Page 39 of Sin & Secrets

In the clarity that follows, I step out of my bath and drain away the water, sweeping my sinful thoughts down the drain as well.. A cold shower soothes my flushed skin, so that by the time I walk back into the bedroom in my towel, my heartbeat has returned to normal.

Donatella enters a moment later with an excessively large first aid kit, blissfully unaware of my transgressions, and levels mea serious look on me.

“Is there anything else, aside from the bruises?” she asks, assessing me head to toe.

I just shake my head as she hands over a tube of cream.

“Apply this as often as you nee.; It will speed up the healing process.”

“Thank you,” I say as I glance at the large first aid kit as she packs it up. “You know how to use all that?”

“I trained as a nurse before I stepped into housekeeping.”

Right. “I guess that’s normal for mafia housekeepers.”

“It comes in handy from time to time,” her clipped tone tells me I shouldn’t push it. “Mister Moretti isn’t prone to injury, however.”

“Just his enemies, right?” I reply bitterly.

Outside the soothing bathwater, the crushing reality of Rocco’s true identity is harder to ignore. He might have saved me from Claudio, but he’s still a mafia don.

How many people has he killed? How many lives has he ruined? Behind his flirtations lies someone deadly, lethal, and emotionless, capable of an unknown number of atrocities.

He isn’t a good person, and I am completely and utterly out of my depth.

“You act as if he could escape this life,” Donatella says as if reading every thought in my mind. “As if he wasn’t reared from birth to fulfill this exact purpose. You could no sooner ask a tiger to change his stripes.”

“Is that supposed to make it all okay, then?”

She looks at me through narrowed eyes. “The underworld will always march on. It’s better Mister Moretti is at the helm than anyone else.”

I want to laugh at her. “So he’s a good employer, huh? Does he steal from the rich and give to the poor? Does he send flowers to the wives and children of the men he murders?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know that he’s a criminal. I know that he trades in human lives,” I snap back.

“He saved you from a far worse fate.”

“To further his own means.”

She gives me a long look that I can’t quite decipher. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

“What are you talking about?”

But Donatella merely shakes her head. “Get dressed. If you want a tour, I’ll only wait outside for five minutes.”

With that, she marches away, her first aid kit in tow.

For a moment, I just stand there contemplating whether it would be worth getting back into bed. But annoying Donatella won’t win me any favors, and if I’m honest with myself, I’m more than a little curious about what the rest of the house looks like.

After a too-short browse of the walk-in closet, I manage to find a matching pair of dark and far too lacy underwear, a comfortable pair of jeans, and a pale blouse that does little to disguise the color of my bra beneath.

As I exit, Donatella’s eyebrow quirks up at my appearance.

“Next time, give me a little longer to change,” I snap at her.

“Compared to that little dress you arrived in, I was actually thinking you look rather composed.” She gestures down the hall. “Shall we?”

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