Page 18 of Doll's Eye
“I appreciate your support, Saint, but I’m doing this. Accept it.” I glance over at Massimo and catch him staring. “It could be a lot worse than Massimo De Luca.”
“You better tell me if he wrongs you in any way.”
I don’t bother telling him how I can take care of myself. I know they only love me, but I’m beginning to feel like a broken record. “I promise I will.”
Family dinner is just as you would expect in a big Italian family. It’s chaotic. Everyone talks too loudly and over each other, insults are thrown, serving dishes of Mamma’s cooking are passed around the crowded table.
Our aunts, uncles, and cousins come over for dinner at least twice a week, and it only gets crazier. And when our grandparents come from Italy to visit, it is insane. My grandma,aunts, and mother start preparing for dinner shortly after breakfast, making enough food to feed an army.
Massimo sits beside me, and I feel how tightly spun he is. To him, this may be quite a shock. I mean, we’re gangsters who thrive on crime, yet we sit down as a family to eat. We even bow our heads as Mamma says a quick grace.
I can’t help the giggle that bubbles up when Mamma scolds Massimo for taking a polite serving. Only she could get away with treating Massimo like a child, and he cracked a smile rather than a skull.
“If it weren’t for the intensive training I do daily, I’d be fat as hell,” I murmur over to him.
His smile widens some as his eyes make a leisurely trail down the length of my body.“Intensive training, huh?” he asks, and I nod my head.
“She’s also lethal with a knife of any kind,” Armando interjects, obviously eavesdropping in on our conversation. “So, keep her away from pointy objects if you’re in some kind of a tiff.”
“Scary as shit, more like it,” Paolo mutters, and Tullio smacks him on the back of the head at the same time Mamma chastises him for cursing at the table. “I’m sorry for cursing, Mamma, but it’s true!”
“You’re just jealous because you have terrible aim,” I tease him, then look over at Massimo, grinning. “He couldn’t hit the target with a knife if it were six feet away.”
“And you?” His eyes are full of intrigue.
“I could hit it with my eyes closed,” I reply smugly.
“I’d certainly like to see that.” We lock gazes for a moment until Armando speaks again.
“It’s how she got the name ‘little psycho.’” A bunch of them start snickering as I glare at my annoying brother.
“Hey, I told you not to call her that!” Mamma reprimands. “You know I hate that. Now apologize to your sister.”
I raise both eyebrows at him with a smirk. “I’m sorry for calling you psycho,” he says half-heartedly.
I think it bothers Mamma so much when they call me that because she’s concerned there might be some truth to it. She’s from an affluent family, but she’d rather have her head in the sand than know what really goes on around her.
After we’re all overly stuffed and all the wine is consumed, the boys clear the table while the rest sit around and chat. My father and Massimo are the only two still withdrawn, remaining in boss form. Neither of them willing to show their hand.
Yet, I sense that Massimo will learn to breach my carefully constructed walls.
Chapter ten
Massimo
Iplaced Alessia’s room across the hall from mine. Close to me, but not close enough.
I’m not accustomed to having to harness any of myself. If I didn’t believe in the words I fed her about having a somewhat happy relationship myself, then I would have her tied to my bed already. Claiming precisely what is mine.
The night of our engagement party, she had me so close to unraveling. I do not lose control, and I do not let myself become emotional. But her accusation of me touching any other woman beside her infuriated me. She has no idea how hard up she has me and how badly I wanted to fuck Arianna just to release some of the fucking tension Alessia’s presence alone has festered in my fucking balls. One good release, but when Arianna threw herself at me, I turned her down even though it was painful.
I sent over some of my men on move-in day, which was three days ago, but when they arrived, her brothers had already handled it and sent them away. I appreciate the protection herbrothers provide her with, but she’s now my full responsibility. She’smineto take care of.
I did give her my word that she would be able to have dinner with her family as much as she’d like, but I also told her that I’d like to spend time with her, preferably in the evenings. Yet, she has been gone every night so far, not returning until late.
My cousin Monte is on Alessia duty for the majority of the time, so before heading over to my father’s side of the estate for a quick meeting, I ask him where I might find Alessia.
Just before entering the room, I hear laughter coming from it. Alessia’s laughter, and it puts a smile on my face to hear it. It’s a girlish sound, exposing her more gentle and feminine side. The regal air around her subsiding briefly when she lights up like that.
