Romeo The Mafia Casanova

She fidgeted when he only stared at her with an intense, heated look.

“You’re beautiful, baby.”

“Thank you.”

She’d never felt this insecure in her life, and she didn’t particularly like it.

He held his hand out. “Let’s go meet my sisters.”

She clutched his hand as he led her down the stairs. He had to stop once to ask a maid where the room was, and it seemed to take forever because the house was so large.

The first thing she saw was four beautiful women. Three looked like they could be triplets.

“Girls. I’d like you to meet Rebeka.”

She hadn’t realized she’d tightened her grip on him when they all came forward.

“This is Beth, Faith, Angelica, and Hope,” Dominic said.

“Wow, your family is gorgeous,” Rebeka said.

The women grinned.

“I was going to say you are beautiful,” Angelica said.

The other three smiled and nodded.

“Can she eat lunch with us, Dominic?” Faith asked.

Domonic nodded. “I want her to stay with you while I go take care of something. I’m making you responsible for her, so don’t let anything happen to her.”

Faith shook her head. “We won’t.”

“Good.”

He turned toward her and pressed his lips against hers. “Stay with the girls. I’ll be back soon.”

She had no idea what to say, so she just nodded.

Hope grabbed her hand and started pulling her outside and toward a white iron table.

“Come and sit. Lunch will be served soon.”

She sat and waited for one of them to talk.

“After lunch, I think we should go through our closets and give Rebeka some clothes,” Angelica said.

“Oh, no. You don’t have to do that,” Rebeka said.

“Us girls need to stick together,” Faith said. “The five of us will become best friends.”

“That sounds nice. I haven’t had a girlfriend for a few years. If I wasn’t going to school, I was working to support myself and my cousin.”

“Graham told me a little about it. I’m sorry,” Faith said.

The other girls seemed curious.

“I ended up in this situation because my cousin Troy made a bet and used me as a payoff to the winner. He said he had a sure hand. I knew the guy that got me would win the game before he placed his cards down. The look of triumph in his eyes was unmistakable.”

“Oh, God. What did your cousin do when he lost?” Beth asked.

“He tried to get the guy not to take me, but he’s a monster. He was planning on raping me, giving me to his men, and then playing with me for a while until he killed me.”

“Jesus Christ,” Angelica said. “Would you ever talk to your cousin again?”

Rebeka shook her head. Her heart would hurt for a long time because of what he did. “I don’t want ever to see him again. That kind of betrayal never goes away.”

“No, I don’t think it does either,” Faith said.

“I’ve never heard of Victor Marino before,” Hope said.

“I hadn’t either. I’ve heard of the mafia we have in town. Both your families seem to be the most feared,” Rebeka said.

Angelica nodded. “I’d say no one will fuck with the Macleans.”

A few maids walked in, set plates in front of the women, and left.

Rebeka looked around at the girls as they started to eat. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this lifestyle.”

“I thought that,” Beth said. “It takes a while. I also like to think of the people who care for us are saints and enjoy their jobs. My husband makes sure of it. He wants them to want to stay and be loyal, so he treats them right.”

“I will probably have a lot of questions.”

The other four girls smiled and nodded.

Hope squeezed her hand. “We’re here for you.”

“I feel better knowing you’re all here with me in the same house.”

“You’ll eventually move into our old house,” Angelica said. “Our mama’s still there. She’ll love having you live there. She says she missed having women to talk to. We always go home to see her, so it’s not like you’ll never see us again.”

“I hope not.” Her anxiety started growing when Angelica talked, but she was reassured about having their mother there and that she’d still get to see them.

She had no idea when it happened, but she’d already come to grips with the fact she would be around these women and Dominic for the rest of her life. She had to admit that the thought didn’t scare her as it used to, and she was much better off now than she was before.

She didn’t have to rush to work every day, deal with crazy, entitled people, or clean up after anyone. She didn’t have to worry about bills or keeping her cousin on the straight and narrow.

Her life could be great if she could get over the fact that she was living with the mafia and was starting to fall in love with one of them.

Dominic waited for the front door to open. He was anxious to get this first meeting over with because he’d been such a bastard the last time he saw her.

“I’m here to see Aria,” he said. “I’m her son, Dominic.”

“Come in. I’ll go get her,” one of the guards said.

Dominic stood and looked around. It looked a little different than it did the night of the party, and the next morning he hadn’t paid attention to anything.

“Dominic.”

He turned to face his beautiful mother. “Hello.” She was in a stylish dress and high heels. Her hair was up in an elaborate bun. He couldn’t believe she was old enough to be his mother.

He could see the emotion she was trying to hide in her eyes. She was an extremely strong woman, and he felt proud to call her his mother.

“Can I help you with anything, hon Dominic?”

He felt like an ass when he yelled at her when she called him honey that night.

“Can we go somewhere private?” he asked.

“Of course. Come with me. We’ll go into my office.”

He followed behind her and shut the door. She walked around the desk as if to protect herself from him, making him feel worse.

“I wanted to apologize for my behavior a few weeks ago,” he said. He saw the surprise and then happiness on her face.

“I understand. It was a lot to take in.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“May I sit?” he asked and indicated a chair in front of her desk.

“Oh, yes, please.” She sat down in her chair.

He got comfortable. “I’ve got a lot of questions.”

“I’ll answer anything to the best of my ability, honey.”

“I know.” He studied her for a moment. “I wish things had been different. I wish I knew about you guys a lot sooner.”

She nodded as her eyes glazed over with tears that she fought back. “Me, too. I mourned you for over twenty years.”

As sad as it was, he liked hearing the loss of him affected her that deeply.

“Did you know I have a lounge here in town, and I’m renovating another one?”

Aria smiled. “Yes, Trent told me that. I’m so proud of you.”

“I’d understand if you don’t feel comfortable after the way I acted, but I’d like to start helping you and the men with the business.”

He watched her eyes widen, and then a huge smile crossed her face. “Oh, my, I’ve dreamed of this since I first saw you. Of course, we would love to have you. We always need help with things, especially when we’re still closing down the human trafficking side. It’s taking a lot more time than anyone thought it would.”

Dominic gritted his teeth in disgust. “Fuck, I still can’t believe that bastard was into that. It really shouldn’t surprise me. The man was a first-class monster.”

“That’s one thing to call him,” she said and smiled. “Would you ever consider living here with us?”

“That’s something I also need to talk to you about.” He told her about what happened with Rebeka and how they got her out of the situation. “We’re now at the Macleans because Marino fears them, and he knows he’d be dead if he fucked with them.”

Aria nodded. “I know his father. We have some business dealings with him. If his son fucks with us, there’d be a war, and his father won’t allow that. His father would rather do business with us than have his son live. He’s got four sons. Victor is the youngest and has always been unstable.”

“This is good to know.”

“I can talk to the father if you’d like?” Aria said.

“No. I’ll take care of this. How’s the security around here?”

“The best it’s ever been. My guys won’t take any chances with me.”

“I think Rebeka and I will move in sooner than later. Will I be in the same room?”

“I’d like to give you a suite if you’re going to live here. What would you think of putting the first two bedrooms together?” Aria asked.

“I don’t want you to change things for me,” Dominic said.

“You’re going to be living here, honey. I want you to feel like this is your home. Designing your suite might make you feel like a part of the family quicker. You can stay in the room you had before until the suite is finished. Get Rebeka to help with the decorating.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” he said. “It might help her settle in better.”

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I think you’ll make her feel part of it, not an outsider. She has a lot to learn about how the mafia deals with things. At times, I can see fear in her eyes, and I don’t like that.”

Aria smiled. “She’s a part of the family, honey. I’ll do whatever I can to help her. Maybe she could help me in the office.”

“I think that would be good for her. I’ll ask her.”

“You told me you were pretending that she was your fiancee.”

“I’m not pretending anything. She is.”

“Would you like to get married soon?”

“Yes. I don’t want anything elaborate, though, unless she does. I was thinking of having a justice of the peace come and marry us.”

“How about we get the families involved a bit?”

“How? I don’t want her overwhelmed.”

“We could do it here and have your sisters, their husbands, and us. It will be small, and then we can eat a nice meal.”

“I like that idea.”

“When would you like this to happen?”

“How about this Saturday? It will give me some time to move my things in and get her some clothing.”

“What size is she?”

“She’s a little bigger than you, but not much.”

“I’ll take care of everything if you don’t mind. I wasn’t a part of my daughter’s weddings, except for Beth, so this will be fun.”

“So you do consider her your daughter?” he asked.

“Absolutely. Family is what you make of it, not the blood that runs through our veins.”

He stood. “I should be going. Before returning to the Macleans’, I’ve got a few things to do.”

She stood. “Can you hold on for a moment? I’ve got something I want you to have.”

“Sure.”

She rushed out of the room.

Dominic stared at the picture over the fireplace.

“Alastair and Graham told us you finally got your head out of your ass, but I had to see it for myself.”

He turned to see Trent and Mateo. “Yes, you could say that. I should apologize to the two of you. There is no excuse for my behavior.”

“You just found out you had a huge family, and your father had lied to you for years, son. We don’t hold a grudge,” Mateo said.

He nodded and then turned back to watch his mother walk back in. She walked up to him and grasped his hand before she put a small box in his palm.

“I want you to have this. It was your great-grandmother’s ring.”

He opened the box to see a gorgeous square-cut two-carat diamond engagement ring and a band surrounded by a small diamond wedding band. It was beautiful and very expensive.

“Are you sure you want me to have this?” he asked.

“I’m very sure,” she said.

“Thank you.” He closed the box, tucked it into his pocket, and pulled his mother into his arms. They stood for a long time, and he held her as she cried.

She started to calm down, but he waited until she was ready to let go of him.

Then she stepped back, wiped the tears from her face, and tried to smile. “I’m so sorry. That was the first time I’ve been able to hold you. I didn’t even get to hold you when you were born.”

“Don’t be sorry, Mother. I needed it as much as you did.”

She got teary-eyed again, but her smile lit the room. Her men came on either side of her and held her. One got a hold of her hand, and the other wrapped his arm around her waist.

He was glad she had both men. She deserved double the love more than anyone he knew.

“If all goes well, I’ll see you on Saturday,” Dominic said. “Call me if you need anything.”

“You just show up in a nice suit. Your sisters will get her ready when she gets here.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you guys soon.”

He drove to his lounge, and his thoughts were jumbled in his head. He was truly happy for the first time in his life, and he was getting everything he had always dreamed of and more. Now, he just needed to hold it together because he didn’t want to lose any of it.