Maid For The Mafia by Alice T. Boone
Chapter Nine
Not much frightened me as much as the thought of relaxation. In my world, peace only came before another storm. Quiet meant that something was lurking, and when shit started lurking, it became impossible to spot. Somewhere along the line, I had grown to like the chaos— at least then I knew what I was dealing with. It was that trained resistance that made closing my eyes so difficult, that made relaxing my shoulders impossible. But then, Selina seemed to be chalked full of surprises.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually felt comfortable in my own home. For the second time that week, I’d been stretched out at my desk, my eyes closed as I relaxed back into my chair. It was another moment where, if only for a second, I didn’t feel like my entire god damn world was going to fall apart. Selina had only been within the house for eight months, in my bed for six, but the universal shift was impossible to ignore. Despite constant protests, my tantrums and my fits, Selina had colored the entire house with her signature calm.
Jemma was back in school, her grades improving.
Family breakfasts were a regular occurrence.
Work was finally flowing smoothly.
And despite my best efforts, Selina had clawed her way into my chest.
Breathing became easier with every passing day, rest coming every night now. My crew had grown more compliant once they’d noticed my hackles lower, and now, I couldn’t even be bothered when someone disturbed me inside the office— especially when I caught sight of the vixen at the door. My moments of silence were broken when Selina peeked her head inside, murmuring out an apology to match her quiet smile. Her cheeks remained tinted, the way I liked them best, but the woman wouldn’t move after she interrupted me.
Truthfully, I thought maybe she was just as addicted to me as I was to her.
“I can come back later,” she suggested in a squeak. A shake of my head and a wave of my arm pulled her deeper into the den, and her face screwed with curiosity as I relaxed back into my chair. “Well, don’t get up on my account, Mr. O’Brian.”
Her scowl brought a grin to my aging features, but as she turned to start her work, I figured she wouldn’t notice. For now, Selina had remained in her maid uniform, desperate to maintain some sense of normalcy even as we grew closer. Though, if she insisted on wearing the damn thing much longer, I was certain I’d have to make some changes to the uniform. The shortened skirt didn’t feel short enough anymore, the high collar hiding far too much. The grey, though, I wouldn’t mind. I hated the idea of anything distracting from her eyes.
Curvy legs and careful footwork carried the woman around the room, and while her attention seemed to be on dusting the shelves, I couldn’t help but feel the show was simply for me. Her cheeks tinted deeper with every stolen glance, deeper still every time she bent over and gave me a clear view of her dampening panties. Not that she had to tease me— not ever again. The sight of her only brought forward the memory of her taste, the way I’d woken her up that morning with my tongue and left her a mewling mess.
I didn’t realize how hard I’d grown until she was making her way over to my side of the room, dancing around my desk as though she had no idea what she’d done to me. Though, maybe that was the way she liked it. Selina moved carefully, and I wouldn’t dare twitch from my seat. My muscles didn’t shift until she had already made the mistake of growing too close. Her squeal set my blood on fire, and in a single motion, I swept the woman onto my desk and nestled myself between her soft thighs.
“Would you—”
Selina’s throat closed shut as I nuzzled my face into the crook of her neck, as my hot breath brushed over her skin. I didn’t even have to touch her to get her to quiver for me. Though, that didn’t stop me from begging for more. It was my gentle nibble that brought her hands to my back, my neck, my hair. Another moan, another squeal, another promise she was mine. My fingers worked desperately to hike her skirt up around her waist, but her hands on my own brought a momentary pause.
Good.
I needed a challenge.
“Terry, we don’t have time.” My snarl against her neck only brought a chuckle. “Val needs me downstairs.”
“I need you here,” I reminded her. “We’ve got time.”
“We don’t have time!” My hum had her relaxing, but I was certain she knew better than that. “You have no concept of time management,” Selina reminded me, as though she couldn’t feel the way my fingers trailed down to her thighs. “Last night— Terry!” By the time my fingers slipped beneath her soaked panties, all she could do was cry out my name. A playful brush over her clit was all she needed to tremble for me, to bring herself close to her brink, and I loved every single fucking second of it. Pulling my body back, I watched her struggle, watched her writhe, watched her battle with a need only I understood. “Terry, last night you said 15 minutes and we were at it for an hour and a half.”
Her eyes glazed over as two of my fingers dipped inside of her, her walls already begging me for more. Two months had passed after a shootout left my side torn, two months of my cock aching with every sight of her. Two months that had tinted Selina’s cheeks permanently, her gentle pleas bit back in the hopes of keeping me in place. It’d been four days since my doctor gave me the go ahead, and I didn’t think my hands had been off her for more than a few minutes. This morning, she had begged for me to fuck her, was willing to barter and steal to feel my cock inside of her, but I knew better than that. If I wanted to see her coming completely undone for me, it came with hours of work, with days of effort, and I’d never enjoyed waiting for something so much in my entire life. Now, a single stroke over her g-spot and a playful brush over her clit, and she reminded me of what I loved most about her. As she struggled to keep her eyes open, fought to form coherent thoughts, I let my lips brush over her ear.
“I didn’t hear you complaining,” I reminded her. “I’m sure I can make you cum right now if you’re that worried.”
“Terry, please.”
“Tell me what you want, Selina.” As my fingers slipped out of her pussy, taking their time to rub her clit instead, her mewls were music to my ears. I would never tire of hearing how deeply she needed me, of hearing her whine for more. As I pulled back, bringing my fingers up to Selina’s red lips, I felt harder than I’d ever been. Her tongue was too eager to take me, too willing to lick her excitement from my fingers, and all I ever wanted to see were those big eyes. I needed to know what I’d done to her, what I’d turned her into. “Beg for me and I’ll let you cum.”
“Please make me cum,” she murmured, her tongue darting out to lick the rest of my fingers clean. “Please, Terry.”
“Yeah?”
This time, my grin didn’t bring a flush of embarrassment to her. Selina’s arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me in to taste her juices on her tongue. I loved her eagerness more than anything, loved the way she so shamelessly grabbed at my hand and brought it back to her core. If there was any doubt before, there was none now. Selina was becoming, completely and entirely, mine.
Before my fingers could dip inside her panties again, the opening of a door straightened us both. Immediately, Selina shifted off the desk, straightening out her uniform as though that would save her reputation. For the first time in what felt like forever, anger coiled my fingers. The staff knew better than to disturb me when I was working. Though, maybe it was the sight of Travis’ grin that really set me on fire.
“They don’t knock in Toronto?”
As the kid took another step into the room, Travis glued his eyes to Selina. “I did knock.”
I’d never seen the fucker so excited in his entire life. Next to me, Selina stood her ground, her expression blank and her eyes cast forward. She was hoping to maintain a semblance of a professional image, and I didn’t quite have the heart to tell her we’d lost that ages ago. With a hand on her back, I gave her the command she needed to rush out of the room.
“Val needs you.”
I could almost see her soul leave her body. Selina’s shoulders fell down her back, and as she glanced over to me, she whispered out a prayer of gratitude. The raven-haired woman wouldn’t dare a look at Travis as she slunk past him, but for once, I couldn’t quite share Selina’s annoyance. I loathed being disrespected, but there was something to be said about not having to hide her anymore. Travis would be the first to spread the gossip through the ranks, and when that was out in the open, I could finally introduce the woman to the lifestyle she was signing up for. Selina needed to know what she was getting into before I made her place in this house official, before I begged her to share my name.
I’d been praying for the moment, really.
So then, it shouldn’t have turned my stomach to see his slick grin.
The click in my jaw returned as I settled back into my seat, but annoyance only seemed to feed Travis’ fire. The man-child remained at the entrance of the room, grinning like an idiot and tracing Selina’s path with his eye. For two months, the kid had made it a point to disrupt every part of my life— a tantrum once he realized he’d never be the one chosen to fill Micah’s shoes. Travis hadn’t bothered to show up to a meeting in three weeks, and after a screaming match at the docks, the kid settled into the only job left for him. He’d been working as the gopher for the construction company, a man of violence reduced to a child wasting days getting coffee.
Though, the demotion hadn’t humbled him as much as I thought it would.
“The fuck do you want?”
The bite was enough to straighten him. Travis adjusted his jacket as he ventured a little deeper into the room, his eyes scanning for some sign of danger I couldn’t quite place. “They pulled the permits for that place on 5th,” he finally admitted, forcing my eyes into the back of my head. I should have known better than to leave a man’s job to a child. “We’re wasting a few grand a day just sittin’ there. If they can’t work, there’s no reason they can’t be—”
“I’ll make a call.”
When Travis’ head nodded in agreement, my stomach tightened. His faith hadn’t magically been restored. The doubt still lived in his bones, waiting to dethrone me with any opportunity, and acceptance only came when Travis had a tastier treat to sink his teeth into. The man practically danced into the chair across my desk, grinning like an idiot as I turned my attention back to my files.
“You gotta pay extra for that, ya know? Nailin’ the maid.”
“Watch your fuckin’ mouth.”
My snarl twisted his features, his confusion relaxing only when my shoulders slid down my back. A breath brought my attention back to the land of the living, and I focused back on my documents. If I was going to commit to her, there really wasn’t a better time to do it.
“She’s coming to Pauly’s birthday.”
“Why?”
“Why the fuck do you think?” My head didn’t snap back until Travis’ chuckle filled the air. “There a problem?”
His laughter dulled, but the grin remained as he took another sweeping glance through the room. “Just weird for someone like you to bring someone like her, isn’t it?” Travis hummed, a shrug in his shoulders. “Spend all this time by yourself and then bring some fuckin’ porn star?”
As the sickness twisted, I couldn’t bring myself to respond. Denial first. It was always denial first. It only took a glance for Travis’ confusion to melt into something much more insidious. The fuckin’ rat had never looked so happy as when he dug his phone out of his pocket, as when he slid the damn thing across my desk. Though, by the time it was finally in front of me, I didn’t really need to see much more. A glance was all I needed to recognize her delicate hands, the porcelain of her skin, the birthmark that sat on her hip.
“Kinda figured that’s why you hired her,” Travis chuckled. “Buddy from Toronto sent them to me a few weeks ago. Guess they were all over town last year.”
I wouldn’t let myself breathe, a collapsing lung making it impossible, anyway. If I sucked in a breath, all that would bring was the rush of life, the hurt of betrayal, the snarl of agony. Peace always came at a price. I just didn’t think it had to be Selina. All at once, the anger I’d done so well at battling swept my system.
I trusted her.
I believed her.
And she let me down.
In a world where my image was everything, where my image was the only thing that kept my family safe, a secret destabilized my entire world. If she wasn’t going to tell me something as significant as this shit, what the fuck else was she keeping from me? How else was she planning on humiliating me?
Practiced images demanded that I keep it together just a moment longer. Breaking down in front of Travis was only going to make this entire mess worse. Rubbing my hand over my face, I forced my eye back to my paperwork.
“Anything else I can help you with?” I finally snarled out, setting the man to the edge of his seat. “Tell them to get the fuck to work.”
“They can’t start without—”
“They’ll be there by end of day,” I rushed. “Just get the fuck out of my house.”