Page 51 of The Mobster's Nanny

She takes every lesson from her trainer very seriously, so only when I move forward to meet them does she finally notice me—and her face lights up with a smile. “Matteo!”

“Hey, baby.” I can’t help but smile too, leaning forward to press a quick kiss on her cheek before turning to Paolo. He chuckles, watching us, but I catch a small smile in the corner of his lips. “You look satisfied, huh?”

“Well, I am.” Paolo shrugs, allowing his smile to grow into a proud grin, and gives Liss a quick glance. “Yourbellahas been making some very good progress. She’s at the top of the class, so to speak.”

“I’ve always said she’s the best,” I say with a smile, feeling proud and fond of my girl, and my gaze automatically darts to Liss. She meets my eyes with a shy smile in the corner of her lips, and she stands straighter, preening under my praise.

“She only needs to work on—”

Paolo cuts himself off and, all of a sudden, moves toward Liss and throws out his arm in an attempt to attack her. I tense up despite myself, ready to move into his line of attack—but it looks like Liss is doing a good job of protecting herself.

In a series of rapid movements, she lowers her upper body just enough to avoid his strike, moves to the side, and aims her ankle at his knee as she does so. Paolo instinctively jumps away and out of her reach, stabilizing himself in the new position, but Liss uses the moment to sneak behind his back and put her fingers to the back of his neck. If she had a gun in her hand, Paolo would’ve been dead.

“See?” Paolo bursts out laughing from the sheer rush of adrenaline and steps closer to me, patting my shoulder as he turns back to Liss. “Good job! Use your height and light feet—they are your biggest advantage.”

Liss nods a few times, probably hearing this sentence for the tenth time today, and comes back to my side. She looks so cool and pretty in her sleeveless shirt and tight sweatpants, with her brown hair tied in a ponytail and her cheeks pink from the exercise. Her eyes are bright as she looks up at me, her smile is beautiful, and I press a quick kiss to her temple before turning to Paolo.

“Thanks, man.” I hold out my hand for a handshake, ready to take off. “You’re the best teacher I could’ve hoped for.”

“Well, you taught me first.” Paolo gives me a cheeky grin, shaking my hand, and nods at the entrance. “Go ahead, have fun. I’ll see you two later.”

“Sure. Don’t be late.” I look at Liss, mindlessly reaching for her hand, and smirk when she looks at me in surprise.

“Later?”

“Ah, you know. We have things to celebrate.”

“Do we?” Liss asks as soon as we leave the building, tilting her head with a curious frown. “I thought we were going to pick up Romeo and go back home.”

“The first part is correct,” I say with a chuckle, unlocking the car and taking the driver’s seat. “We are going to pick up Romeo. But the rest of the evening is a surprise for both of you.”

“Oh, a surprise?” Liss hums, but I can see her smiling through it. She narrows her eyes, glancing at me with a jokingly suspicious look, before turning back to the windshield. “I hope it’s something good.”

I chuckle, swallowing down the suddenly nervous feeling in my chest, and turn on the ignition. “I hope so too.”

We spend the rest of the car ride talking to each other without a rush and simply sharing with each other about our days. Apparently, during the break in their training, Paolo asked Liss about Giovanni again, and I wonder out loud if they are onto something.

Jacinta, the only daughter of Gerardo Escarra, is our best source of knowledge about the Mexican family—but even she doesn’t know who Giovanni is. When we asked her about him right after the whole confrontation, Jacinta recognized him by Liss’s description, saying that she had seen the man in their house a few times. But as Gerardo always kept her away from the family business, she had no idea who he was or what part he had in her father’s plans.

Did Jacinta remember something more? I haven’t heard anything about new hostages from the Mexican side, but if Riccardo and Paolo have someone in their grip, it won’t take long for them to get something about this Giovanni. Thankfully, we don’t have to pretend to be at peace with the Escarra family anymore, so along with the Russian Bratva, we’ve been chasing them like rats off our territories.

But the Mexicans have lost some of their determination to piss us off. They’ve been more or less quiet lately, barely stepping over the limits or challenging us into open confrontations, and I can’t help but think that it’s their way of preparing the stage for something big. Whatever it is, though, we will be ready to face it head-on—and then we’ll see who’s on the right side in this battle.

“Hi, Miss Liss!”

“Hello, Uncle Matteo!”

“Papa?”

The uneven choir of Max, Misha, and Romeo’s voices greets us as we approach them by the front door of the school gym. After we signed Romeo up for the karate classes, the three of them have become truly inseparable—and I’m glad to see that. If there’s anything my life has taught me, it’s that you have to be best friends with your family—even if both of them are half-Russians.

“Hey, guys.” Liss looks at them with a bright smile, ruffling Misha’s hair, while I put my hand on Romeo’s shoulder, silently reminding him that it’s time to leave.

He immediately pouts at me, looking displeased. “But wait, just a second, I—”

“You’ll see each other very soon.”

Much sooner than he thinks.

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