by Alexa Riley
I study her, and for some reason I feel like she doesn’t have any female friends in her life. Not that I do, either, but still. I have a feeling that’s why she’s worried. She has no one to go to if she needs to ask questions.
“Does her being here make you feel at ease? I know stress is not good for the baby,” Salvatore asks his wife.
She nods. “Then she stays,” he says simply, going back to cooking. I sit there, not sure what to say.
“Maybe we should do a more formal interview. Ask me about myself and make sure you think we will be a good fit.”
“Your grandfather raised you in a small town outside the city after your parents took off when you were five. They were never to be seen or heard from again, and they won’t be. Your grandfather passed soon after you entered college, leaving you with no family. Nor have you shown any romantic links to anyone. Ever. You graduated early from high school by taking summer school and getting all your credits done. You received a full scholarship into the accelerated nursing program that let you, once again, graduate in three years, which you did at the top of your class. You fit,” Salvatore says with his back to me. He’s at the stove, his back to me, and I just sit there, shocked. I guess he doesn’t need to get to know me. He already knows everything about me.
“Salvatore Castello!” Thea yells, making him turn from the stove to look at her. “Did you just inform this woman her parents are dead like it was nothing?” Her face is turning red. The man actually looks a little scared at his wife’s anger.
“Don’t upset yourself. The baby, angel.”
She glares at him. “Don’t use the baby to try to get out of this.” She narrows her eyes more.
“It’s fine. It’s fine,” I say, cutting in. I was glad when my parents left me at my grandfather’s. They were a mess. My grandfather’s house wasn’t great, but I lived in peace without weird people coming and going. “I figured as much. It doesn’t really feel like news. I’m more offended by him knowing so much about me,” I admit.
The anger fades from Thea’s face. “I know it’s…” She waves her hands in the air like she can’t think of the words. “Weird or whatever. I’m not going to lie to you, Emma. I’d be upset if Salvatore didn’t know all this stuff about you. We live in this house for a reason. It’s safe. We have to make sure anyone who enters these walls isn’t a threat. I mean, you’re going to be helping me care for the most precious thing in the whole world to us. Tell me, even if you didn’t live our life, if you had the means to do so, you wouldn’t do the same?”
I don’t hesitate, because she’s right. “I would.” Some of my anger lessens. It’s not like there’s something in my past I care to hide.
Salvatore sets two plates in front of us. “Thank you,” I say, meeting his eyes.
“Thank you,” he says back to me.
I smile at him. Maybe he isn’t as bad as I thought he was going to be. He’s intense at times, but there’s something underneath that I feel like I can trust.
“Your things will be here soon and we’ll put you in your own wing of the house for now. You’ll have lots of privacy.”
“My things will be here soon?” I ask. I don’t even know why I do. Of course they will be. Salvatore comes around the counter island to his wife. “I’m going to go do a few things.” He glances over at the kitchen entryway. I follow his line of sight to see a man standing there.
“Okay.” I barely hear Thea’s response, because all my attention is on the man standing there. A man who I’ve been running into over and over for almost two weeks. Every time I see him, I turn and run the other way because of the things he makes me feel.
“Oh, hey, Gio,” Thea says. I pull my eyes from my stalker mystery man to Thea. She’s all smiles. “Emma, this is Gio. He’s our baby’s godfather and uncle,” she says with the proudest smile on her face.
I look back at Gio. I finally have a name to go with his face. His eyes are on me like they always are. He walks into the kitchen, coming closer and closer to me until he’s right in front of me and I have to lean back to look up at him.
He looks like he always does. His dark hair is a little long, with a five o’clock shadow on his strong jaw. His light brown eyes appear to have a gold ring around them, now that I’m close enough to see. His olive skin is smooth, but every bone in my body is telling me his hands are rough.
He’s in a dark suit like every other time I’ve seen him. His size has always been so intimidating, and so is the way he looks at me. I’m pretty sure he wants me. I may not have been with a man or have a lot of experience, but I can see it in his eyes. They follow me.
Or so I thought. Now everything starts clicking together. Oh my god. Maybe it’s not that at all. Maybe he’s the reason the Castellos know so much about me. He’s been following me to learn about me for this family. Why does that hurt a little? A small lump that shouldn’t be there forms in my throat. I should be happy that he isn’t really some guy who was stalking me and wanted me. I know I’m only lying to myself. I might have run from him every time I saw him, but I was always looking for him. Sometimes I’d get disappointed when I didn’t see him.
“Emma.” He takes my hand without me even offering it. He has to lean down to do it.
He doesn’t shake it, though. He rubs his fingers along my hand, and my breathing stops as I stare up at him.
“I couldn’t help but overhear,” Gio says, his eyes still trained on me. “The contractors started early on my remodel. Looks like I need a place to stay until they’re finished.”
“You don’t even have to ask, Gio. You’re always welcome here,” I hear Thea say.
Gio keeps caressing my hand as he leans just a little closer for only me to hear. “Guess you won’t have the wing all to yourself, Dollface.”
Chapter Three
Giovanni
These past ten days have been utter hell. I always thought that when I found the woman that I knew would be mine, it would be easy. I would scoop her up and take her home. I’d waited for her for years. Fucking years. I’d even had a home built and finished it a little over a year ago. I wanted to be ready. I thought after the first sight, she would fall into my arms and that would be that.
I didn’t know how wrong I would be.
I’ve been chasing my doll all over the place. Okay, maybe not exactly like that. She doesn’t seem to go anywhere. She stays around the hotel that’s close to the hospital, something I think she did on purpose. It kills me that this is how she lives. That she doesn’t have a place to call home.
I followed her regularly. Even had a hotel room next to hers. I couldn’t help myself. I hated the idea of not being close to her. The first time I watched her walk into the hospital, I panicked, thinking something was wrong with her and I couldn’t follow her in. When she’d gotten on the elevator, she’d gone to the maternity floor and that one is kept on lockdown.
The thought of her being pregnant tore through me, but I didn’t give a fuck. She was going to be mine either way. A small part of me hoped it just had to do with her job, but I knew she didn’t work in a hospital, so I was pretty sure she was pregnant. I hadn’t found any trace of a man around her when I went digging, but who knew. Maybe she had an untraceable one-night stand, but she didn’t seem the type. I pulled some strings and found out what was going on.
Whenever she had free time, she volunteered at the neonatal intensive care unit. She was what they called a “cuddler.” She cuddled babies whose parents couldn’t come during the day or ones who had left them there due to drug addictions.
Could she be any fucking sweeter? No wonder she was running from me. I may wear a suit every day, but there is no denying the deadly air that hangs around men like me. She’s a saver, and I’d killed someone not even a few weeks ago.
I stroke her soft skin, enjoying my first touch of her. She’s even softer than I thought she would be. I didn’t even know something could feel so soft and delicate. I should look down and see if my rough hands are hurt
ing her skin. But those fucking eyes have me transfixed. I swear they could hold my stare for hours and I’d never look away. The world could fall down around us and I wouldn’t notice.
She pulls on her hand when I tell her she isn’t going to be staying alone. Her eyebrows furrow together in confusion. While I’ll take any look she gives me, I’d do anything to see those dimples while she laughs for me.
“It’s probably a good idea anyway, Emma. We should have someone in that wing of the house with you. This place is really big,” Thea says.
I smile down at Emma, thinking I’m going to have to give Thea a big hug later if Sal will let me.
“Let’s talk, Gio,” Sal says.
I nod, then bring Emma’s hand up to my mouth. I place a kiss there, breathing in her warm vanilla scent. She gasps as I pull back and lick my lips, wanting to see if I can taste her. My gut tightens knowing I’m going to have to step away from her. I finally have her in front of me and I have to walk away. This is going to kill me.
“I’ll see you later, Dollface,” I say before finally letting her go.
It takes everything in me to do it after finally getting my hands on her. She doesn’t say anything, but that blush of hers lights up her freckles, reminding me of how many times I’ve wondered how far the blush goes on her body. How many other freckles does she have for me to find? What will she do when I kiss, lick and suck every one of them?
I leave her because I know she can’t get out of this place without my knowledge. When we enter Sal’s office, he walks over to his bar and pours me a glass of bourbon, then one for himself. I shoot it back, which is something I shouldn’t do. Bourbon like this is to be savored, but I need to take the edge off. Sal lets out a bark of a laugh as I set the glass down on the bar. Instead of sitting behind his desk, he takes one of the chairs in front of it, turning it toward me. I do the same next to him.
“I like her,” Sal finally says. I glance over at him. “She didn’t want to be here, but when my angel started to break down about being a mom, she jumped all in to help. Emma could have said it was too soon for her to come, but she stayed to soothe Thea. I appreciated that.”
I smile, not surprised by this. If there’s something I know about Emma, it’s that she’s sweet to the core. It’s one of the things I love most about her. It also scares the fuck out of me because I’m not sure she could ever accept my lifestyle.
“I don’t know if she can live this life,” I say, taking a deep breath and leaning back in my chair.
Sal nods. “I was thinking the same thing. But look at Thea.” He reminds me, giving me a trace of hope. “It’s not like we hurt innocent people. The people we have hurt had it coming. We’ve kept more people safe because of what we’ve done.”
I know he’s right, but still. We take the law into our own hands.
“I wouldn’t stand in your way,” Sal says as his eyes meet mine. “If you left to be with her. To start new.” He shrugs, letting the sentence hang.
I shake my head, hoping it doesn’t come to that. “I don’t want to leave you. You need me here. Our trust in each other is hard to find in this world. You could get hurt.” I don’t think he’s going to agree with me. He won’t admit to this weakness, even though I know it to be true. We might trust a lot of the men we hire, but like I said, our trust is unbreakable and never has to be questioned.
“I know,” he agrees, taking me by surprise. “You set up this master plan. So make it work.”
He’s right, I did. And now I have to see it through.
After that first day at the bakery, I followed Emma out into the street, keeping a safe distance so I wouldn’t spook her. She walked five blocks before she entered the hotel. I waited a moment before going to the front desk and asking for the manager, George.
The hotel was in our area and under our protection. George came out and gave me a curious glance, probably because he hadn’t called us. He’d wanted to take me back to his office, but I couldn’t risk it. What if she left during that time and I missed her? I didn’t want her to slip between my fingers.
“Redhead with eyes so blue you can’t miss them.”
He nods, turns to go over to a computer, and begins to type. A moment later I hear the printer go off. He grabs the papers and brings them over to me.
“She’s been here a few days and her room stays open. She mentioned waiting to get called for her next job assignment, which could take weeks, so we keep holding it for her,” he tells me. “She’s quiet. Orders room service about twice a day and leaves maybe once a day.”
The paperwork had all her information on it. I thanked him and called my guy with her name. Twenty minutes later I had everything I needed on Emma Walsh, a name she wouldn’t be keeping long if I had anything to do with it. But what shocked the shit out of me was that she was a live-in infant nurse. I’d heard Thea talking about wanting one. She said she wanted a nurse before the baby came, too, but Sal was only looking for the nurse to come after the baby came. They both liked the idea of having someone medically trained close by while the baby was so little since they lived a good drive from the hospital.
It was like luck was shining down on me. Or maybe it was fate. After checking her out and digging as far into her as I could, I brought my plan to Sal and Thea. Thea was all over it. She’d been dying for me to find someone. Sal was hesitant until he looked over everything I had. I don’t blame the man. This is his son we’re talking about.
It was a crazy plan, but I needed her to stop running from me. It was driving me fucking crazy. She was like a skittish cat and I finally got her cornered.
“I’ll make it work. Or I’ll die trying,” I tell him as I stand up to get my bag from my car. “We’re in connecting rooms?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want you putting a hole in my wall to make your passageway.”
I laugh, but if anyone knows how crazy a woman can make you, it’s Sal.
Let’s just hope I have the same luck as he did.
Chapter Four
Emma
I watch Gio’s retreating form leave the room, still in shock that he’s here. How is that possible? He’s shown up everywhere I am. I should have been more scared, or noticed that something was going on. I clearly have no street smarts, with my nose always stuck in a book.
“You do kind of have a Dollface,” Thea says, but she smiles and there’s no malice behind her words.
“Because I’m so pale,” I mumble. I look back to where he exited, and I wonder when he’ll come back.
“It’s your eyes. They’re so bright and beautiful,” she adds, then shrugs.
She picks up a piece of bacon, takes a bite of it, and moans at the taste. “This little boy loves bacon,” she says, going for another piece and shoving the whole thing in her mouth.
“Don’t we all,” I say, grabbing a piece off my plate.
“I’ll make sure the cook has this breakfast every morning for you if you like.”
“You have a cook?” I don’t know why I ask. Of course they have a cook. I’m guessing along with a gardener, a couple of cleaners, and maybe a pool boy.
“Yeah. Lately I haven’t been up to cooking as much. Normally I love it. I still do sometimes, but the cook gets all the food and makes breakfast every morning, then makes some easy meals I can throw together for lunch and dinner. Mostly she does prep work for me.”
I nod and go back to eating my food. My mind is still running wild about Gio being here. Gio. I finally have a name. He looks like a Gio. I’d been trying to guess what it might be. I knew it had to be Italian.
“He’s really sweet, you know,” Thea says, cutting through my thoughts.
“Who?” I ask, thinking she’s talking about her husband. I want to snort. Maybe to her he’s sweet.
“Gio. I saw your blush when he walked into the room.”
I want to say that I didn’t, but I don’t want to lie to her or myself. My fair skin shows everything.
“He’s single,” she adds, wiggling her
eyebrows.
“I’m not looking.” Well, I thought I wasn’t. I’d always been so busy with school, then I was a live-in nanny for so long that I didn’t have time. Normally I spent my days at the home I was staying in, so dating wasn’t something I’d given much thought to. I’d always wanted to get married and have babies, but I didn’t know when it would ever happen.
“If you say so,” she says nonchalantly. The smile she’s giving me says she doesn’t believe me. We both go back to eating and I savor some of the best food I’ve had in weeks.
“Let me give you a mini tour,” Thea says after we put our dishes in the sink.
We both get up and she shows me around the house. She takes me to the pool, the game room, theater, and then about a dozen other rooms. I’m in awe at the expanse of this place. She shows me the different wings of the house, and I hope I don’t get lost.
“The one place you never go is into my husband’s office. Unless invited in. It’s the first door on the left when you walk into the house.”
I nod. I wouldn’t walk into any room with a door on it without knocking first. Plus, I will probably do my best to avoid her husband as much as I can.
“And this is your room.” She opens the door and steps inside, holding her arm out for me to come in.
I’m a little surprised to see my things are already here. I knew they were coming, but that seemed really fast. Not that I have a ton, really. Four bags hold everything I own. I try to keep it light, but I like holding real books when I read. Two of the bags are filled with paperbacks I can’t let go of.
“Where is Gio’s room?” I ask before I can stop myself.
A smile lights up her face. “I’m not sure. Maybe the next room over?”
A giddy unwanted excitement lights up in my stomach. What is wrong with me?
“It’s late. I’ll let you get settled,” she tells me. “Thank you,” she adds, surprising me by pulling me into a tight hug before turning and leaving the room.
