Page 19 of Single Mom's Mafia Daddies

She glanced from Leo to me and back again. Indecision warred on her features until they twisted into an unrecognizable expression. “I got him.”

I understood her reluctance, but it still hurt to have her rejection thrown at me with such precision. Why did I want her trust? Once we eliminated the threat, Lila and Leo would go back to their quiet world where guns and violence didn’t exist.

We stepped into the house, and I closed and locked the doors.

“Aren’t glass doors a security risk?” Lila asked.

“Bulletproof glass.” I tapped the frame holding the glass in place. “And you can’t see through it from the outside.”

“Oh.” She shifted Leo higher. “Guess I shouldn’t have left the doors open either.” It wasn’t an apology as much as an offer of tentative acceptance that she’d left her world behind and needed to learn how to live in ours. For now.

Or maybe I was reading too much into her words.

“What’s this?” Matteo’s low voice cut in from the left. “Has Renzo gone full brooding babysitter?” He walked right up to Leo and Lila. “Did he smile again?”

“Not yet.” Lila smiled for the first time today.

Damn Matteo. The urge to lash out at him cut deep. I soothed it away and concentrated on completing the job I’d been given. Her smile eased the tension between us, but nothing prepared me for the way it made my body react. My own lips twitched, a need to match her smile hooking somewhere in my chest and tugging hard. I pushed it down and crooked my finger at her and Matteo. “I’ll walk you to your room.”

“Me too.” Matteo still wore his suit, which meant he’d not been asleep despite his yawning. We made our way across the foyer and down a short hallway to the suite of rooms Alessio set aside for Lila and Leo.

I opened the door and stepped aside. “There’s a smaller room down the hall. If Leo would be more comfortable there, I can see that it’s ready tomorrow.”

Alessio had given me the room for my son. Hot bile rushed up my throat. My son no longer needed a place to rest. His death was the final straw that broke me.

“Thank you.” Lila stopped in front of me. Her head tipped back until she met my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t elaborate, and with Matteo watching, I didn’t ask for clarification. Instead, I nodded and backed into the hallway. “There’s an intercom beside your bed. If you need any of us, press three. That rings all our rooms.”

I turned on my heel and marched away in search of Alessio. He’d disappeared into his office hours ago and I doubted he’d gone to bed. I found him sitting behind his desk, his feet kicked up on the antique frame as he stared out the windows at the glowing moon.

“She’s not going to remain compliant forever.” My words were firm.

“I’m surprised she’s lasted this long.” Alessio rocked forward, dropping his feet to the floor. “How is she?”

“Hurt. Angry.” I told him about her sitting outside with no protection. “She’s not afraid of you. She’s worried for the boy, but she has no idea the real danger she’s in. That’s more dangerous than her knowing the truth about you. Her ignorance could get us all killed.”

10

LILA

Icouldn’t sleep.

Even after that first night when I’d sat outside and spoken to Renzo, I tossed and turned while keeping an eye on Leo. Then Monday passed in a slow march of time as I kept Leo entertained and tried not to think too much about my shop. I’d called Alexis and had her inform the rest of the staff, telling her what I could and making up the rest to keep them from asking too many questions.

Renzo had shown Leo the new room earlier tonight, and he’d fallen in love with the smaller space. I hesitated to have him further away from me in a strange house, but he was so excited. And the room seem designed for a child to enjoy.

I gave up attempting to sleep when the moon cut a swath of light across my bed and the red numbers on the alarm clock read 3:20 a.m. I’d not slept in two nights, insomnia kicking my ass for the first time in years. I blamed the stress. Which meant I blamed Alessio.

All this was his fault. I might not understand the full scope of how, but his sudden reappearance in my life and the gunfire that came on his heels told me more than I wanted to know.He’d installed a fucking panic room in my shop. Overnight. That or he’d known I was there long before he made an appearance. I still didn’t know how he’d pulled the installation off, and I had no intention of asking. The less I knew, the better.

I slipped from the bed and dragged a hand through my tangled hair. A balcony stretched along the far side of the room. I could go out there and watch the men patrol and maybe thank Renzo for Leo’s new room. Or I could wander around the house and hope sleep catches up with me.

I hated this trapped feeling. I’d meant what I said. A beautiful prison was still a prison. If I had no control over my life, where I went, who I saw, then what kind of life was it?

“Damn you, Alessio,” I growled as I remembered the hot press of his lips on mine, the way his body moved over me, the feel of him between my legs. I hated him even as I craved more. Memories of our summer together haunted my waking hours and helped give the insomnia power over my sleep. Cursing beneath my breath, I opened the bedroom door and darted into the hallway, halfway expecting Renzo to catch me and order me back to my room.

The slightest hint of noise drew me down the hallway, the thick carpet soft on my feet and silencing my steps, until I reached the foyer. A door across the foyer stood cracked open, allowing a tiny sliver of light to stretch across the black and white tile. I peeked around the corner before following the soft humming into the kitchen.