Page 10 of Single Mom’s Mafia Daddies (The Forbidden Reverse Harem Collection #22)
RENZO
I welcomed the night and the shadows that came with it.
Soft air skimmed my cheeks and brought a lingering touch of memory I avoided before it pulled me back into years I’d rather forget.
Nothing had prepared me for war, for the kind of death and destruction that came in the sand, heat, and grit of another world.
I’d lived a lifetime in those few years of service and lost far too many friends.
Tightening my grip on the pistol tucked into the holster on my right side, I skirted around the edge of the house and checked the tall stone fence for any signs of invasion.
Nothing moved. Holding my breath, I counted to ten, assessing and calculating the likelihood someone had jumped the fence and were on their way into the house to kill Alessio.
No alarms rang. One of my men approached from the other side of the house, saw me, and tapped the rim of his cap in a silent signal that all was well.
I struggled to believe him when every nerve danced and twitched with the kind of anticipation I’d always encountered before a fight. Something was coming. Maybe not tonight or tomorrow, but soon.
The attack on Lila’s boutique was just the beginning. Anyone could see that. If it was me, I’d have used Lila’s boutique to flush Alessio out, to see how close he was to the woman and the boy, and to test for weaknesses.
Alessio’s reactions gave the Verducci syndicate all the information they needed, and they’d sent him into hiding.
The sight of him bloodied as he led Lila from the building had sucked all the air from my lungs.
Being used to danger was one thing. Seeing Lila so shaken had perturbed me in ways I’d thought dead and buried.
I shook off the memory that made me want to rush into the house and stand guard at her door and continued my sweep of the perimeter.
The scent of jasmine thickened. I stiffened, standing halfway between the house and the fence, and peered to my left where a veranda pushed out from the study.
Glass double doors stood open, a subtle light from the lamps in the corners giving me a view of Lila curled into one of the brown wicker chairs.
She held a steaming cup to her lips and took a small sip.
I checked every inch of space around her and behind her, then ahead all the way to the fence.
I’d promised protection to her, Leo, and Alessio, and she created a major security risk by being out here alone.
Add in the wide-open doors and it might as well be one of my nightmares come to life.
I shook my head at her innocence and approached cautiously from the side.
Even innocent women killed…mostly by accident, but I had no intentions of getting shot.
She startled and leaped to her feet when I stepped onto the concrete. One small hand flew to her throat, the other clutching tight to the cup. “You scared me.”
I shrugged one shoulder and crossed to sit on the padded bench. My back pressed into the limestone facade, my attention sweeping back and forth across the yard.
“Are you going to give me some lecture about how I shouldn’t be outside?” She slumped into the chair, her body stiff as though braced for my anger.
“Seems you already know the danger.” I spoke quickly but quietly, not interested in drawing this out into an argument. Arguments lead to raised voices, and that risked discovery.
I’d learned that the hard way. A woman’s face flashed in my memory. We’d called her Rocket for her quick temper. The night she died, I swore never to raise my voice again. My need to be right had brought on the argument that led to her death. Never again.
Lila harrumphed but relaxed into the seat and pulled her legs beneath her. She wore a pair of short shorts and a t-shirt that skimmed her thighs, the combination comfortable and alluring as she revealed more skin than I’d seen in decades.
I looked away, resuming my examination of the area.
“I don’t want to be here.” The low whisper twisted through me.
“Those men destroyed my shop.” Tears glistened in her eyes, and I fisted my hands to keep them still.
“I’ve never been in danger before. Kind of suspicious that happens right after seeing Alessio again…
I don’t want to be here where I’m part of this world of guns and violence. I’m afraid for Leo.”
She stopped for a breath and waited.
If she expected a response from me, I was going to disappoint her. I’d rather she wasn’t here either. Her presence—and Leo’s—messed up the careful precision that kept us all alive.
Yet seeing her fear and the way it knotted her up in the large chair stirred me into needing things I had no right to want.
“How did you meet Alessio?” she asked softly.
The question skipped between us. I almost ignored it but found I wanted to talk, to try and help her understand that while being close to Alessio meant danger, there was no better place to be.
“He was recruiting former soldiers for a protective detail in Italy.” I leaned forward and propped my elbows on my knees, letting my hands dangle.
Scars crisscrossed my forearms, the pale tracks shining in the lamplight.
I remembered every detail of the knife fight that gave me the scars on the night Alessio found me and invited me to join him.
We bore matching scars on our jaws thanks to Alessio’s recruiting process.
If I bested him, I earned the responsibility of head of security.
We’d almost slit each other’s throats in the fury of battle.
“I’d recently been discharged and had nothing better to do. ”
Lila set her cup down on the glass table between us. “I find that hard to believe. You don’t seem like the type to run out of jobs.”
I took the assessment in stride and filed it away. Lila saw more in minutes than most understood in years. Did I tell her the truth or dance around it the way most people preferred? A look at her face revealed the rapt attention focused on me. Truth, then.
“I was the sole survivor of my unit. We infiltrated an enemy camp, discovered it was a trap, and tried to fight our way out. They didn’t make it.
” I did. Somehow, against all odds and every mission that killed better men and women than me, I survived.
And I hated myself for it. Why did I get to live when they were wiped from the Earth as though they’d never been?
“I needed a purpose. Alessio gave me that.”
Soft footsteps from inside the house wrenched me around. I jumped to my feet even as my brain recognized the steps were too light for an enemy. My hand stilled before I grabbed my gun.
Leo shuffled out of the house, his eyes sleep-filled and heavy. “Mama?”
“Right here.” She scooped him into her lap. “You should be asleep.”
“I don’t like my room. It’s too big.” He yawned and tucked himself into a ball.
I checked the wall one last time, nodded at my men whisking in and out of the shadows, and made my way to the double doors.
“Will you come inside? It’s getting late.” I knew instinctively not to order her into the house but to ask. I could make her, but I’d rather gain her trust in case I needed it later when it really mattered.
“You can stay in my room tonight.” Lila kissed Leo’s head and stood, hefting his sleepy bulk.
I held out my arms. “Want me to carry him?”
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.”