Page 34 of The Mobster's Nanny

“Why…why did they kill her?” I ask, not caring that it could make him suspicious, but Matteo doesn’t seem to think about it either. He swallows hard and clenches his jaw before shaking his head.

“Because they didn’t care.” He takes another sip of his whiskey and puts it down a little too loudly. “They probably thought it was cool to kill as many people as possible in one explosion, but…why drag innocent people into that? Why kill someone who never meant to harm them?”

Isn’t that what he did to Hank? Wasn’t he innocent too? But when I look Matteo in the eyes, I don’t know what to believe anymore.

“I failed to protect Sienna—but I promise I’ll keep you safe no matter what,” Matteo says all of a sudden, smelling of whiskey, and readjusts his grip on my hand to make it tighter. “Because you are the only woman that matters to me now. After her death, I thought I would never fall in love again, but you…Liss, you saved my heart.”

Still holding my gaze, Matteo raises my hand and presses a kiss to my fingers, making my heart flutter in my chest. I can’t help but smile, feeling the warmth on my cheeks, and move forward to press my forehead against his. Everything about this moment feels so intimate and so…right.

“I know,” I murmur, closing my eyes. “I feel it too.”

And I know that it’s the truth. My heart has never been so crazy about someone, and right now I know that my feelings are real.

I love him.

The realization dawns on me, and it fills my heart from within, making me smile and feel so warm and loved—until the image of the knife under my pillow flashes under my closed eyelids, and I instinctively grip his hand tighter. Matteo reads it as a gesture of affection and strokes my hand with his thumb, but it doesn’t help the cold spreading through my body.

God, how can I kill the only man I truly love?

Chapter 11 - Matteo

Damn, I keep forgetting that it’s Saturday, which means Liss won’t be at home when I get there. Romeo is spending the weekend with Sienna’s parents in Michigan, on the other side of the lake, so the house will be empty and quiet by the time I get home.

I purse my lips, staring into the distance. I don’t like to be completely on my own. Maybe I should ask Liss out tonight? I kinda—

“What is Chen saying?”

“He’s pissed as hell. What else would he say?” Riccardo says with a cold, mocking voice, and I look up just in time to see him and Paolo looking away from each other with sour expressions.

Everyone has been on edge ever since we got busted on Tuesday, and I can see on Riccardo’s face that he has barely slept this week—and I understand him. The Mexicans showed up out of nowhere exactly when our men arrived at Mount Hope to pick up a batch of a new drug from Thailand. I wasn’t there in person, but I was following Louis with my earphones, and trust me, I’ve seen enough from the Mexicans to recognize their tactics.

It was clearly an organized ambush, and since the same thing happened last month, I don’t think it was a coincidence. The Escarras knew when and where we would meet with Chen’s shippers—but we have no idea where they'd gotten the information from.

“He thinks we leaked the details about the deal,” Riccardo adds a moment later, sounding grumpy, and Louis chuckles.

“And you think it wasn’t us?”

“I’ve warned you that Gerardo was planning something against us,” Paolo says after his brother avoids Louis’s question for too long. He looks between us, meeting my gaze for a moment as if reminding me of our conversation a few weeks ago, and turns to Riccardo again. “Whoever the rat is, we have to find him before it gets worse. We don’t even know how much the Mexicans know by now.”

Riccardo meets his gaze and nods, releasing a deep, tired breath. “I know, you’re right. Have you checked all our recruits?”

They go back to discussing the potential spies, and while I do listen to them and give some comments at first, eventually my thoughts go back to Liss.

I had to work all night to help Paolo put together the report and run a thorough check of all people involved in the Messina Clan and their potential connections with the Escarra family. It was just a regular work night, but the fact that I passed out in the morning and didn’t even get to say goodbye to Romeo or Liss still bothers me.

I’ve already called Sienna’s parents to talk to Romeo and make sure they reached their house safely, but I still haven’t talked to Liss, and it’s already late afternoon. Damn it. As soon as I think about it, I feel that unpleasant feeling in my chest that appears whenever I spend too much time away from her. Something in me longs for her presence, and I can’t help but miss her even though it’s been less than a day since I saw her.

God, I’m going completely head over heels for her, huh? But for some reason, it doesn’t scare me. It feels right to be so enamored by her—because I see that I can trust her. She owns my heart, and I know she’ll keep it safe.

I don’t know how much time we spend at Riccardo’s office, narrowing down the potential spies to four main suspects who, in one way or another, had connections with the Escarra family in the past. But even after that we aren’t done, because we still have to figure out a way to organize the shipments and deliveries for the rest of the month without the schedule leaving the office. We can’t allow ourselves to risk it anymore.

So by the time I leave the warehouse, it’s already getting dark outside. The sky is a deep hue of blue, peeking through the clouds painted purple from the setting sun, with the dark outline of Chicago’s skyline hiding the horizon.

I linger on the bank of Little Calumet River to take in the view with my hands deep in my pockets. My mind is heavy and tired from the sleepless night, lonely morning, and endless hours of work. I just need some peace and contentment. My heart is longing for something, and I know for sure that I don’t want to go back home tonight.

“Hello?” Liss picks up her phone after the second ring, and I immediately feel a wave of relief just from hearing her voice. She sounds surprised and a little distracted, and I realize a bit too late that she may have her own plans for the night.

“Hey, are you busy?”

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