The Woman in the Back Room by Gadziala Jessica

Author:Gadziala, Jessica
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-06-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Santi

I spent Thanksgiving doing exactly two things.

One, was watching Avi to make sure he was handling his first real holiday—Halloween didn't count—without his mom.

In the past, Avi, Brit, and I always had quiet Thanksgivings at home. We had all the usual staples, but it had never been a big, loud, over-the-top affair like the Costa Family Thanksgiving was.

My mother had moved into Lorenzo's old lavish penthouse, a place with more than enough room for our party of assorted Family members. The ones of us who were core family members, sure, but also the guys like Brio and Salvatore who didn't have anywhere else to go.

It was a crowd of twelve, all in all, and something entirely new for Avi, so I was worried about how he would handle it.

From the looks of things, though, he was eating up the extra attention, was enjoying the guys letting him bet on the game, and playing cards.

Which left me with the other thing I did.

I thought about Alessa.

Like I'd been doing far too much since that morning I'd washed her hair.

I hadn't thought anything about it beforehand. It was a task that needed to get done, so she felt human again. I figured I could help her. That was all it was supposed to be.

But then she'd needed to drape over my lap. And it turned out she liked having her hair played with.

Then things, yeah, they got out of hand.

I should have controlled myself. She'd been gunned down, put through surgery, endured questioning from the Family as well as the cops. She needed rest and comfort. She didn't need me putting my hands on her and confusing shit.

But she'd made those noises.

And it had been so fucking long since I'd heard that, since I'd had a woman's pleasure in my hands.

I lost anything resembling control at that moment.

Which was why I spent the next few days after avoiding temptation. Meaning any time alone with Alessa. Which wasn't easy since she moved out of her bedroom in the morning, and planted herself on the couch.

Luckily, Salvatore and Brio took turns coming in and out to talk to her. Her brothers showed up. My mom. Her step-mom and old man. Then, of course, there was Avi and his single-minded determination to take care of Alessa.

It had been easier, yet harder, than I thought to stay away from her.

But even if I stayed at arm's length from her physically, my mind wandered to her constantly.

It was so bad that I was jealous of fucking Salvatore being able to treat her wounds. And Brio for hanging out with her on the couch, watching movies.

I was envious of my child for playing video games with her.

It was for the best. That was the only thing that kept me going. Because if we got close again, things would get physical. And that was when it would get messy. Because she worked for me. Because, eventually, the job would be done. Because I didn't want Avi to get confused or upset about seeing me with another woman.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.