Page 61 of Mafia And Maid

But something’s changed since then. And that’s why I can’t summon up any enthusiasm for the woman sat in front of me who’s wearing an expensive designer dress and has the face and body of a catwalk model.

***

Thank fuck that stupid dinner is over. Well, almost—Sheena is using the powder room while her parents wait for her in the entrance foyer.

After saying our goodbyes, Marco excuses us, saying that we have an urgent matter to attend to.

And then he orders me to follow him into the office.

“What the fuck was that?” Marco snarls after he slams the door shut. The office is nowhere near the foyer, so now Marco can shout as loud as he likes, knowing that there’s no chance of them overhearing.

“What was what?” I mutter.

“You know what I’m talking about. When we mentioned Sheila to you before, you liked the idea.”

“It’sSheena,” I correct him.

Marco looks ready to murder me right about now. “Sheena, Sheila, Sheenalina, or whatever the fuck her name is, would make a decent wife. If you weren’t interested, you should have said that before the damn dinner. Now, we’ve offended her father, and that’s the last thing I need right now.”

I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t know, Marco. In person, she seems a lot less suitable. So, you may as well tell that irritating old bat of a mother that it’s a no go.”

Turning on my heel, I know that I have to talk to Rosa tonight and explain everything. I don’t know why, but I don’t want there to be any secrets between us—and I don’t want to hurt her in any way.

CHAPTER 15

ROSA

Marco asked me to cook for and serve at a dinner party for his business associate’s family tonight. It was only three extra people, so it wasn’t too much extra work, and I was anxious to make everything perfect.

But then I hear those words from the woman called Sheena: “Will I have to deal with blood and stuff like that when I marry you?”

My lungs gasp for oxygen. But nothing reaches them.

Not able to think, I dash to the powder room and lean against the basin.

My thoughts are going at a hundred miles an hour.

I know I should be working, but I have to try to process what I’ve just heard.

But I still can’t believe it—despite hearing them clearly all talking about it.He’s going to actually be marrying that woman…?

He’s never mentioned any of this to me. Not a single word. How could he do this?

I know I’m only the maid here, but the way Camillo’s been with me, the way he took me to dinner, and the things he said to me…After all that, I think that his marriage to Sheena is a fairly big, huge, substantial, ginormous thing for him to forget to mention.

I choke back a sob. Looking at myself in the mirror, my colorless expression stares back at me.

I’m pale and ugly—there’s nothing special about me.

While that other woman, she could be a model—she probably is in her spare time—because she’s absolutely stunning.

But there’s something that’s even worse, and that’s the part that really gets to me…

It’s that she’s half the size of me. No, I’m not being honest with myself. She’s more like aquarterof the size of me. She’s definitely a size zero.

And that means he was lying to me all along when he said—no, insisted—that he prefers his women to be curvy.

How could I have been so stupid to fall for his empty words and promises?