His Mafia Dancer (Book 1 in the Segreto Series) ©

I

Xena Valentino

Putting my curls into a bun I smile at how I look. The light makeup I put on brings out my facial features and the matte brown lipstick I put on goes well with the dress and it compliments my skin well.

I hear the bathroom door open and see Vanni walking in with a very expensive suit on along with a dark green tie that matches my dress. He comes up behind me and hugs me from behind. I smile when I see our reflection.

"I was thinking," He starts as he begins trailing kisses down my neck. The lack of sleeves leaves him lots of room. "Maybe it wouldn't be bad if you were openly mine publicly. Press was gonna find out soon anyways." he smirks against my skin before sucking on the sweet spot on my neck causing me to let out a small breathless moan.

"We don't even know what this is Vanni." I manage to get out as he begins sucking and nipping on every inch of my neck and collarbone. "Not to mention the fact that I'm a stripper. That wouldn't look good for you." I stutter lowly.

He removes his mouth from my skin and stands straight up allowing me to see the many hickeys he's left. Looking me straight in my eyes through the mirror he starts. "To answer your first statement, your mine in every way possible. You might not feel the same about me but I know I'm not letting you go. As for the second statement, no one would find out about you being a stripper if that's what your worried about. There are no phones allowed in the club and it's on private property so press will never be waiting outside. Plus it doesn't matter if you being a stripper would look good for me. It's our life."

Turning around to face him he leans down and I give him a quick peck in an attempt to not start something that couldn't be finished.

"Let's go." I tell him.

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As we reach an expensive looking restaurant in the black Camaro that Vanni insisted we drove in it. My door is opened and I grab Vanni's hand as he leads me out before closing the door and handing the keys to valet.

As we head into the restaurant I notice the expensive decorations everywhere and it smells amazing.

A waiter leads us to a secluded table in the back where we sit across from each other and leaves us to go grab champagne.

"Do you like it so far?" Vanni asks referring to the restaurant.

"Yes, it's amazing Vanni. I didn't catch the name when we were outside though." I inquire.

"This is 'La Famiglia Segreto'. One of our many restaurants. This one specifically is owned by Arya. She's an amazing chef and she's always wanted her own restaurant so on he 20th birthday we all decided to give her this one." he explains.

"Is she here?" I ask in a worried tone.

"No she's supposed to be on a trip with her fri-"

"Gio!" A woman with jet black straight hair with similar features comes over to our table with angry look on her face. She looks at me and smiles. "Hey there, you must be Gio's girlfriend that he failed to mention to anyone. I'm Arya, his sister." She reaches her arms out as she glares at Vanni. I stand up and hug her, she squeezes me tight and I can tell she means well.

"Hi, my name's Xena Valentino." I greet her as we pull out of the hug.

"Valentino as in-" Vanni clears his throat shifting both of our attention towards him.

"You really thought you could get a reservation at my restaurant without me knowing. The whole family has been getting questions about you and your girlfriend! You didn't even let us know that you had one." Arya shot daggers at him.

"Arya please tell me they don't know we're here." I sit on his lap and rub circles on his chest in an attempt to calm him down. He tenses up but then relaxes with his arms around my waist.

"They're on their way now Gio. Looks like we're having our family dinner." She looks at me with a sorry look knowing that I didn't know I would be meeting the whole family.

I think about the dress I have on and swear to myself as I realize I have a bunch of hickeys on my neck.

"Don't worry they won't judge." Arya tries to assure me as if reading my mind. "Let's go find a bigger table."

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After finding a table 6 others came including the rest of his siblings and his parents. They all welcomed me with hugs except for Rico because of the fact that he's my boss and it's already very awkward.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Matteo asks me as I take a sip of white wine.

"I uhm..." Struggling to find what to say I knew this question was gonna come. Saying I'm a stripper in front of his whole family would not win me a lot of points.

"Matteo don't be so nosey." Vanni sneers at Matteo. I grab his hand under the table and squeeze to calm both his and my nerves.

"I'm a stripper." I admit shakily, I might as well let them know now.

The table gets quiet for a second before his mom speaks. "I remember those days. Before I met you guys' father I was a stripper. It was quite a fun job and I made a ton of money." She smiles at the memory as all her kids cringe and her husband looks at her with a look of shock that tells me he didn't know about her job.

"I just started actually, I work for Rico." I add hoping to make the situation less awkward.

"By the way you don't have to work tonight. I can see you'll probably be busy." Rico replies gesturing between Vanni and I.

Throughout the whole dinner I get to know each of them well. His parents are surprisingly nice, you can tell there's a lot of love between the two. Sienna, the youngest sibling is very quiet and to herself. Matteo is very bold and a bit nosy but its sweet. The twins are almost exactly the same just different genders. I found out that Luciano likes men which added to them being the same. I learned a little more about Rico, he's very goofy and like to joke a lot and I can tell his heart is big. They all seem like they have an underlying temper in them, maybe not as big as Vanni's but it's definitely there.

As we leave more pictures are taken of the whole family plus me and Vanni. This time Vanni answers one of the many paparazzi's questions.

"Yes she is my girlfriend."

I look up at him and give him a confused look but he takes the chance to kiss me letting the paparazzi get pictures.

Already I feel myself falling for him and I don't know if I'll be able to pick myself back up.