Page 23 of The Mobster's Nanny

She still looks hesitant and, following a deep urge to guide her, I add in a low voice, “You should come.”

Liss blinks and looks at me, and I can see that she caught the hint of an order in my words. Is she okay with that? Is she gonna be a good girl? But Romeo distracts her, and Liss turns to him at the sound of the commotion, escaping my gaze. Interesting.

“Yes, Miss Liss, I just want to spend time with you.” Romeo leans on the table, looking at her with big, pleading eyes, and says in the cutest way possible, “Don’t you want to go out with us?”

Oh, that boy knows how to get what he wants.

“Well…” Liss chuckles, shaking her head, but I can see in her smile that Romeo has broken her resolve. “I don’t have any plans for tomorrow anyway.”

Romeo immediately jumps up on his chair, almost falling over, and Liss and I laugh, sharing a quick glance that makes my heart beat so much faster. And I don’t care if I’m just imagining things, but I see the slightest tint of blush on her cheeks.

Because of our sudden change of plans, Liss stays with us for the night, snuggling with Romeo and Dolce on the couch while we watch a movie in the living room. I don’t get to sit too close to her, but the sight of all three of them is so precious and peaceful that I don’t even want to think about interfering.

In the morning, I insist on taking Liss and Romeo out for breakfast—it’s her day off, after all. She has to relax and stop taking care of us. I want to take care ofhertoday—but I don’t say it out loud and only smile when I finally catch her leaning back in the passenger seat and humming along to the radio with a mindless smile on her lips.

She looks so effortlessly beautiful when her heart is light and her mind isn’t on her duties, and I catch myself thinking that I have to go out with her more often. How? I don’t know. It’s not like I can just ask her out and expect her to agree, but—

“Papa! Someone’s calling you,” Romeo yells a few seconds after I hear the vibration of my phone and see Riccardo’s name flash on the panel of my car.

Shit. I glance at Liss who is looking curiously at the panel. He can’t be calling for work, can he? I don’t want to pick it up and hear about someone being shot right in front of Liss—but it’s not like I can just ignore it. I asked for a day off, so if Riccardo is still calling me it must be something important.

Finally, with one last glance Liss’s way, I accept the call and immediately say, “Hey, I’m in the car. Romeo is here.”

“I got it.” Riccardo chuckles, and judging by the relaxed tone of his voice, the call is not for work. Thank god. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Yes, we’re having a day out—”

“With Miss Liss!” Romeo adds in a loud exclamation, and I give him a stern look, hearing Riccardo huff on the phone.

“Yeah, with Miss Liss. Why are you asking?”

“Oh, well, Max’s new console just got delivered, so he wanted to invite Romeo to try it out.” In the background, I hear Max yelling something about new characters and items that make no sense to me. “It’s okay if you already have plans, though, they can play some other time.”

Before he even finishes, Romeo bursts out with a loud protest. “No, no! I want to play, Papa, please! We haven't played video games in months, I want to go!”

I hear Max screaming something similar on the other side before Riccardo hushes him. Well, I don’t even know what to say. Max and Romeo haven’t had a chance to hang out since Elena gave birth to Max’s younger sister, so it does mean a lot to both of them.

“But what about the zoo? And…” I glance at Liss. She looks awkward, staring out the window, and I can only imagine how she feels. I mean, Romeo was the one to talk her into giving up her day off! “What about Miss Liss? She agreed to come just because you asked her, and—”

“Oh, it’s alright. Don’t worry.” Liss immediately waves her hand and looks at me with a tight smile. “We can do it some other time.”

“Yes, some other time, Papa, please.”

“Are you sure?” I frown, ignoring Romeo’s whining, and glance at Liss before looking around for a parking spot. It looks like we’ll have to change our route.

“Yes, of course.” Liss smiles and looks at Romeo over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t want Romeo to miss out on a game night, right?”

“Yes!” he exclaims in excitement, and I hear Liss chuckle. She knows how much it means to him, but—

“So are you coming?” Riccardo asks, interrupting my thoughts, and I guess I have no choice.

“Yeah, we’ll be there in a few.”

But even as I turn the car around and drive to Riccardo’s place, I still feel like it’s wrong to finish the day here. I don’t want to admit it, but I was kind of excited to spend the day with Liss—and Romeo of course, but you know, it’s a little different. Should I just take her back home now? Leave her there on her own after Romeo practically begged her to give up her day off for us?

I keep thinking about it all the way to Riccardo’s mansion, and when I take Romeo inside and reject Riccardo’s offer to stay—the least I can do is drive Liss home myself—I go back to the car with an idea in mind. It may be stupid, may be bold, but I want to give it a chance.

“Well, looks like I’m gonna spend the day at home after all,” Liss says with a chuckle that sounds too low to be amused. Was she excited to spend the day with us too?

---