Page 14 of Enzo DeLuca

Maria lowered her head. “I’m sorry, sir.”

Enzo stared at the top of Maria’s head for a long time. So many things had been happening around him, and he hadn’t even noticed.

“Thank you, Maria.”

Maria raised her head. “Sir?”

“Thank you for taking care of him. Thank you for taking care of me too.”

Tears formed in Maria’s eyes, “Sir, you and your grandfather took care of us. I guess that means we’ve all been taking care of each other.”

“My grandfather never thought of you as employees. To him, you were family. Why am I just now understanding why he felt that way?”

Maria smiled. “You’ve been busy, Mr. DeLuca.”

That was true. He’d been busy. Too busy to notice his grandfather hadn’t been doing well. He’d always been busy. He was tired of being busy. However, he now held the title ofdon. Tired was no longer a part of his vocabulary, while busy had become his middle name.

“Whatever meals you prepared for grandfather, make them for me too.”

“Yes, sir. If you ever want anything different, let me know.”

“I will.”

“Sir, I have a question.”

Enzo glanced to the door, waiting for Stefan to return with Eve.

“Ask it.”

“Sir, will I be moving in here or staying at Don Ermanno’s manor?”

This was the type of shit he didn’t want to deal with. He didn’t know where the hell she was supposed to live. But, she was like family. He had to take care of her.

“Where would you like to live?” Enzo asked, eyes still on the door. What the hell was taking them so long?

“My husband, Romano, is the gardener at the manor...” she paused, waiting for him to say something.

Oh, right. Her husband was the gardener. Together, they lived in the staff wing at the manor. They’d lived there for years. He was pretty sure she didn’t want to live apart from her husband. Neither did Enzo expect her to drive to his home every day and return to the manor every night.

“I like being alone,” Enzo told Maria. “Emelia used to send her cook over to prepare meals for me twice a week. All I had to do was heat them up. Would you like to do that instead of moving in here?” He tore his gaze away from the door to look at Maria.

She was smiling and nodding her head. “Yes, sir. I can do that. Today, I’ll prepare enough meals for three days. Then I’ll return mid-week to prepare enough meals to get you through the weekend.”

Enzo nodded.

“Should I prepare meals for your guest also?”

Enzo’s gaze drifted to the door again. “Yes,” was all he said.

“Yes, sir.” Maria moved away from the table, strode to the other side of the room, and exited through the door that led to the other side of the kitchen where the stove and refrigerator were.

It was taking too long for Stefan to return with Eve. Enzo had just scooted his chair away from the table when he heard Eve’s voice. He quickly returned to his previous position and lifted his glass of water to take a drink. The door opened and Stefan stepped inside then held the door open for Eve.

The moment she entered the room, he lowered his glass and stood. Just as he was about to move to the end of the table to pull her chair out for her, she stormed across the room with her hands cuffed in front of her and stared down at her plate. Without looking his way, she picked up a slice of bacon and then turned to leave the room.

“Stop,” Enzo yelled.

She continued walking.

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