Page 55 of Single Mom's Mafia Daddies

Footsteps sounded from far away, voices carrying on the wind.

“Hurry.” She bobbed in the water, her slick pussy urging me to finish her off. “They’re coming back. Oh god, Matteo. I can’t stop.”

Her orgasm rushed through her so fast I barely had time to breathe before it demanded my own release.

Lila kissed my cheek and moved off me, adjusting her swimsuit as Leo and Alessio walked back into sight. Leo chatted away, his eyes raised to watch Alessio.

The two of them were such perfect carbon copies of each other that I wondered how long Lila would continue to deny Leo’s parentage. I’d heard her and Alessio arguing over it but kept my opinions to myself. No one could force Lila to accept our way of life.

But if she did, she’d be one of the most badass queens I’d ever encountered. Her willingness to do whatever it took to protect her family made her a jewel in a world gone cold and dark. She and Alessio were alike in that regard…which I would avoid pointing out.

I fixed my shorts and climbed from the water, approaching Alessio and marching past. “We need to talk.” It wouldn’t surprise me if he refused to follow me to the far edge of the pool area, but when I stopped and turned, he stood less than a foot away.

Leo and Lila splashed and played in the water. The need to keep them safe took over. Fuck everything else. “You need to find a way to make sure Leo gets to continue having a normal life.”

“His life will never be normal again.” Alessio pocketed his hands, any hints of remorse hidden behind a pair of aviator sunglasses that reflected my face back at me. “You remember how we were raised.”

“I do. And I wouldn’t wish that on any kid. If you think you can put your kid through that hell, you’re not the man I thought. He deserves the chance to grow up with his friends. In the school he likes. You can’t take that away from him.”

Alessio crossed his arms. “He has the entire mafia after him, and you expect me to send him to school?”

“You’re Alessio Cavallo. If you don’t send him, they’ll think they’ve won. Show them you’re not worried.” His pride was the best kind of leverage I had against him. “Show Lila you’re taking her requests to heart.”

The conjoined laughter of mother and son gave me the courage to force my will on Alessio. He was my friend, my boss, the most powerful man in the mafia. And I had to convince him to change his mind before we lost Lila forever.

28

ALESSIO

Once I overcame the absurdity of Matteo challenging me, I realized he had a point. I’d let my fear show when we left the safe house and retreated there. I’d given in to my need to protect instead of pushing for a war that might end all of us.

The Verduccis were willing to sacrifice themselves to destroy my lineage. I was not prepared to do the same. I had too much to lose. Lila and Leo meant too much to me to continue to risk their lives.

My office in the main estate still smelled of paint. The mahogany desk was something my father would have loved, and I thought of him every time I walked past it. My pacing stride carried me back and forth from the desk to the balcony. I stopped to peer through the glass. The pool stretched out below me, the blue water calm and welcoming.

The short fence that separated the pool from the garden sparkled in the moonlight, the white paint standing out in crisp lines and curved shadows. The garden itself was a labor of love I’d spent months putting together. Others maintained it for me, but I’d designed it and helped plant the roses when I arrived.This entire place was built with the intention of bringing my home in Italy to life here in the States. I’d designed it to awe my enemies and strike fear in them when they discovered I had the power to create through limitless money and intelligence.

My recent actions threatened to dismantle my power and cast it aside as though it had never existed.

I gripped the edges of the open doorway and leaned into the breeze that ruffled my hair.

Lila knocked on the door. I recognized the quick rat-a-tat from our college days, and a smile threatened to break free. I stuffed it down where it belonged. “Come in.”

The knob turned, and I tensed briefly before schooling my features. This was a meeting not unlike what I endured every week with the CEOs of my companies.

“You wanted to see me.” Lila crossed to stand in front of the desk. Gone was the laughter and smiles I’d seen in the pool earlier. This woman wore her defenses with a dark look intense enough to send lesser men scurrying.

I held out my hand in an invitation for her to join me at the balcony.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” A hint of a smile appeared. “I might push you over.”

“You’re not mad enough to commit murder.” I waved one hand. “Please, join me. I’d rather stand in the open air.” It was a small concession to keep some of the familiarity between us. And I worried how I’d react if she challenged me with the desk between us. I had a tendency to use the desk in more interesting ways when it came to Lila, and I couldn’t afford the distraction.

“I don’t know.” She avoided my hand, stepping around me and stopping at the balcony’s brick railing. “I’m pretty mad.”

“Leo can return to school as long as he has a bodyguard.”

The slew of curses came as no surprise. Her face darkened with the force of her rage. “That’s ridiculous. You can’t expect the school to accommodate a bodyguard in the classroom.”