I gaped at him with a loss for words. My mouth suddenly felt dry, thinking about the things he could do to me.

He was so big compared to me; his hands alone were about the same size as my face.

He was so painfully handsome. I always had a thing for bad boys. But looking at Enzo made me realize those little boys I was involved with were just posers.

Enzo was dangerous to be around.

Rob was in a trunk, and they all acted like it was a normal occurrence.

Sure, Rob's a dick, but did he really deserve to get beat up and shoved into a trunk?

By the time we finished eating dinner, it was almost midnight. I yawned loudly before I could stop it from escaping. Enzo chuckled.

"Tired, Principessa?" he asked me sweetly.

"Yeah," I nodded sleepily. My eyelids felt so heavy all of a sudden.

"Well, we are going to Manhattan for our business meeting, we will drop you off on the way Bella," he insisted.

I wasn't going to argue. I was more than grateful. Why would I want to take an hour-long train ride to get home?

Especially when it was so late at night, and all the creeps were probably out.

"Thank you so much, Enzo," I nodded at him.

"Yeah! There aren't enough seats in the SUV, but don't worry. You can just sit on my lap in the back, gorgeous," Dante chimed in suddenly. He was smirking hard and gave me a joking wink.

I giggled at his invitation. But when I realized Enzo was staring at his brother angrily, I quickly quit giggling.

"Sorry," I silently mouthed to Dante. I gave Dante and guilty smile when Enzo wasn't looking, and he laughed back. He gave me a quick thumbs-up, like getting Enzo riled up was so funny to him. I shook my head trying to suppress a laugh from coming out.

"Dante can just ride in the trunk with Rob," Alessio said with a shit-eating grin.

Dante scowled at his brother playfully. I laughed again.

"I think that's a good idea," Enzo added.

"Hey, no fair! Two against one?! Lilly, help me out," Dante raised his eyebrows at me.

"Stefano is right there. He looks more qualified to back you up than I am," I laughed out.

Stefano smirked and shrugged.

"Dante doesn't have to sit in the back seat," Stefano inserted himself into the conversation. Then he added smoothly, "Lilly can just sit on my lap instead."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Seriously Stefano.

He chuckled, and Enzo growled at him.

"Lilly will be sitting on no one's lap," Enzo said curtly. There was no room for joking and they all nodded.

"They were just joking," I defended, feeling awkward and a bit guilty.

"I know that Bella but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. Joking or not, I don't care," Enzo said in a purely serious tone.

"Lilly I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry," Stefano quickly said, looking guilty.

"Me neither, I just thought we were having fun..." Dante looked down shamefully.

I frowned. "I was just playing too. I didn't feel uncomfortable, don't worry. I didn't think you guys were being serious or anything," I said awkwardly.

Enzo was taking it more seriously than we were. It was innocent teasing to us. He was so concerned about me, he must not have seen that. I didn't want him to fight with his brothers, though.

"As long as you aren't upset," Enzo double-checked.

I giggled and assured him, "I promise, I'm having fun. I am not upset at all. It is fun to play around with you guys. I don't really have any friends, so this is nice. I never really made time to make friends, since I was always busy with school or work."

"You want to be friends...with us...Lilly are you blind or something?" Alessio questioned with a hint of amusement.

I frowned at him with confusion. Maybe they didn't like me, and they were just being polite. I looked down at my hands with embarrassment. I felt so stupid.

"Lilly, I didn't mean it like that. You are confusing my words. I meant, look at us. What was your first reaction when you saw Enzo? When you saw the men surrounding him. When you saw us. Do we look cuddly? Your first reaction was definitely fear. Everyone's is. As it should be. And our inside matched our outsides," he said solemnly.

"I don't understand. What do you mean?" I looked at him with confusion.

Was I missing something?

"He means we are literal mobsters, Lilly," Dante scoffed.

I giggled. No one else laughed, however. My smile dropped and my eyes darted around the table. No one was anything but serious or apprehensive looking.

They were serious. Oh shit. Just my luck.

I gaped at them. Well, that actually made a lot of sense. I already suspected something of the sort after they put Rob in a car trunk.

I gulped, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Hearing them outright admit it felt a little too real.

Stefano reached over and punched Dante in the arm so hard that he almost fell out of his seat.

"I was trying not to say that," Alessio grumbled at Dante, punching him in the other arm.

"Now look at her. She looks terrified," Alessio practically growled at his brother.

I opened my mouth to say something but closed it. How was I supposed to reply to that? I couldn't deny my facial expressions.

"Relax, Lilly. We would never hurt you. You are far too innocent to lay even a finger on," Stefano added in a soft voice. He sounded like he was talking to a wounded animal.

"Of course not. We'd never let anything happen to you. But, you have the right to know. You should know who we are before saying you want to be friends with us. We aren't good men. There is no point in pretending we are," Dante shrugged.

I nodded.

"I would like to be friends with you, Lilly. I just thought you would be scared of us. Scared of what it means to be associated with us. We are criminals."

I thought about it in silence for a moment. They just watched me. I could feel them staring at me with expectation. They were probably waiting for me to run out of the restaurant screaming.

I shrugged.

"I don't care that you guys are in the mafia, that's what it's called right?"

Dante and Alessio chuckled.

"We aren't in the mafia, Bella. We run it. I'm the boss of the Italian mafia in New York" Enzo said almost cautiously, trying to gauge my response.

"Oh..." I said blankly.

"Yeah..." Enzo sounded like he was upset. I think he thought I was going to be upset over this news. But, I honestly thought it was kind of cool. That was definitely dumb of me. My brain should be going 'DANGER!!!' but instead I was filled with curiosity.

"Well, I don't care that you guys run the mafia. You all are fun to be around. Plus, I don't have any friends, so it is nice to have people to hang out with like this," I said plainly. That sounded kind of pathetic, but it was the truth. I shrugged again, "If you want to be friends then I don't care about the mafia stuff."

Enzo looked nervous. Dante looked smug. Alessio looked excited. Stefano looked surprised.

I smiled widely at them all.

"Good," Alessio smiled back.

"I knew she wouldn't be scared. She likes the danger. Too intrigued to be afraid.

Too brave," Dante smirked smugly. I thought he was making fun of me for my zero sense of self-preservation. Or maybe he thought I was too naive to understand the reality behind Enzo's confession. It sounded like he was being sarcastic.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I said snappily.

"Yes, an honest one," he punctuated it with rolling his eyes as if it was so obvious.

"Oh, thank you..." I mumbled awkwardly.

He laughed in response. "Defensive much?" He teased.

Maybe that was a little defensive. But, I couldn't help it. Rob had been taunting me for what felt like a year. He kept insulting me, getting in my head.

I laughed, "shut up, Dante." Everyone laughed, including Dante and me.

"You're fun to be around, Lilly," Dante said with a grin. "I don't know how people don't swarm to be near you."

I beamed at the compliment.

"Thank you, Dante. You can un-shut up now," I giggled.

"Oh, fantastic thank you!"

"Nooo! Don't take it back Lilly. He talks too much," Stefano sighed.

"Yeah, true!" Alessio added.

"Hey!" Dante said through a laugh.

"You're a trouble maker, Bella," Enzo whispered.

I laughed because he was so right about that. I yawned feeling sleepier than before. But, I wanted to hand out with them longer. I was having fun, and I never have fun. It's always work and no play.

"We should get you home it's late," Stefano said.

"No I'm fine," I disagreed.

"But-" he started to object.

"Please, I'm having so much fun. I never get to enjoy myself like this," I pleaded quickly.

He looked at Enzo. Enzo was the boss, so whatever he said was the final word. Enzo looked down at me and frowned. "Don't you have class tomorrow morning?"

"Nope!" I shook my head triumphantly.

"Work?"

Damn.

I rolled my eyes at him and nodded yes with disappointment.

"I'll come here and pick you up from work next Friday. That is if you'd like me to?" Enzo asked, trying to negotiate with me.

"Hey, what about me?!" Alessio said.

"Me too!" Dante growled.

"Why are you leaving us out of the plans, brother? We want to see our new friend too," Stefano smirked at his brother like he knew something no one else did.

"Yeah, don't be so possessive, brother," Alessio smirked too.

They all crossed their arms with annoyed looks on their faces. But also amused.

"What is the problem, brother? Are you jealous? You scared Lilly will like us more?" Alessio teased.

Enzo rolled his eyes at Alessio.

"As if that could ever happen," he laughed.

"Lilly would you like them to come too, it is up to you. I didn't want to overwhelm you. They can be quite obnoxious as you can tell."

I nodded with excitement.

"Ugh fine," Enzo huffed with annoyance. "You all can come," he agreed.

They whooped in victory and I giggled. It felt nice to be wanted, in a platonic way rather than just a sexual way.

"We will pick you up Friday, and we can go to my apartment to watch a movie," Enzo suggested.

"Yes! That would be really nice! I get out of work at 3 on Fridays," I exclaimed.

Enzo tucked my hair behind my ear and nodded with soft eyes.

"What kind of snacks do you like?" Dante asked.

"Um, anything really. Candy, popcorn, chips." I said.

"Any specific requests?" he asked.

"Hmmm, gummy bears I guess?"

"Okay. I'll pick up the snacks," he said.

Enzo nodded.

"Let's get you home Bella. I'll sit in the trunk with Rob so you don't have to deal with these idiots. You can take my seat," Enzo insisted. He really was a gentleman. No mob boss sits in the trunk...

"Why can't I just sit on your lap?" I said innocently, even though I felt anything but. I batted my eyelashes at him, suddenly feeling brave.

His eyes widened, and he cleared his throat.

"If you want to," he said slowly. His voice was deep and low. I felt it in my core.

I gulped and nodded, not trusting my voice to come out steady.