Page 46 of Owned By the Italian Mafia Don

“Pain medicine right here.” She jiggles the container. “And antibiotics.” She slips the sling over my head and leans in close, her breasts nearly pressing against my face. She eases my arm in the sling. “How does that feel?”

“Like it’s going to be a pain in the ass,” I gripe, hating the way the straps dig into my skin.

Yeah, this won’t last.

She giggles again, placing her hands on my legs and whispers in my ear. “If you need anything else, call me, or if you don’t…call me anyway.”

“Okay. That’s enough,” Rosie marches her way into the kitchen and snags the nurse by the arm. “Thank you for your service. You can leave now.”

“Wait! Who the hell are you?” the nurse yells as Rosie opens the door and tosses her out.

I grin.

She cares.

Even if she’ll never admit it.

Rosie slams the door in her face, sliding the lock in place, and marches up the steps.

“That wasn’t very nice, Rosie. She was only helping me.” I stand, taking a step in the middle of the hall to get in her way.

Rosie narrows her eyes and grips my hand, lifting it so I can see the absence of the ring on my finger. “I’m sure she was only helping you. There’s a clause in the contract, you know. I don’t know if you remember but if either of us cheats, the contract is broken. Keep that in mind the next time you flirt with your nurse.”

“Is that why you’re so mad? Because of the contract?” I ask, knowing that isn’t the case at all. Rosie cares about me. In the small amount of time, we have gotten to know one another, we have grown closer, no matter how much she doesn’t want to admit it.

She bumps my bad shoulder with hers, lightly, but I’m still numb so I don’t feel it.

She likes me.

Even if she hates me.

And that’s worth more than that gem she has.

Chapter Thirteen

Rosie

It’s been a few days since the nurse incident, and I may or may not have sewed “Pull my hair and spank me” on his sling. Then I found out he took his wedding ring off to clean the blood from it but didn’t have time to put it back on when the nurse got there.

Still, I didn’t hear him say he was married.

I can’t say I don’t care anymore. I do.

Too much. I shouldn’t but damn it, seeing that nurse’s hands all over him and how she threw herself at him, made me see red.

I thought when I sewed the words onto his sling, he’d be furious, but he just laughed and wore it around the house, having meetings with his men as if the words didn’t embarrass him. It’s been two days since I sewed it on, and he has done nothing about it. He still wears it as if he is proud of it.

I know he does it just to tick me off, but it doesn’t now. His way of taking everything in stride only makes me smile. The rebellion inside me lessens every day and a part of me has kept it up because it’s fun when we play around with each other.

Sometimes I wonder why I’m still angry and taking it out on Ari, which isn’t fair, because I’m angry at so many things in this world, and while he was someone I was mad at, I’m not anymore.

I’m still mad at everything else that’s happened in my life. I’m so damn angry, I want to burn the store down. I want to scream. I want to kick and punch. I want to go to the old apartment and soak it in gasoline, laughing in relief as I drop the match.

I know, it’s insane to want. I have to be fucked up in the head to want that to happen, but over the years, I’ve held so much inside me. Ari, while a charming and conniving businessman, gave me a deal that enraged me at first; it’s the last thing on my list to be angry about now.

He’s the punching bag as I take out my anger and that isn’t okay. He takes it though; he deals with my bursts of lividity and just takes it in stride. He has to be the most even-tempered man I’ve ever met, which makes him a great mafia boss because he is calm, collected, and patient; but when he does snap, it’s never at me or with impatience toward his men.

It’s always at the situation he is dealing with.

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