Page 89 of Sins and Secrets

“Did he lose his focus, or did he start to turn the famiglia in the direction he wants?” I stand taller, not backing down from her intimidation tactic. She can invade my space all she wants. I’m not going anywhere.

“He lost his focus. He is burning his father’s legacy to the ground, and it only started when you showed up. Now, you can leave on your own or I will have you taken care of.”

I arch an eyebrow, even as my heart starts to race. “Get out.”

“Excuse me? Who do you think you are? You think that you can just kick me out of my son’s house? That’s not going to happen.”

“You can leave now, or I will call Davide to come deal with you.”

She glares at me. We both know that if I call Davide, Alessio is going to hear about this. If there is one thing I know she doesn’t want to do, it’s piss Alessio off. He will come home and remove her from his life. We both know it.

“You’re going to regret this,” she says as she heads for the door. “I will be calling my son and talking some sense into him.”

“Good luck.”

I follow her to the door and lock it behind her, wondering how she even got inside. After the last issue with his mother, Alessio had changed the locks.

Although, if she went to see Alessio before coming over here, she would have easily stolen the keys. I need to ask him about it when he gets home.

I sigh as I head back into the kitchen. Papa is sitting at the table with his arms crossed and his eyebrows furrowed.

“What was that about?” he asks, jerking his chin in the direction of the front door.

“Alessio’s mother wants me out of his life as soon as possible. She thinks that I’m the reason his father’s horrific legacy is being ruined.”

He nods. “She has always been that way. Just don’t let anything she says get to you. But you do need to think about what you are willing to put up with. I doubt that he will remove her from his life entirely. Is that something you can be okay with in the long run?”

“I don’t know,” I say, though I do know. I would put up with her every single day of my life if it meant I got to be with him. That’s the last thing that Papa needs to hear, though. He is still trying to wrap his head around the relationship.

“Well, you need to think about it, Billie. I don’t want to see you get hurt by that woman.”

“I know.” I turn down the music and stick the mop in the bucket. “Want to keep me company while I get the kitchen clean?”

Papa smiles and leans back in the chair. “I guess I can do that. Why don’t you tell me about all these new plans you have for your resort?”

I get to work scrubbing and talking to him about the resort I want to build. As we talk, I think about the days when it was just us. There was nobody else in either of our lives. It was me and Papa against the world.

It’s strange to think that there’s somebody else in my life that I can rely on now.

Alessio gets home late that night. I’m sitting in the living room and reading a book when he walks in and immediately strips out of his suit. He makes his way to the kitchen in nothing but his boxer briefs, getting a drink of water before looking over at me.

“Damn,” I say, my tone teasing as I close my book and make a point of checking him out. “If I knew that I was going to get a show, I would have closed the book a lot faster.”

Alessio sighs and crosses the room. He sets his glass of water on the coffee table before sitting down beside me. “Sometimes I feel like that thing is suffocating me.”

“Well, I much prefer this look.”

He laughs and leans over to kiss me quickly. “Of course. I would expect nothing less.”

“You look like you had a hard day.”

He nods and laces his fingers with mine. “It wasn’t great. Especially after I found out my mother stole my keys.”

“That answers that question.”

He looks at me, his eyebrows furrowing. “What question?”

“How your mother managed to get in here today to call me a whore.”

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