A few days had passed since receiving the news that Nino would return home today. Since then, I had acquired some information about who Nino was. He was Kade's only uncle who was returning from prison early and was also considered a legend in the eyes of the mafia world.

Nino had been put away on multiple counts of money laundering, fraud, and criminal conspiracy, receiving 25 years in prison. However, he was now being released after only four years, on a technicality. From what I had heard in hushed whispers around the house, was that it wasn't so much a technicality. It seemed to be more of a ‘pay off some and threaten the others’ situation.

Putting all of that to the side, everyone was very excited about Nino coming home tomorrow. So excited that a huge party was being thrown in his honor tonight.

Kade had been pretty busy planning the event the past few days, so I spent most of my time with Angie. The two of us were up in my room, with Angie giving me the rundown of how big mafia parties go down.

“It’s honestly just a room full of people. The men smoking cigars, the women gossiping, music, then it ends with a five-course meal,” she laughed.

“Everything but the food sounds absolutely terrible,” I joked, laughing along with Angie.

“Oh, trust me. It is," she snorted as the laughter continued to erupt out of us.

Our conversation was cut short by a knock at the door.

“Coming,” Angie called in a sing-song tune, jumping to her feet to answer the door.

Angie opened the door revealing a very dressed-up Kade, who was holding a white box. He wore a black suit that fit just tight enough to show off his built frame, and his hair was slicked back perfectly in place. It was beginning to feel like Kade was becoming more and more attractive to me every day.

“Am I interrupting?” he asked, his eyes bouncing from Angie to me.

“No. I was just filling Skyler in on how fun tonight will be,” Angie answered sarcastically, both of us stifling a laugh.

“I was just looking to talk to Skyler for a second,” Kade told Angie as his eye glanced around her, landing on me.

“Oh. Yeah, of course,” Angie nodded before turning to me. “I'll see you later," she smiled, heading out the door.

Once she was gone, Kade strolled over to the edge of the bed, taking a seat next to me. Feeling the bed dip underneath him, my body seemed to almost lean into him.

“What's up?” I asked, forcing the thought of his muscular body against mine out of my mind.

Kade turned towards me, our faces only about a foot apart.

“I got you something," he said, holding a box out to me.

“For me?” I asked, surprised.

I wasn’t the one having a welcome home party; Nino was. So why was Kade giving me a present?

“Yeah, for you,” Kade confirmed, a small chuckle escaping him as he shoved the box toward me.

Taking the box from Kade and setting it on my lap, I took the top off. Reaching into the box, I pulled out a pair of black high heels, then what seemed to be a black dress. Examining the dress, I was in awe of how beautiful it was. It was made of a silky fabric that draped all the way down to the floor.

“Oh, wow. It's beautiful,” I breathed, admiring the craftsmanship of the dress.

My eyes went back to Kade, who wore a triumphed smile, clearly proud of his shopping skills.

“You didn't have to buy this. I could have borrowed something from Angie,” I pouted, feeling guilty at how much money Kade had most likely spent on the dress.

“Well, I figured since you're stuck on my arm all night, the least I could do is buy you a pretty dress,” he countered.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach at his word. Was that his way of saying I would be accompanying him to this party tonight? Was I his date for the evening?

Too stunned to speak, I gawked at Kade, trying to wrap my head around what was happening.

“I have some business to take care of at the club; I'll pick you up here around 8?” he asked as he stood up.

“Okay,” I squeaked out, trying to keep my face from turning beat red as Kade shot me a million-dollar smile before heading out the door.

Not long after that, I was slipping into the black dress Kade had given me. Walking over to the full-length mirror, I almost gasped at my appearance. My hair fell in golden waves, framing my freshly made-up face. But the real attention grabber was the dress. It was beautiful; it fit perfectly, showing off all the right places, with a high slit down the side.

“You're not special, ya know,” a bitter voice rang from the now open doorway.

Flashing my eyes to the doorway, I saw I was blessed with a not-so-lovely visit from Carissa.

“What?” I raised an unenthused eyebrow.

“The only reason you're even here is that, for some dumb reason, he took pity on your sad little life,” she spat venomously before stomping away down the hall.

Trying my best to stay positive, I kept myself busy, pushing Carissa's nasty comments aside. By the time 8 o'clock hit, I had redone my makeup three times. Eventually, I made my way down the stairs to meet up with Kade, who was standing at the front door. His eyes followed me down the stairs, wearing his infamous smirk.

“You look beautiful,” he gestured, taking in my appearance as I stood before him.

“Thank you. It's the dress,” I answered with a sheepish smile.

Kade's eyes gave me another up and down before planting his eyes on mine.

“It's not the dress," he paused thoughtfully. “It's you.”

I could feel my knees weakening under his gaze. His comment had forced every emotion I had been determined to ignore to rush through me all at once. It was truly amazing how the slightest compliment from him sent my body and mind into overdrive.

Kade gave me a warm smile, interlacing his arm with mine. Without a word, he led me out of the house, and we went to the party.