Page 79 of The Deal

With Christmas only a few weeks away, Carmella is leaving for Italy earlier than originally planned. There is no point in her staying at the house if we won’t be there.

That woman devotes most of her life to caring for me, so I like that I can do this for her each year. She came into my life under tragic circumstances not long after I moved to Sydney.

Her son used to be a bouncer at one of our clubs. He passed suddenly after being cowardly punched from behind while manning the door. He was only twenty-two and just doing his job.

I felt obligated to visit her and pay my respects, and that’s when I found out she’d also lost her husband a few months prior. The poor woman was all alone and struggling to make ends meet.

I offered to financially compensate her for what happened, that is one positive trait I learnt from my father. We look after our own, and her only child had lost his life while working for our company.

Only a heartless bastard would turn their back and do nothing, but self-pride can be a fickle bitch, and she took offence to my offer, seeing it as a handout. So, I took a different approach. I gave her a job and a place to stay instead. We’ve been looking out for each other ever since.

“Are we ready to take off, Mr Mancini?” our pilot, Riccardo, asks through the headphones. I double-check that Chloe and Giovanni are properly strapped in before I give him the thumbs-up.

The extra supplies for Giovanni—and the few things Chloe added to the list—have been purchased and are nowen route to the cabin. As a precaution, I decided to send another car with extra men to the Hunter Valley. My whole life will be staying in that cabin with me for the foreseeable future, and I can’t risk anything happening to either of them.

There’s a second cabin on the property where the men can stay in between shifts. I just hope it’s enough protection if trouble comes knocking.

“Oh, we have a Christmas tree?” Giovanni squeals with excitement when Chloe pulls out the box.

“We do,” she replies with a smile. “It’s just a fake one, but I thought it would be fun if we made our own decorations.”

Giovanni’s face falls. “But I don’t know how to make decorations.”

“I do. I can teach you. I used to make them with my mum when I was a little girl.”

“Okay.” Giovanni brightens up again, his mood shifting as he warms to the idea.

We’ve been at the cabin for three days now, and so far, so good. The last time I spoke with my brother was the morning we left Sydney, and we agreed not to contact each other unless something further happened.

No news is good news, I suppose.

“How about we put the tree up first?” she suggests. “Then we can decide what decorations to make.”

I’ve enjoyed watching their bond grow over the past few days and seeing how naturally they’ve connected. It’s been a nice change, and maybe even a little healing for all of us.

The fact that Chloe is willing to relive parts of her childhood with him, even though it’s difficult for her, speaksvolumes about the kind of person she is. Sophia could take a leaf out of her book.

We are both lucky to have her here; she’s really brightened our stay. I’m not one for sitting around, and if it wasn’t for these two, I’d be climbing the walls right now.

They’ve been busy ticking things off their activity list, and the way my boy looks at her—like she hung the stars and the moon—warms my heart. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I look at her the same way.

“Let me just grab some scissors from the kitchen to cut these ties,” Chloe says, leaping to her feet. When she exits the room, I’m hot on her heels.

She’s riffling through one of the drawers when I enter. I slide up behind her and capture her around the waist, turning her in my arms. “What are you doing?” she asks, wide-eyed.

“This,” I reply as my mouth bears down on hers. I kiss the ever-loving shit out of her, hoping it conveys the words I can’t bring myself to say.

If my son wasn’t in the next room, I’d bunch that sexy little sundress she’s wearing up around her hips, move her underwear to the side, and fuck her right here on the kitchen bench.

We are both breathless by the time we part. “What was that for?” she asks.

“Do I need a reason to kiss you?”

“No.”

“Thank you for being so good with my son.”

“I adore him.”

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