Maid for the Mafia
A Change of Heart

**ALEX**

The moment it was confirmed that the circus had left my property, I rested my head against the cold wall in the front hallway and took a few deep breaths. I felt Damien's eyes on my back, but ignored him as I took a mental inventory of every room that the police might have found... troubling. Rooms like my playroom in my master suite upstairs, or the meeting room that was covered in blood and gore the last time I saw it. But something was telling me that the pigs never ventured any higher than the first floor, and that in itself was troubling. *Why? What were they looking for?*

Morris was a dirty cop. Had been ever since Santos had first come onto the scene and Morris made the mistake of thinking he was easy pickings. Santos turned the tables on him that night. He had that dildo Morris so spooked that the man slept in an empty holding cell for a month. But then suddenly, Morris got his mojo back - or so it seemed. It became a little telling when Morris began raiding every shady establishment that *didn't* belong to Santos and set watchmen at every single one that did.

So I wonder... What did Santos send that fucker over here to find?

"They didn't hit the third floor?" I inquired softly, my head still pressed against the wall.

"No, not that I'm aware," Damien answered me. "They wouldn't have found anything, anyway. Me and Mickey took care of the problem in the meeting room ourselves. We finished minutes before they arrived."

My eyes popped open and I turned around, watching him carefully as he studied me. I could feel his anger, his disappointment. I knew it was on the tip of his tongue to ask me why Romany never made it upstairs to do her job, but I also knew he wouldn't ask. Why? Because you would've had to been blind to miss the three dimensional bulge behind my pants when I left Romany in my office, and some people prefer *not* to torture themselves when the truth is poking out of my pants like a battle cannon. It looked like I had a midget between my legs that was fighting to get free. If I'm not mistaken, it was the insurmountable evidence that I was packing enough heat to wreck a train, that triggered the good detective's moodiness in the first place. I almost accused him of sexual harassment, he was staring so hard.

"Any particular reason why?" I hissed, starting to button up my shirt.

"We didn't think it was right for Romany to have to clean that bastard's remains after he attacked her. It didn't seem... appropriate," he said matter-of-factly. "And a good thing we did, too. Because for whatever reason she's MIA."

I chuckled, tucking my shirt back into my pants and then cursing the fact that my jacket was still in the office. *Fuck.* I narrowed my eyes at him, clicking my tongue in disappointment. "You are aware that we disposed of him because he was a *spy* and a *traitor*, correct? *Not* because he saw a piece of pussy that he just had to have, and decided to take it."

Damien glared at the ground for a moment, shaking his head. "That may be why *you* did it," he raised his head and gazed toward the office. "But that's not why *I* did."

"If I didn't know better," I whispered. "I'd think you were in love."

His body went rigid before he turned back to face me. "You can think what you want to think, Alex. I don't really give a fuck. But the next time that you-"

"Alex!" Stella interrupted and I glared at her.

Damien's little speech was just getting good and she ruined it. It was starting to sound like my best friend was about to threaten me.

"I'll take a few of the guards and do a sweep for bugs," Damien said, backing toward the hall. "We'll finish this later."

"Oh, *will* we?" I shouted after him. *The fucking nerve.* He may be my closest friend and like a brother to me, bit *I am still the fucking boss.*

"Alex," Stella whined again.

"What?" I snapped at her, shaking her hand off my arm.

"Enzo says he has a proposition for you that you won't want to pass up. He's waiting for you in his assigned suite," she cooed, stepping closer and placing her hand over my crotch. She leaned in and whispered, "I need my spanking Daddy. I really, really need it."

I clenched my teeth as tightly as I could, attempting to fix my scowl as I drew my eyes over her shapeless body. She looked starved. There wasn't a single thing about her that was soft and pliant. There was nothing on her to grab other than her throat. She was pale and angular and she reminded me of a fucking mannequin. But... she could serve to take the edge off at least.

"I will deal with Enzo," I informed her, lifting a hand to circle gently around her throat. "Make sure you are waiting in my room when I am finished."

She grinned like the Cheshire Cat and I gave her neck a good squeeze before I headed down the hall toward Enzo.

"Simone!" I called out, and the quiet little maid popped out from a corner.

"Sir?" she replied with a slight bow.

"Wait until the hall is clear, then take this key and unlock my office. You will find Miss Dubois inside. After you've released her, give her my key. Tell her to hold into it for me," I ordered her. "Yes Mister DeMarco sir," she nodded, taking the key.

With a sigh, I continued down the hall to Enzo's room then burst inside, not bothering to knock at all.

"What is this about, Enzo?" I growled in annoyance, dropping into the armchair closest to the back window.

He smiled, his beady eyes sparkling as he stared at me from his seat on the sofa. "You remember the deal we made some time back, for the Midtown territory? The one that took two months to settle?"

I nodded, my eyes narrowing. He was up to something, I could smell it. And whatever it was, it wasn't sanctioned. If it had been, we wouldn't be discussing it alone. "What about it?"

He chuckled, his dark eyes shifting. "What if I told you I had a change of heart?"

My muscles tensed and I gripped the arms of the chair as I worked to control my irritation. *A change of heart? Now? After two months of holding the controlling interest over my head like strings on a puppet, just to cut them away and leave me with a pitiful twenty percent?* "It would depend on how *much of a change and it would depend on what you're after to purchase it."

He scooted closer to my chair, a sly smile spreading across his lips. "The previous negotiations were for an additional thirty-five percent. Controlling interest of the territory. I'm willing to increase that number to forty percent, effective immediately should you agree to my price."

I laughed darkly. "That's not much of a change. So before we go any further, tell me, what are you seeking in return?"

Now his face turned downright devilish. "The girl. Romany. If I'm not mistaken, you intend to punish her tonight. Do you not?"

I shook my head at him, because he was so fucking predictable. That whole act from that morning... pretending to be a regular guy with a broken heart to get Romany to engage with him. Knowing I would be pissed. *Knowing* I would seek to humiliate her in front of him. He planned it just as I knew he did and now he was cashing in his chips.

My eyes flared, "I was going to, yes. But..." *But what? She moaned for you and now you're going to let her slide?* I gritted my teeth, shaking the memory of her sweet wet pussy and her hauntingly desperate eyes from my mind. "But what? Did she or did she not disrespect you?" Enzo snapped, heated.

I sneered at him, "First of all, you don't run me. I don't need you scolding me like I'm one of you little fucking captains. What I do and when I do it are not your concern."

Enzo laughed, lifting one brow in mock of me. "Fine. Then I take it you're not interested in what I have to say."

I glowered at him. "If I were to discipline her tonight, during the meeting," I hinted, noting the flash of hunger in his eyes. "And I were to... include you in her punishment"-I grinned-"I would need more incentive than forty fucking percent." He snarled, "You already have twenty, another forty triples your profits. What more would you want?"

I chuckled, then said with a shrug, "Fifty."

He leaned back, his jaw clenching. "If I agree to fifty, I'm going to want preferential treatment. I'm going to want raw."

For a moment... the white hot desire that had been in Romany's eyes just hours earlier flashed through my mind. Along with the foreign feeling of elation that I experienced when I realized she was desperate for me. I hadn't expected it. Hadn't expected her to *want me* so intensely. Until that moment I was certain that she despised me. Finding out she didn't nearly undid me. *I almost fucking kissed her!* I don't kiss anyone!

Doing *this*, agreeing to this deal, is probably going to erase all doubts she may have had about me. She's going to think that I am a monster. *But I almost kissed her... and I can't have that.*

I made my choice. "Fifty additional percent, seventy total. You make the calls to all the captains and send me the unofficial books... and you have a deal."

Enzo grinned, "Perfect."