Page 4 of The Mobster's Angel

I rise from my desk and walk over to the window. In the distance, I can see Olivia is still working, even though the light is waning and the sun is about to set.

What will happen to my girl?

She probably doesn’t even know yet. I bet none of the staff does.

Maybe this is a good thing. With Rossi gone, there’s no need for me to live here anymore. I might have stayed if it meant still being able to see her sweet face every day, but she will probably move elsewhere. Find another job. Get on with her life.

Yes, maybe this is a good thing.

She is mine, but she isn’t for me.

Doesn’t matter how much I’ll miss her.

CHAPTERTWO

Olivia

The day startedoff so damn well.

I woke up early because the Rossi family are all away, and I love having the house to myself. I’m the housekeeper, so most of my job is just directing other people to do their jobs—like the cleaners and the pool staff.

But since they don’t start until ten a.m., I like to be up and about well before dawn, strolling around the long halls and enjoying the facilities as if I own the place.

It’s a dream of mine. A pipe dream, of course, but a girl’s gotta have big dreams.

I’ve always found the bigger my dreams, the better the things that happen to me.

When I was younger, I never knew how to dream. I didn’t even know places like this existed. Private swimming pools, walk-in closets bigger than many apartments, hot tubs. A team of people to cook for you. Clean for you. A dedicated person, like me, just to manage all the other people who are dedicated to taking care of your every whim.

How could I have known about any of that?

I grew up in a studio apartment with a grandmother who worked every hour around the clock. When she got too sick to work, I had to do the working for both of us. But when she got too sick for me to work, that’s when I started dreaming.

I dreamed that something would come along and change my life for the better. I was working two jobs, admin in an office during the day and waitressing at Joe’s Diner in the evenings.

That’s when the Rossi family walked into my life. They owned the diner, and the aunt of the husband, Brenda, took a real shine to me.

I’m good with people. I guess that happens when you don’t have things to be good with. When I say people, I mean women. Put a man in front of me, and I’m like a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming truck. I guess that happens when you spend your teens working like a dog.

When I handed in my notice to help nurse Grams, Brenda called and offered me a job as a live-in housekeeper in the family mansion. The money wasn’t eye-watering, but without any living expenses, it was enough to cover a place in a nursing home for my grandmother.

I thought my prayers had been answered.

I thought my dreams had come true.

Until I woke up this morning, checked my online banking, and realized I hadn’t been paid.

Initially, I thought nothing of it. Maybe a mistake? Or a problem with the bank? Stuff like that happens, right? Then I wondered if perhaps Mr. Rossi had just forgotten—they’re on vacation, after all.

So I called, and the line went straight to voicemail.

Not feeling remotely worried at that point, I continued on with my morning of pretending I lived the life of luxury. I made myself pancakes for breakfast. I went for a long swim. I spent extra time on my makeup and gave my mid-length blonde locks a proper blow-dry. I even used the fancy keratin treatment Mrs. Rossi swears by.

I’ll pay for that in hell if I have to.

And then I sent a text message to Brenda, asking if she’d heard anything from Mr. Rossi.

That’s when the day that started off so well began to go downhill.

---