Page 43 of Demanding Mob Boss

I go around to open her door.

She takes my offered hand, but frowns. "You didn't have to get out."

"How else am I going to see you safely to your door?"

Her brow wrinkles in sweet confusion. "That's not necessary."

"I disagree."

The elevator is out of order, so we take the stairs. "How does Mrs. Hart leave the building when the elevator isn't working?" I ask.

"She doesn't. Her hip won't handle the stairs, so she stays in. Ini and I get her what she needs, but I don't like her being trapped in her apartment."

"How often is the elevator out of order?"

"It usually takes the building super at least a week to fix it and it goes out every month, or so."

So, they are without a working elevator close to half of the time. This pisses me off. We're criminals, but the apartment buildings we own would never be neglected like this. "I'll take care of it."

"That's not your responsibility. You can't go around fixing everything."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to be a burden."

"Not possible." She is mine. That means I take care of her.

My girl doesn't seem to realize that yet. Even after today.

She hunches her shoulders as she grabs the handrail. "I can't rely on someone else to take care of me."

She can, but that's something else she'll have to come to terms with. Anna may have lived with her aunt and uncle, but she lost her support network when her parents died. That is obvious.

Her roommate must be working at the pet store because she's not there when Anna lets us into her apartment. She stands in the middle of her living-dining-kitchen combo space and rubs her arms, like she's not sure what to do.

"What helps?" I ask her.

She looks at me strangely, but then she shrugs. "Quiet. Being alone."

"Do you have a spot here?"

She leads me into the only bedroom in the small apartment. There are no actual beds in the space, but each woman has a single size mattress on the floor. Crates with neatly folded and stacked clothes are at the head of eachbed. There is no closet.

I want to hit something when I see how sparsely Anna is living.

She waves toward a blanket hanging on the wall. "I pull that out, like a tent and tuck it under the outer side of my mattress. It helps."

"Okay, get in, then."

"Um…I need to change into pajamas. I won't relax if I keep my work clothes on."

"Then change."

"You're here."

I don't remind her that she showed me her bare tits earlier. And let me touch them. "I'll turn around."

She waits until I do that before I hear clothing rustling.

---