Maid to the Mafia

CHAPTER FOUR: Sneaky

CASSIE’s POV

The phone rang against my ear. I hugged my legs tighter to my chest and stared at the dark window.

Come on, Ivan. Just answer the damn call.

It went to voicemail for the fifth time. I pulled the phone away and pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes. My chest felt tight. I needed to hear Caleb’s voice before I tried to sleep. He didn’t even know I had taken a new job. He didn’t know I wouldn’t be home tonight.

I glanced at the clock on the wall.

Almost eight.

What if Ivan hadn’t put him to bed? What if he was letting him stay up watching whatever he wanted? What if he had simply left him alone in the apartment again?

I stood up so fast the chair scraped backward. I had to find Sebastian. Maybe if I explained, he would let me make one call from a landline or at least check that my brother had actually answered.

I opened my door and stepped into the hallway. The second I turned the corner I walked straight into a solid wall of black fabric and heat.

No. Not a wall.

Mr. Freniere.

He looked down at me with that same unreadable expression he always wore. Dark. Controlled. Dangerous.

“Mr. Freniere.” I took a quick step back. “Good evening.”

He tilted his head a fraction. “Where are you going?”

“I was just—”

“Sebastian told you not to wander at night. You’re not allowed to leave the estate until the weekend.”

“I know. I wasn’t trying to leave. I just needed—”

He stepped forward. The rest of the sentence died in my throat. He was close enough that I had to tip my head back to keep looking at him. His fingers reached up and caught my chin, warm against my cooler skin. He tilted my face higher until I had no choice but to meet his eyes.

“Are you defying my orders?”

“No.” The word came out soft. “I’m not. It’s just that my brother isn’t answering and I need to know that everything at home is okay.”

His eyebrow lifted slightly. Then his gaze dropped. Slowly. Deliberately. It traveled down my throat, over the thin fabric covering my chest, and stayed there.

I suddenly remembered what I was wearing. One of the sheer pieces from the dresser. Soft. Almost transparent. He could see the exact shape of me underneath.

“It suits you.”

“What?”

“The dress.” His voice stayed low. “I chose it myself.”

He still hadn’t released my chin. My hands moved on their own, trying to cover what the fabric refused to hide. A small, crooked smile touched the corner of his mouth. He watched the movement like it entertained him.

“Go back to your room.”

“But my s—”

“No buts.” He let go of my face. The absence of his touch left my skin colder than before. “Back to your room. Now.”

I turned around because there was nothing else I could do. Every step felt exposed. The sheer material shifted against my skin with every movement. I could feel his eyes on me the entire way down the hall. On the curve of my waist. On the way the fabric clung to my hips. On everything the dress refused to hide.

I reached my door, stepped inside, and closed it behind me with shaking hands.

The connecting door to his room sat closed only a few feet away.

I pressed my back against the door and tried to steady my breathing.

If I wanted to hear Caleb’s voice tonight, I needed to find another way.

I dialed my brother’s number again. The call rang and rang until it dumped me into voicemail. I tried the next sibling. Same result. Then the next. One was probably still stuck in late classes. Another had a family of his own and rarely picked up after dark.

Ivan was the only one who should have been reachable, and he was clearly ignoring every call. By the time I finished the last attempt my hands were shaking.

I couldn’t lie in that comfortable bed and close my eyes while my two-year-old might be running a fever again with no one watching him properly.

I waited. The thin strip of light under the connecting door to Mr. Freniere’s room stayed bright for a long time. I sat on the edge of the mattress, jacket already in my lap, and watched that light like it was a countdown. When it finally clicked off, I stood up, pulled the jacket over the sheer dress, and eased my door open.

The hallway was darker than I expected. The whole house felt emptier than a place this size should feel at only eight in the evening. No distant voices. No footsteps. Just the soft sound of my own breathing and the faint creak of the floor under my weight.

I found the door Sebastian had pointed out earlier as his room and knocked once, very lightly.

Nothing moved.

I knocked again and leaned closer, pressing my ear to the wood. Something shifted on the other side. Or maybe the sound came from behind me.

“What are you doing?”

I spun so hard my shoulder hit the doorframe.

Sebastian stood a few feet away holding a glass of water. He was half-dressed, bare from the waist up, skin still damp like he had just stepped out of a shower. A pair of dark pajama pants hung low on his hips. His hair was messy.

He looked more human than I had seen him all day, and somehow that made the situation feel even riskier.

“I need a ride,” I said, the words coming out faster than I wanted. “Just long enough to check on my son. You can drop me at the main road if you don’t want to go farther. I’ll handle the rest myself.”

He raised one eyebrow and took a slow drink from the glass. “You want me to sneak you off the estate?”

“Not exactly sneak. I mean… my son was discharged from the hospital this morning. He’s still sick. My brother isn’t answering any of my calls and I can’t sleep until I know someone is actually taking care of him.”

Sebastian studied my face for a long moment. The hallway light caught the water still beading on his collarbone. “Did you ask Duke?”

“I tried. He shut me down before I could finish the sentence.”

“This can’t wait until morning?”

“I won’t sleep. I’ll just lie there imagining every worst-case thing that could be happening. Please.”

He looked torn. I hated the way the request sat between us. He had already handed me a way out of the life that had been slowly crushing me. Asking for more felt greedy. But the image of Caleb alone and feverish made the guilt smaller than the fear.

Sebastian let out a long breath. “Fine. Wait right here.”

Relief hit so hard my knees went soft. I managed a shaky smile instead of the sob that wanted to escape.

He shook his head once, like he already regretted the decision, and disappeared into his room. When he came back he wore a dark jacket and held a set of car keys between his fingers.

“I’ll take you the whole way. Where do you live?”

I gave him the address on the far edge of town, past the old industrial lots and the stretch of road that always felt longer at night.

His head snapped toward me. “That’s almost an hour from here.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

He exhaled through his nose and started walking. “You owe me.”

“I know. I’ll pay you back. I promise.”

He gave a short, quiet laugh that didn’t sound entirely amused. “Yeah, yeah. Just get in the car before I change my mind.”

We moved through the dark house without speaking. Every shadow felt like it might contain someone who would stop us. The front entrance stayed empty. The night air outside was colder than it had any right to be. Sebastian unlocked a black sedan with a soft click and opened the passenger door for me.

I slid into the seat, heart still slamming against my ribs, and watched the mansion shrink in the side mirror as the car pulled away from the steps.

For the first time since I walked through those iron gates, I was leaving the estate.

I only hoped no one noticed before I made it back inside.