Page 25 of Mafia And Maid

I nod my understanding.

“Two. If you fuck up, you’re out.”

I give a small squeak in response.

“Three. If you steal from us, you’re fucking dead,” he snarls.

And the only thing I can manage is a large gulp—as I wonder if the clothes left behind in the maid’s room belong to a woman they killed…

I rapidly blink back the tears that are burning the back of my eyelids.

“Oh, and rule four,” Marco clips.

“Come on, Marco,” Camillo interrupts in a low tone that I can’t quite identify. “You said there were only three rules.”

Marco glares at him before turning back to me. “Four. If you’re going to cry, go the fuck outside. I can’t stand fucking criers.”

I don’t trust my voice, so I just give the tiniest nod while praying that the threatening tears don’t fall.

Alessio narrows his gaze. I can see his mind whirling behind his eyes. But I can’t work out what he’s thinking.

“Smells good,” Camillo says into the awkward silence as his brothers take their seats.

Marco grunts and sips at the glass of water. “We’ll see.” He’s big and not as muscled as Camillo but nearly. The dress shirt pulls tightly across his chest, and his jaw is set tight. A perma-scowl wrinkles his forehead as he doesn’t take his glare off me.

My legs feel wobbly as I place the serving dishes on the table before backing away slowly and tiptoeing into the hall.

My legs give way halfway to my room. I cover my mouth to muffle the sob as I press my head to the cool wall.

I shove myself up and make it the last few feet to my bedroom, closing the door.

Useless.

Waste of space.

You call this clean?

Do you really want to eat that now?

You don’t have to take another serving. You can say no, it won’t kill you.

You think this shit is something I’d eat?

You’re just a worthless hole for me to fill tonight...

The words whispering in my head sound just like my father, mother, sister, and Grayden. They roar into a crescendo of noise, leaving me unable to hear anything but these words, each of them feeling like a knife in my gut.

I manage to make it to the bowl just in time before I lose what little’s in my stomach, before sinking to the floor and letting my tears rush out.

But I know I can’t stay here. I have to go back out and face them...

CHAPTER 6

CAMILLO

My fist tightens around my glass of water as I glower at Marco. “What the fuck was that?”

Alessio gives us each a glance before looking back down at his plate. Smart guy.