Devil in a Suit: A Dark Mafia Romance (De Maggio Mafia Duet Book 1) by Nicole Fox

Author:Nicole Fox [Fox, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-18T05:00:00+00:00

21

Hazel

I have been filled with manic energy all day. I just can’t sit still. During the Skype session with Johnny and Max, they kept asking me if I was drinking too much coffee.

“Too much coffee is no good!” Johnny chirped, and then said something rapid-fire in Korean that made them both laugh.

I told them I was okay, just fine and fricking dandy. I didn’t tell them how I’d learned something last night that had thrown a nuclear-level bomb into my life. Worldview: shattered. Life: complicated. Hazel: restless.

I run for what feels like an age, purposefully avoiding Alda and Emily. If I look at them, I might crumble and start crying again. I think about how this morning when I woke up to Carlo’s presence over me, I kept my eyes closed and just listened to the way he was breathing, feeling his eyes burning into me. Something has changed between us, something big, something important.

I don’t want to ruin it.

After the run and a day spent painting, I go into the garden. Ubert follows me outside. He’s been weird all afternoon, trailing me incessantly, whereas usually he lets me do my own thing unless I’m teaching. And even with teaching, he’s gotten slack. I guess he knows that I’m not a flight risk anymore.

“I hope you’re not planning on coming onto me, Ubert,” I joke as I wander over to the fountain.

The big man’s face gets white. “No, miss!” He seems genuinely outraged. “I just, um, have orders to keep a close watch on you. For your own safety, you understand. Miss, if I’ve given you any sign that I, uh, that my intentions toward you are anything but, ah—”

“Relax,” I smile. “I was kidding.”

“Can I ask you not to kid like that around Mr. De Maggio?”

“Why, is he the jealous type?”

“Not generally,” Ubert mutters.

Not generally. What does that mean?

“I’m going to pull weeds,” I announce when I spot a tangle of them creeping up the base of the fountain.

Ubert shrugs. “Whatever you like, miss.”

“How many times, Ubert? My name is Hazel.”

He just smiles and retreats.

I drop to my knees, liking the feel of the cool grass on my bare knees. It’s late in the afternoon. I guess the atmosphere would feel pretty good if I wasn’t replaying the conversation with Carlo over and over.

I lose myself in the work as best as I can. It’s simple; mundane. I focus on all the little intricacies. I make a pile of the weeds and think about how I would paint them. I’d probably exaggerate it a lot, like have the fountain being completely consumed by them, the rock bulging as it tried to break free. Maybe I’m just obsessed with things breaking free.

“We have staff for that.”

I spin, leaping to my feet, thrusting forward a handful of weeds as though it’s a weapon.

Carlo smiles, dressed in a vest and shorts, his arm and hand and leg freshly bandaged. His blue-green eyes flit to the walls, to Ubert. I watch for any

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