Saved by the Mafia

Dinner Party

“The black jacket, Mina, please.”

I held my hand out towards Mina, our housekeeper, and grabbed my black suit jacket from her hands. I slid it over my broad shoulders quickly, allowing it to hide my shoulder holster from view.

Mina eyed my chest with a scrutinizing look. “Expecting trouble tonight, Mr. Lucci?”

I glanced over at her. Mina was a nice enough woman— in her mid-twenties, close to my age. She was attractive enough, I supposed— a head full of golden brown curls that came down to her chin, warm brown eyes, olive skin. She had a curvaceous figure— a plump ass, large breasts, small waist. She regularly made it known with sly comments that I could f**k her if I wanted to, but sleeping with the help was beneath me, and irresponsible. Not to mention, all of her assets did absolutely nothing for me now.. not with my new interest in Angel-like blondes with daddy issues.

“I always expect trouble, Mina.” I told her. I looked over as her soft hand landed on my shoulder.

“Be safe, Mr. Lucci,” she batted her eyes up at me, a seductive turn to her full lips.

The me from three weeks ago probably would have f****d her on my desk. This new version of me— the one I still barely knew— was too busy picking apart how she didn’t— and couldn’t— measure up to Evelyn Adair.

I grabbed her hand and placed it back by her side, a clear message. “Don’t you have work to be done?”

Her face flushed red as she nodded, hung her head, and shuffled out of the room.

While I waited for Peter to be ready to leave for our dinner with Tori and Gustav, I sat down at my desk with a glass of bourbon. I’d waited for this night patiently. Tori and Gustav ran the casino in my absence, and tonight was strictly to talk numbers— debts and incomes. That wasn’t what I was waiting on.. it was that I knew Evelyn was working tonight, and I knew she was going to be assigned to my party. I hadn’t seen her in three weeks, and she had been on my mind every hour for those three weeks.

I wondered if she’d even given me a second thought. And then I wondered, yet again, why I cared so much. Part of this was just me wanting to sniff around her like a dog, but another part of me just wanted to know that she hadn’t been harmed. She was at work, so she couldn’t be hurt badly. It still bothered me that I knew more about the girl than I should because of my stalking, but I couldn’t help it. She fascinated me.

My office door opened and Peter poked his head in, adjusting his tie. “Rex is waiting. You ready?”

I took a sip of my bourbon and held it up to him. “Almost.”

“Just so I understand where we stand,” Peter cleared his throat. “And this isn’t me trying to pry, Slater, I swear— this girl.. is she an enemy, or a friend? Should I be concerned?”

I bristled immediately, but quickly let it go. He had a right to know. He wanted to know the basics— if he should be watching his back or not. He did deserve to know that much.

I gulped down the rest of my bourbon and played with the glass. “A friend.”

Realization dawned on Peter’s face, and he nodded. “Understood.”

“You tell Gustav,” I gave Peter a deadly expression. “That if he so much as looks at her funny, I’ll use his intestines as garland on my Christmas tree this year.”

Peter looked shocked. Gustav was a flirt— no, not a flirt. He was a pervert in every sense of the word, and he loved beautiful women. He loved toying with them, manipulating emotions. I knew when he caught an eyeful of Evelyn that he would react strongly— and that sent a burning jealousy searing through my body and made rage boil up inside of me.

If I couldn’t have her, I wasn’t going to sit by and watch anyone else do it.

I knew how psychopathic that sounded. If I can’t have her, no one can. But I felt like a psychopath— I didn’t want Gustav even breathing her air. But I needed to see her, and this was a good excuse without exposing her to anyone who was an enemy of mine.

“I will inform Gustav that the girl is under your protection and should not be touched,” Peter acknowledged.

Was she? Under my protection?

No.. not yet. If she was, her dad wouldn’t be showing up at her job and pushing her around— at least not without losing a limb, anyway. But I knew what Peter was doing— marking her as under the protection of the Lucci family made her untouchable. No one who did business with us would dare touch her out of fear for their own lives.

I met Peter’s eyes, and I saw recognition in them. Somehow, he seemed to have put together the pieces of the mystery girl he’d been researching for the past week. Sometimes, knowing Peter had unknowingly become a person that knew me the best was unsettling. I wasn’t someone who liked for people to know me. I wanted them all to know me as Slater Lucci— demon spawn of Donovan Lucci. It was simpler that way.. if they all feared me. Safer. For me. For my family.

“You speak of this to no one, Peter,” I growled. “Do you understand?”

“Contrary to belief, Slater, I would never do anything to jeopardize something of value to you or your family,” he responded cordially. “If this girl holds that value, I will speak nothing of her to anyone.”

I stood up from my chair and tucked my smokes into my jacket pocket. “If at any point this evening I step away from dinner, you have my permission to act in my stead with Gustav and Tori. You know the spreadsheets as well as I do.”

He nodded. “Less than ten percent pay out. Got it, boss.”

I stared at the doors in front of me, and something stirred inside of me. Suddenly, I was aching to be around her. To see her. To know her myself and not just on paper.

“Let’s go.”