Chapter 9: Gold Digger.

A short drive later, we were pulling into the venue’s parking lot. Kade jumped out of the car, and ran to my car door, opening it for me, like a proper gentleman. With a small smile, I took his arm and admired the scenery around us.

It seemed to be a country club, or some type of higher end event space. The outside of the brick building was beautiful and looked to be historical. The property was lined with dozens of old oak trees and a marble fountain out front.

As we made our way to the front door, I glanced at Kade, suddenly feeling nervous. I was essentially walking into a mafia family reunion after all. His brown eyes shifted down to mine.

“You ready?” he questioned, waiting for my confirmation.

“Yeah.” I lied, taking a breath and forcing a pretty smile onto my face.

Kade dropped my arm and opened the door to the building gesturing for me to go first. Stepping inside, I admired the sophistication of the party. It was by far the fanciest event I had ever been to.

Within seconds, Kade and I were swarmed with a crowd of people, all wanting his attention. Some greeted him, asking who his lovely date was, and others wanted a business sidebar. Taken back by the swarm of people, my grip tightened on Kade’s arm. Feeling my nerves, Kade looked down, shooting me an apologetic look.

“Alright, Alright. Give them a minute to get in the d*mn door,” a deep voice rang from behind the group.

As the crowd surrounding us began to disperse, a man who looked to be in his early fifties came into my line of sight.

“Uncle Nino,” Kade cheered, dropping my arm.

Both men grinned from ear to ear, as they embraced each other in a hug.

‘So that's Nino,’ I thought, finally being able to put a face to the name.

After the two separated from their hug, Kade turned to me with a smile.

“This is Skyler,” Kade stated, introducing me to Nino with a smile.

Nino’s eyes flicked to mine, the pleased look now fading. It was enough for me to see that he was not a fan of me at all.

Kade seemed to have taken notice as well and turned towards me.

“Why don’t you go find us an empty table? Nino and I have some business stuff to discuss.” He gave me a warm smile and gestured to the seating area.

My eyes bounced between Kade and Nino.

“Okay,” I responded meekly, still feeling Ninos annoyed gaze on me.

Walking away from the two, I made my way through the crowds of people. As I walked past everyone, it was clear I was the odd man out. I could feel their eyes on me as I headed to an empty table, along with quite a few whispers.

I sat down in a huff, shoving my clutch purse on to the table. Not only was I completely out of my element, but my anxiety was starting to kick in.

“I told you it was terrible,” Angie’s voice sang, as she plopped down in a chair next to me. I shot her a look, making it clear I was not having a good time. “Well, I mean, at least you're the talk of the party,” she added, trying to cheer me up.

“Yeah, I know, I’m the girl who stabbed the Garzone’s leader,” I frowned, fiddling with my purse.

“Okay, yeah. That’s definitely an attention grabber. But it’s not just because of that,” Angie laughed. I glanced at her confused, unsure of what she meant. “You’re here with Kade.” She started with a nod.

“Okay?” I waited for her to continue.

“Kade doesn’t do dates, and he sure as h*ll doesn’t risk the family for a random girl.” She paused waiting for it to sink in for me.

After a moment of my silence, she let out an exasperated breath, clearly amazed I wasn't able to put it together.

“They think you guys are in love,” she teased, dragging out the ‘love’.

“Oh my god.” I gave a weak laugh.

Well, the idea of Kade having any romantic feelings for me was exhilarating, it was also hysterical. Even though I hated to agree with Carissa, what she said earlier tonight was true. Kade said it himself: he only saved me because he was trying to cut me some slack. I was Kade’s charity case, nothing else.

The realization of being a walking talking pity party hit me hard. I already did not want to be at this event, and now my own thoughts were amplifying that.

“I'm gonna grab some air,” I told Angie as I stood up.

Leaving the main area, I walked down a dimly lit hallway. I wandered the building, trying to pull myself together enough to go back into the dinner party.

After taking the time to compose myself, I started making my way back to the party. I was halfway down the hall when I heard Kade’s and Nino’s voices in one of the rooms nearby.

“I told you it's not like that,” Kade stated, sounding stressed.

“And I'm telling you that's exactly what it’s like,” Nino argued.

“I already told you, she isn't after the money. It has nothing to do with money,” Kade countered.

That's when I realized they were arguing about me. Nino was in prison, so he must not have heard about the Garzone situation yet.

“Then what's it about? Huh?” Nino pressed, raising his voice.

That's when Kade began to explain what had happened outside of the club the night he saved me. But hearing of the impending feud between the two families just made Nino angrier.

“So you just decided a broad off the f*cking streets was more important than keeping the years of peace between two families?!” Nino shouted.

“He wanted to kill her!” Kade reinforced, the anger now rising in his voice.

“So what?!” Nino yelled clearly not caring about Kade's reason. “That’s never stopped us before!”

Kade sighed, bringing his tone down. “I couldn’t just sit there and watch her die.”

“Your father would be ashamed of you. You let a girl cloud your judgment. You're weak,” Nino sneered, his voice as cold as ice.

Hearing the sound of shuffling in the room, I turned and sped quickly down the hallway. I had already been caught eavesdropping on mafia conversations once, and I ended up stabbing Tony. So, getting caught a second time was not an option.

Once back at my table, my mind drifted to the terrible words Nino spewed. Kade clearly thought so highly of him, and hearing his uncle's words must have killed him inside. Kade was trying to avoid further bloodshed, but Nino was trying to set on it. That triggered a terrifying question, was Nino going to try and kill me his self?