Page 77 of Mafia And Maid
And I’m about to have a heart attack.
My lungs can’t suck in any air.
His eyebrows snap up. “What are you doing?”
“I thought you were an intruder or a serial killer or something,” I exclaim with a loud exhale as I realize it’s Camillo.
He tilts his head to one side. “Iama serial killer, kind of…”
Jesus, he’s right about that. “I mean, I didn’t realize it was someone from the family creeping around down here. I thought you were all out.”
“I was, but I came back to get something before I have to go back out.”
“To do what? Actually,” I say quickly, “don’t answer that.”
He gives me a strange look. “Why are you holding that?” His head nods at the can I have clutched in my hand.
“I thought the intruder might think the hairspray bottle was a baseball bat given that the lights are off…”
He raises a brow. “A baseball bat?”
“Well, itisa jumbo sized can…” I try to make myself sound more convincing than I feel.
“Uh huh.” He tilts his gaze to the side. “And what about the teddy bear? Was he going to protect you when you went up against the intruder?”
“What? Uh, no…” I snatch the bear behind my back. “He was just, er, for moral support…” Could I sound any more ridiculous? “Oh God, just shoot me now,” I mutter.
He looks down at his gun and then back up at me.
My eyes widen. “I don’t mean for you to actuallyshoot me. I just meant that…” My voice trails off. I just meant that I want to disappear the hell away from this man and the fumbling mess I’m making of this situation.
“It’s okay, Rosa,” he says in a soft voice. He carefully takes the hairspray and bear from my hands and leads me back to my room. “You’re safe here, I promise.”
And there’s something in the way he says those words that makes me feel safe—makes me feel protected. And I see that same look in his eyes as I saw at dinner. And it’s something that has my body heating and my breath picking up.
CHAPTER 19
CAMILLO
I get up this morning after spending the night sleeping outside Rosa and Ethan’s bedrooms, just as I have every single night since Rosa first brought Ethan here.
While Marco and Alessio go for a workout in our mansion’s gym, I have breakfast with them both, and as we eat, I can’t help but notice Rosa and Ethan flinching at the slamming of a door down the hall.
As soon as breakfast is over, I text both my brothers. “Meet me in the office. It’s important.”
They arrive immediately. “What’s wrong?” Marco barks as he slams the door shut behind him.
“That.” He looks at me in confusion. “And all the other door slamming the pair of you seem to do all day long.”
“You’re just as bad, especially when you’re a grumpy ass first thing in the morning,” Alessio retorts.
“No, I’m not. I’ve stopped slamming doors since…”
I don’t finish what I’m saying, not wanting to admit to my brothers that I’ve been making an effort to be quieter around the house for the sake of Rosa and Ethan.
“And it’s not just the doors. It’s all the shouting down the phone,” I say as I look at Marco. “And all the stomping around the house,” I add as I switch my gaze to Alessio.
I scowl at my brothers. Irritation licks through me, bubbling through my blood. “I get everyone’s wound up with the feds still being all over our asses and the women and kids having to remain in Italy for the time being. But you need to be a little more conscious of the loud noises you’re making around here.”