Page 20 of The Mobster's Nanny

I keep checking the clock, almost counting the minutes till noon when Matteo usually leaves his office to go to the kitchen. I often meet him there and we have a quick chat while sharing a cup of coffee, which always brightens my mood. But today, I stay in my bedroom and only listen to his steps with bated breath.

That’s it. The time has come.

I squeeze the bottle in my palm and quietly open the door, tiptoeing into the hallway. My heart is pounding in my chest, but I force myself to focus on the sounds from downstairs. The coffee machine beeps, and I hear the rustle of a coffee package and Matteo’s humming. Good. It’s clear.

I carefully sneak into his office, listening to any sound from the computers. Sometimes, I hear Matteo talking on the phone in here, and I wouldn’t want to step right into an open video call. But the room is quiet, save for the low hum of computer vents, and I don’t have too much time, so I walk to Matteo’s desk, looking around for the water bottle.

Where is it? Goddamnit. It must be somewhere here!

I swallow, feeling my throat pulling right and the heat of adrenaline washing down my body, and frantically look around the desk. Maybe it’s under the desk? In the drawers? I hurry to crouch down to check the floor before opening the drawers one after the other. Come on, come on, I know he has it—

Oh. I freeze in the middle of my search, staring dumbly at the insides of Matteo’s bottom drawer. Is this…lube? And condoms? For a moment, my mind goes blank, and I forget what I was even looking for as the image of Matteo having sexin this officetakes over my thoughts. God, I’d never thought of him as this kind of a man—but with that seductive air around him, perhaps it’s not so surprising.

The more I think about it, the more vivid the image is in my head until I catch myself thinking about Matteo’s hands on my thighs, his solid body pressed to mine, and his commanding voice in my ears. Push them wider for me, baby. A hot shiver runs through me, but it finally makes me blink out of it and breathe out, feeling warmth on my cheeks and all over my body.

Goddamnit, Liss. Focus!

I shake my head and close the drawer, forcing myself to forget about its contents. Bottle, bottle, I’m looking for the water bottle. It’s not in the drawers, and even though I’m tempted to take photos of the papers I find there, I have a more important task right now. And I have to hurry the fuck up!

I stand up with a sense of urgency, look around, and only then notice that Matteo’s laptop is open and, from behind the screen, I see the dark blue tip of his water bottle peeking out. God, how could I be so blind? I grab the bottle as carefully as possible with my heartbeat echoing in my ears. How long has it been? Is Matteo still in the kitchen?

I bite my lip while pouring the poison into the narrow opening of the bottle, and when all of it is inside, something in my chest pulls tight. It’s done. There’s no way back now.

With a deep sense of finality, I take a steadying breath and move to place the bottle back on the desk when my eye catches something. A framed photo stands right behind the laptop and, involuntarily, I focus on the people in the photo.

I recognize Romeo right away, with his laughing smile and black curls; he’s a few years younger in the photo but it’s still the same boy I tuck into bed every night. His hands are held by two adults by his sides, and while I recognize Matteo at first glance—he looks pretty much the same—I don’t know the woman on the other side.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it’s Romeo’s mother. She has the same round face and big eyes as her son, but even if it wasn’t for the similar looks, the way Romeo looks at her shows just how much he loves her. It seems like they’re on a beach, somewhere near the ocean or maybe Lake Michigan, and Romeo looks the happiest I’ve ever seen him.

What happened to his mother? Where is she now? I don’t know, but something in my heart aches when I think about how much Romeo had to go through at such a young age. He lost his mother—and now, I want to take away his father. The only person in the world he still has.

I look at the bottle in my head, suddenly feeling a heavy weight on my chest.

God, what am I doing? How can I—

“Liss?”

Oh, shit. I blink and immediately look up. Shit, shit, shit.

Matteo is standing in the doorway, holding a cup of coffee and eyeing me with a frown.

“What are you doing here?”

Chapter 7 - Matteo

It’s so sudden that I don’t even know what to think about it. Liss has been staying in her bedroom since this morning, and I was sure she wasn’t feeling well. I even thought about knocking on her door and insisting that she takes a break from work, but now… What’s going on?

Liss looks at me with big eyes like a deer caught in car lights, and I can’t help but feel—

“Oh, Matteo, I’m so sorry!” she exclaims, putting her hands on her chest with innocent eyes and hurrying to step away from the desk. “It’s not what you—I was looking for you! Yes, I wanted to apologize for being so off this morning. I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m better now, really.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that,” I say with a mindless smile, walking to the desk and still trying to come back to my senses. Liss’s appearance has completely thrown me off guard, and I have trouble keeping up with her hurried speech.

“Ah, sure, but I wanted to make it clear.” Liss gives me a charming smile, tilting her head a little and looking up at me, and I can’t help the warmth in my chest. I’d forgive her for anything. “But when I came closer to your desk, your photo caught my eye. To be honest, I just got lost in it. Silly, huh?”

She gives me a guilty smile, stepping away when I get to the desk but still standing so close I catch a whiff of her perfume—sweet and floral. God, how am I supposed to resist her? My heart starts to beat faster, and I forget all suspicions that crawled into my mind when I entered.

Of course Liss would notice our family photo. Isn’t that sweet?

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