Page 7 of Single Mom’s Mafia Daddies (The Forbidden Reverse Harem Collection #22)

ALESSIO

B y the time Saturday came around, Matteo had explained seven ways he wanted to throttle me, and most included hanging me upside down by my toenails or some such bullshit like my father used to threaten me with when I spent too much time worrying over things beyond my control.

“Did you get the information or not, Matteo?”

He scoffed. “I can find a rat turd in the middle of the desert if that’s what you need. Looking into Lila’s life is the easiest job you’ve ever given me.” He threw a folder on the desk, the papers inside sliding into my lap. “That boutique of hers is prime. Perfect location for running merch.”

“No.” I shut him down with a look, the dark growl in my voice finishing the job. “We’re not running any goods through Lila’s store.”

“Damn it, Alessio. I understand she’s special, but you’ve never let emotions keep you from running your business before.

” He dropped into the seat across from me, his playful pretending evaporating and the real Matteo rearing his intelligent head.

“You’re no dreamer. You don’t let emotion get in the way. What’s really going on?”

He was right. Papa knocked the dreamer out of me years ago. Lila almost brought it back during our fling, then my world destroyed that last bit I’d held onto until I saw her four days ago. I pulled a photo of Lila and the boy from the stack and held it up.

Matteo grimaced and tried to stare me down.

I raised one eyebrow and slammed the picture onto the desk. “Finish your report.”

“You’re an asshole, that’s my report.” He sat back and propped his hands behind his head.

His left knee bounced up and down, his gaze skimming my face.

“Fuck it. She’s raising the boy alone. Birth certificate puts him at six years old.

No father listed. She opened the boutique three years ago and has turned it into a place where she caters to the rich and famous.

Mrs. Walker was in there last week. Her husband is the one running narcs on the other side of town for us. ”

“Any sign Lila is involved with any of the syndicates?” An uncomfortable feeling squeezed my middle.

Matteo’s knee jerked faster. “Nothing. She’s quiet. Stepford wife kind of life but without the man.”

I’d always trusted my instincts. They screamed at me that Lila was on the right side of the law.

I knew better than to trust appearances.

Everyone lied. I’d come to expect that from everyone except her.

She belonged in the light where no dark existed, not with me in the midnight hours that brought gunfire and torture to the very real waking hours.

“Keep an eye on her.” I shoved everything back into the folder and pushed it into a drawer. I’d come back to it later when Matteo left.

His knowing grin stiffened my shoulders when he leaned forward and used my desk as an anchor for his hands. “How special is this woman?”

“Special enough I’ll knock your fucking teeth in if you don’t wipe that smirk off your face and do your job.” I stood and buttoned my jacket. “I’m going out.”

“I’ll get Renzo.” Matteo reached for his phone.

I waved him off. “No. I’ll go alone.”

“If one of us tried that bullshit, you’d have us locked in the panic room before we blinked twice.” He shook his head in a slow wag and clicked his tongue. “Boss, you got it bad.”

If he knew the truth of it, he’d have Renzo lock me in my own panic room until I came to my senses.

“Don’t wait up.” I tapped his shoulder with my index finger. “Keep an eye on things.”

“Always.” Matteo’s grin remained in place, but behind his eyes, the calculating strategist shone bright and clear.

I drove to Lila’s boutique, second guessing my motives but going anyway and checking my mirrors every few feet to ensure I didn’t drag a tail along for the ride.

The boutique was nestled into the middle of a shopping district, the street crammed full of people, many of them actors in disguise trying to act normal as they browsed.

I sat in the car and watched her shop for ten minutes and continued to check behind and all around for anyone who might wish me harm.

This was the life—the legacy—my father left me. Always on guard. Always looking for the tripwire or ambush that would take me out. That was what I’d tried to save Lila from, and that was the world I risked dragging her into if I walked into that shop.

I had to know.

Opening the car door let in a rush of sound and the city’s stench. I grimaced and rushed across the street, yanking open the glass door and stopping to appreciate the delicate aroma I’d noticed last time.

Lila stood to my left, her back to me as she hung a dress on a hook. A pale blue suit clung to her curves, highlighting her ass and the narrow stretch of her waist beneath the short jacket. Her shoulders twitched. A sharp inhale followed, and she jerked around to face me.

“We’re closed.” Her arms crossed, and she gave me a Renzo-worthy glare.

I pointed my thumb over my shoulder. “Sign says you’re open.”

“That’s for customers. You’re not a customer.” She stalked forward. “And you’re not welcome here.”

“I’d like to buy a shirt.” I tugged my collar, running my thumb between the material and my skin. “This one is a little tight.”

“Probably from trying to fit it around your giant, egotistical head.”

“It’s a button up shirt. Pretty sure that eliminates the problem with my… head. ”

“Don’t do that.” She poked her finger into my chest, setting my heart racing as the single point of contact rolled through me. “Don’t come in here acting all cute and innocent.”

“We both know I’m neither of those things.” I looked her over, letting her see the appreciation tunneling my vision until nothing remained but her. “I have questions, Lila.”

“Nope.” Her lips puckered on the P sound, making a popping sound. “You lost that right seven years ago, along with the right to make sexual references about any of your body parts.”

“You started it.” I hadn’t come here to banter, but riling her up was an irresistible pastime.

“Hey, Lil–oh, you’re busy. Never mind.” A feminine laugh tinkled out.

“It’s fine, Alexis. Did you need something?” Lila backed away from me without breaking eye contact.

Alexis walked into my peripheral vision. I glanced at her only long enough to assess her threat level. Zero.

She gave me a familiar once over before moving to stand beside Lila. “It’s time to close. You want me to take Leo home with me for a while?”

“No.” Lila resumed her crossed armed stance and tilted her chin so the stubbornness glinted in the light peppering her skin through the windows.

“Yes.” I trailed her across the room, step for step. “We have business to discuss.” I hit her with the one thing I knew would end this. “Unless you’d like to introduce me to your son.”

“I’ll pick him up in an hour.” Lila challenged me and broke me all at once. “You’ll be gone by then.” She delivered it with a coldness I’d never expected from her.

I waited for Alexis to lock the front door and disappear through the back, waited longer for the sound of the rear door closing with a metal screech and for the turn of the lock encapsulating me in this small space with Lila.

She stole my breath. Even now, after seven years, I remembered every inch of her, every sound I’d heard her make, all the way down to the way her perfect toes curled in the sheets when she laughed.

There was no laughter in her face now. I placed the expression easily. Hatred. Anger. They swirled together as they stormed across her face. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

“Why’d you leave me?” she shot back.

I took the words as the dagger they were intended to be and dropped my chin to accept the wound. “It’s complicated.”

The wounded sound that keened from her throat mingled with a derisive laugh. “Try again.”

“You’ve been avoiding me.” I took a step, pausing when she threw up a palm, then kept walking until her hand flattened on my chest. “You received my flowers. I called to set up a time to meet. You rejected the call then blocked me. If face to face is the only way to get this done, then so be it.” I kept walking, forcing her back away from the windows with every step until we rounded the counter and I’d backed her into a corner shielded from view by rows of dresses that spread out on either side. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I don’t answer to you, Alessio. You left me.” Her chin quivered, her fingertips spasming on my chest before she tore her arm away and tucked it behind her back. A shudder ripped through her body and she sank, her knees giving way.

I caught her with both arms around her waist. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s not enough.” The fire returned in a blink. Her fists rained down on my shoulders. “You’re an arrogant bastard. You expect me to fall into your arms after what you did? I won’t. You left me and you won’t even tell me why.”

“Give me a chance to explain.” My heart shattered. I’d never known she felt this way. I respected the anger, but it was the tears that finished me once and for all.

Her fist struck my shoulder and slid down my chest, her shoulders shaking. “I hate you.”

“I know.”

She opened her fist and moved to slap me.

I drew the line there and blocked the blow with my wrist. She inhaled sharply when I gathered her wrists and raised them over her head, pinning them to the wall with one hand.

“You mean nothing to me.” Her breathing hitched, and her eyes widened, the pupils devouring the irises when I lowered my head.

I nudged my knee between her legs and shifted my weight to press our bodies together. “I mean enough for this.” I pressed my lips to hers.

A spike of pain shot through my lower lip, her teeth clamping down hard.

I grinned in spite of the pain and ran my thumb along her jaw.

She released me with a gasp, her body betraying her. “Fuck you.”

“With pleasure.” I captured her lips again, driving my tongue into her mouth to stroke hers. Her nails pierced the back of my hand when she curled her fingers, her pulse skittering wildly in her wrists and beating into my palm.