Maid For The Mafia by Alice T. Boone
Chapter Three
Control was half the reason I got invested in the Family business in the first place. The old man was never questioned by his own troops— something I recognized even as a child. Dad didn’t have to worry about anything when he was top dog. Once I was finally out on my own, it was the control that drew me in further. As a teenager, I was violent, infamous within the city. I had a name that followed me even as my involvement in the business took a different role, but I wasn’t a teenager anymore.
A propensity for violence wasn’t cute in a 32-year-old man.
Once Jem was born, things changed. I couldn’t depend on Tiffany to give her the care she needed, a narcissist at her best and an unmedicated monster at her worst. I moved from my father’s intimidation rackets into Sammy’s money laundering, put a nonsense degree to good use as the head of my father’s construction company. The control I once took for granted was something I hadn’t tasted in years. Now, I couldn’t go 45 seconds without another test of will slamming my face into the fuckin’ counter.
Before the shake took complete control over my hand, I rubbed my brow. A grumbled sigh brought me back to earth, but my eyes refused to open. If I opened my eyes and still saw that dumb fuck hanging on the phone line, I was going to lose it.
“Are you gonna handle this fuckin’ thing or do I need to come down?”
Nestled within my kitchen, miles away from the places I was needed most, I drowned in another familiar silence. On the other end of the line, Micah grew silent. A lifelong friend was becoming just as clouded as the rest. Micah wouldn’t respond to me like he used to, wouldn’t believe in me the way my men once did, and maybe they didn’t need to. I already knew what they were thinking anyway. I wasn’t involved in the business enough anymore. They thought I was hiding out in the countryside, a hellhound with his god damn teeth pulled.
I couldn’t suffocate the snarl in my chest. “Just start pouring, alright?”
“Terry, if this guy shows back up and we don’t have—”
“I know what he said,” I spat, earning another pained silence. “It’s fine. I’ll handle it.”
Disconnecting the call was the only way to salvage my ego. I wasn’t ready to hear another disagreement, to watch my reputation deteriorate any further. Ten years ago, the O’Brian name meant something. Now, I hated to think of the whispers that filled the street. I was becoming replaceable, and that was the most terrifying thing of all.
I smothered the roar building in my chest, another pain attempting to escape. This didn’t have to be a catastrophe, I assured myself. I already knew what I was going to do. I’d let those assholes at the site panic a little, remind them of how much they needed me. I’d remind those lazy fucks that they were nothing without my connections, without my name. Then, I’d make the call to City Hall and have that prick Gambino back date the permits for me.
That’s what I was good at, wasn’t it?
The walls came back up before they ever had a chance to crash. My spine straightened with the opening of a door. The act was too rehearsed to be messed up now, but when I caught sight of Selina stepping into the room, even 15 years of practice didn’t seem to be enough. Another fault in the armor, another reminder that I wasn’t nearly as polished as I led myself to believe, another whisper of the man I’d never be.
Dark eyes refused to meet me across the room, but that hardly mattered. Selina had a way of watching me without ever glancing at me, of making me feel like a gnat under a god damn microscope. The dark-haired vixen made her way across the room, keeping painfully true to her promise as she zipped her lips shut. Selina’s attention fell to the sink full of dishes just feet away from me, but with her back turned to me, it was hard to pay much attention to what her hands were doing. The day before, Selina vanished into the city for a few hours at the end of her shift. At the time, I hadn’t been able to figure out what for. Now, it seemed obvious. The baggy uniform she wore all week was now fitted, taken up another two inches to broadcast the thighs I’d been dreaming about. Her waist was accentuated with the new design, and yet, I was hardly sure the modified uniform was the most insulting issue. On her god damn feet, the woman still wore those awful, bright red Vans.
Images of Selina were impossible to avoid— even in the rare moments I wanted to. While the woman had done a fantastic job of avoiding me, remnants of her presence seemed to be everywhere. The sound of her humming filled the foyer long after she was done mopping it. Her shampoo hung in the air long after she showered and headed to bed— despite us staying in two completely separate wings of the house. In the few areas where our morning jogs intersected, she took special care to avoid bumping into me, but still her footprints mocked my pace. Pieces of her had already invaded my life, and even when I tried to swallow the thoughts, all her presence really did was bring temptations of punishments— for both of us.
Another woman I couldn’t have submitting to me.
Another need to impress someone who didn’t need to be impressed.
When the door opened again, the wall Selina so easily tore down was pinned back up. Jemma’s presence suffocated the both of us like a goddamn fire, and as I focused on the emails pouring in from my phone, I struggled to remain afloat. Jemma swept into the room with ease, pushing her way past me and edging her way beside Selina as though the goddess wasn’t even there. With a quick flip of her hair, Jem worked to pour herself a cup of coffee. I didn’t have to look up from my phone to know she’d only take one sip before resting it back on the counter, another stab at the lifestyle I’d worked so hard to build for us.
“Jem.”
My stern voice earned a pointed look— one my own father would have smacked off my fuckin’ face. I attempted to keep my attention on the email in front of me, tried to focus on getting the dates right for a return order of concrete, but I’d never been much of a multitasker. Jemma required all of my attention, and I couldn’t be in two places at once. I couldn’t be completely fuckin’ ignored in two places at once.
Placing my phone on the counter, I gave the girl a careful look. “Eat.”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
“Didn’t ask if you were fine.”
My attention didn’t shift back to Selina until Jemma’s did, only then reminding me of the other presence in the room. I was better at one-on-one confrontation. When I organized a meet, it was never with groups, never with a witness present. That’s when things got messy. Jemma, on the other hand, loved nothing more than an audience. Before my hands could begin their tremble, I focused my attention on Jem’s disinterested sneer.
“Alex is already waiting for me.”
A hiss of laughter just seemed to irritate her more. “Wouldn’t want to keep Alex waiting, what with her packed schedule.”
“She’s got practice to get to in 20 minutes.”
“Then you should have been down here 10 minutes ago to eat something,” I snapped, ending the discussion completely. “Don’t make me fuckin’ do this again with you, Jem.” The thinly veiled threat brought her arms defiantly across her chest. “You’re gonna make me have this conversation every morning with you? Eat your food.”
The challenge only brought a new spark to her eye. No one loved to fight as much as Jemma— though, her mother might have given her a run for her money. The teenager was just as bad with authority as I was. Though, at 16, she hadn’t earned the right to wear the O’Brian bad attitude.
Another movement to the right broke my trance, shattered the routine I worked so hard to build. By the sink, Selina continued to work silently and suddenly, Jemma’s audience became another casualty. When the girl noticed my eyes shift to the maid, Jemma’s stomach knotted. Her hand jerked to the counter in front of her before she could give it any thought, and the shattering of another broken plate filled the room. The snarl that crawled through my chest would never make it to her, though. The teenager made it to the door in a flash, but it wasn’t my growl that froze her in place. Once Jem turned to glance at her chaos, the only thing any of us could focus on was the careful look in Selina’s eye.
Never angry. Never bothered.
Always watching.
As Jemma slammed the door, I couldn’t help but wonder if she felt Selina’s presence the way I did. I couldn’t help but wonder if she also felt like nothing when they stood in the same room together.
Conventional wisdom was the only thing that kept me in my seat. Two months ago, I would have raced out after her. Two months ago, I would have given Jemma the exact reaction she wanted, screaming after her as she and her friend peeled out of my driveway. The urge came with every bubble of anger, with every suffocating breath of this new world, but I was meant to be smarter than that.
All Jemma wanted was another reason to hate me.
I just wasn’t sure how many more reasons I had left to give.
In a world built on ice, Selina found sure footing. She didn’t note the tremble in my muscles, the breath hissing through clenched teeth. Instead, her hum of content filled my chest, my head, my heart, and she continued her quiet routine. Where I was ready to come apart, Selina found utmost calm. Her expression remained gentle as she crouched in front of me, carefully picking up each broken piece and jabbing at my every sore spot.
Why the fuck did she feel it so necessary to remind me where I was weak?
As reality blurred with fantasy, I found myself unable to look away from her. I’d seen her on her knees so many times that it was getting difficult to remember whether I’d even woken up that morning. Though, when she finally looked up to me with those eyes, it became abundantly clear. If this was my dream, her eyes never would have looked so innocent. If this was a dream, she’d already have my cock down her throat.
“Stay on your knees much longer, Selina, and I’ll give you something else to do.”
Pride swelled in my chest as her cheeks tinted. Where she remained untouched by pressure, by anger, by fear, my words shifted her. Where the rest of the world left her settled, I shook her foundation. At the very least, I hadn’t lost my touch.
When Val appeared at the mouth of the kitchen, both of our heads jerked to the side. Selina slid from her knees to the balls of her feet, sweeping the rest of the plate into her hand before she bolted upright. The stout woman’s attention seemed to burn into Selina’s skin, but even that could only bring a sheepish smile to her face. Unlike the rest of the world, Valerie took my orders to heart. When I told her a week and a half ago that I didn’t want Selina in the same room as I, Valerie overloaded her with work in the afternoon.
Not that I was sure whether I should be grateful for that anymore.
“The laundry, Selina.” As she rushed the words, her accent came out thicker. “I told you it gets musty.”
Selina’s eyes didn’t jolt back to me, but then, I wondered if her eyes had ever jolted anywhere in her life. The maid brushed her apron off and fell back into her natural state of relaxation. Careful footwork carried her out of the kitchen again, those awful fuckin’ shoes drawing the attention of the entire room. No part of her really commanded attention— not in any way I mastered. She didn’t have the poise to rival the other women in my life, and I was doubtful she had the breeding this life required. You didn’t end up a maid for the mafia without your personal life being a complete disaster, and yet, when she stole a final glance over her shoulder, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. A maid didn’t deserve any piece of my attention. So then, why was it so fucking hard to focus on anything else?
“I’m sorry, Mr. O’Brian,” Valerie rushed, moving to finish the cleaning job Selina had left behind. “She’s new. She just needs some time to adjust.”
“It’s fine.”
Valerie had been with me for nearly ten years. She was my first staff member, more of a mother to Jemma than her own mother had ever been, and she kept the house in a state I’d never have been able to achieve without her. She was a lifesaver, but the things that made her so great were also the ones that ate away at me. We knew each other too well for her to hide when she was bothered, when she was nervous.
Flipping through my phone, I tried to offer her the space she needed. “Spit it out, Valerie.”
“Her teacher called again.”
“Which one this time?”
When the answer wouldn’t come, my head jerked up.
“Jemma’s not showing up to gym class.”
“She’s failing gym?” I’d almost find the situation laughable if it didn’t twist the air out of my lungs. Fuck me. “I’ll handle it, Val.”
As soon as the promise came from my lips, Val’s eyes searched my face. The slightest hint of a frown tugged at her features. It was a look I’d grown too familiar with, one my own men wore too often. The only difference was at least Valerie had some type of hope for me. Where the others simply thought I was a terrible father, a terrible leader, Val simply saw the man who needed work.
Though, maybe Val’s disapproval wasn’t entirely bad. When I was drowning in my self-hatred, I didn’t have time to think about the curve of Selina’s hips, the pout she gave as she watched the world pass by. At least when I was gasping for air, I didn’t have to think about bending her over my knee, about breaking her in the way she needed to be broken.