“Figures she would be listening in,” his mother says, crossing her arms as I put the bags of groceries on the counter and start unpacking them.
“Billie, you can wait to do that later,” Alessio says, his cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. He crosses his arms and glares at his mother. “You don’t need to be around to hear this.”
“Don’t worry. I heard your mother calling me a whore already.” I give his mother a polite smile before turning to put the carton of cream in the fridge. “And I have to get dinner going. Lemon gnocchi takes a long time to make.”
His mother scoffs. “You think that prepackaged garbage will take a long time to make?”
I force myself to keep the smile on my face. “Actually, I make gnocchi from scratch, so it does take a fairly long time. If we want dinner before midnight, I need to start cooking now.”
Even though I want to tell her where she can go, she is still Alessio’s mother and the matriarch of the mafia until he takes a wife. Making an enemy out of her and disrespecting her would be a mistake.
It would put me in Alessio’s bad books and his mother would be out for blood. She would try to ruin me.
I’ve heard countless stories about what she’s done to other women she doesn’t like. I’m not going to be one of them.
I have zero desire to end up in the bottom of a lake. His mother may look like a frail woman, but she was a criminal long before she ever met Alessio’s father.
At least, that’s how the stories go. I’ve never seen any proof, but if she was as good as everyone says she was at theft and murder, there wouldn’t be a trace.
His mother turns up her nose at me before focusing on Alessio again. “You have to make her leave. Do you really think that a woman is going to want to be with you when you have her living here?”
“Billie is going through a tough time right now. Her father asked me to look after her and that is what I’m going to do. I don’t know if the men who attacked her father are after her or not, which means that the safest place for Billie is here.”
“I set you up on a date with my friend’s daughter. Laura is a nice young woman, and she would make you a good wife. She has strong connections to the Irish.”
A date?
Jealousy rolls over me.
I know I have no right to feel like this. I have no ownership over Alessio, but the thought of him being with another woman is enough to make me see red.
Alessio throws his hands up in the air as I put away the last of the groceries. “I already told you that I’m not interested in dating right now. I have more important things to deal with in my life. And if I was ready to date, it’s certainly not going to be with someone who is tied to the Irish. Stop trying to insert yourself into my life and stop trying to shape my mafia in the way you want it run.”
“I raised you. What I have to say should matter to you. I will not tolerate this person you are becoming. You may have a lot going on in your life, but you are still my son, and you will do as I say. In this matter, I know best. Laura is a good woman and will bring you even better connections if you marry her. You cannot continue relying on cartels for support.”
Alessio looks like he’s ready to blow as he grinds his teeth together. “You will not stand here and tell me what to do. I will not be marrying anyone, especially someone you pick for me. Marriage is just a fucking shit show of emotions and another person trying to tell you what to do. I already have you filling the position of bossy woman in my life, so what do I need a wife for?”
His mother steps closer to him, planting her finger in the middle of his chest. “You are going to regret speaking to me this way, Alessio. You are nothing but a child and you don’t know what you’re talking about. I will forgive you because I’m your mother, but if I did not love you, this would be the end for us.”
“Mother, I love you too, but this is too much. You can’t walk into my house and force your opinions on me.” Alessio gently pushes her hand away from him. “I will not be going out with Laura and Billie will live here for as long as she needs to. You will not have a say in the matter as it is not your home or your life.”
His mother scowls before spinning on her heel and facing me. “You are the cause of this attitude.”
I hold my hands up. “I did nothing. All I did was come back here to make dinner.”
“Get out,” Alessio says, his tone darker than anything I’ve ever heard from him before. “I told you that if you disrespected Billie, you would be out of here. Now leave.”
His mother shakes her head and snatches her purse from a chair. “This is far from over. The sooner that little whore is out of here, the better. She’s a disgusting filth that you’ve allowed into your home. Do you really think that she is going to do anything other than take advantage of you?”
“Alright, I’m fucking done,” I say before heading for the loft.
I don’t need to stand there and listen to it. Though I may need to tread carefully where Alessio’s mother is concerned, I’m not about to stand around and be insulted for no reason. I did nothing to her, yet she is lashing out at me.
Just to piss her off more, I change into a bikini before striding back downstairs. I don’t bother to listen to what the pair is arguing about as I make my way through the kitchen and straight out the sliding door to the backyard.
“That’s enough!” Alessio’s voice seems to shake the house as I turn to close the door behind me. ‘Get out of my house now!”
I shut the door and take a deep breath. I walk to the edge of the pool, trying to leave everything his mother said about me in the past. My plate is already full. I don’t need to waste precious time and energy worrying about what she thinks.