo walked over to us and patted me on the back.

"April, just walk away," Carlo said.

"Carlo, tell your friend I'm the best."

"I think the entire club already knows that, April, so just take a hike and we'll send a waitress to you with free drinks."

I shook my head at her stomping off and pouting like a little kid.

"Have you hit that?" I asked.

"If I say yes, would you hold that against me?"

We both burst into laughter at his comment and walked back over to our seats.

I raised my glass to our guests and made a toast.

"Thank you all for coming tonight, our club is running beyond our expectations, and soon the Spain deal will lead us into international waters. I couldn't have done this without my friend and brother from another mother, Carlo."

"Cheers!"

Everyone raised their glass and took a shot. I smiled looking over at the crowd inside our club. This was my true passion, running a chain of nightclubs and making a name for myself outside of the De Luca Cartel. I slapped Carlo on the shoulder gently and stood to walk toward my office.

"This is only the beginning," I murmured to Carlo.

"I know, brother," Carlo replied.

My father underestimated me in thinking I would only be his errand boy and sit on the throne and do his bidding, but I made a name for myself in business and even though my place in the family was something I couldn't change, I would make sure that my dreams were still fulfilled and work on opening more chains of nightclubs.

I narrowed my eyes on April as she grasped my hand, stopping me from walking away. Tonight was about me celebrating and if I wanted a woman I'd pick who I wanted and not someone that constantly threw herself at me.

"Baby, I have a friend that can come over tonight with us," April insisted.

"Not tonight," I said, removing her hand.

"Antonio, you know how good we are tonight," April seductively stated as she pushed her hand under my jacket and ran it up my chest.

"If I was in the mood for you, I'd let you know. This isn't getting me interested," I replied as I lifted her hands away from me and continued down the hall.