Maid for the Mafia
Ten Minutes

**ROMANY**

Alex's tongue forced its way into my mouth and for a moment I fell into his embrace. There was just something that I loved about the way that he lost control every time I was near him. Something that drove me to doing stupid things. His arms closed around me, his hands clamping over my ass inside of my bikini bottoms as his fingers traced the outline of my seam.

"I want you," he growled. "All the time. I want you under me and on top of me. Just you. Only you."

Maybe it was his voice, or maybe it was his confession, whatever it was, I stopped. The last time we were together played into my mind. His words that drove me to the hatred that I now have for him, ringing like a bell in my ears, *"I sold you to them."*

My knee came up, swift and punishing, then my hand cracked across his face right afterward. "Fucking Christ," Alex spat, heaving and clutching his hands over himself. "Damn it, angel!"

"Angel?" *That's right. That's what he called me during his' private meeting'.* As if I belonged to him. Ignoring the rush of heat that pools between my legs with that realization, I sneered at him. "Don't ever touch me again," I hissed, leaving him to lick his wounds as I hightailed it back to the pool where Simone lay waiting.

I must have been panting, because the sound of my approach had Simone leaping up from the lounge. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

"I'm better than okay," I grinned, thinking of how it felt to slap that prick for the third time then biting my lip as I remember how hard his dick was when I kneed him. *Fuck him! I hate him. But I love his weenie. God, I hope I didn't damage it.* "I see," Simone said with a laugh.

"I would love to actually *go somewhere.* Just you and me. Go have lunch or something. Somewhere that isn't here," I said, thinking of all the money in my account. "Or take a fucking plane out of here and go see some place we've never seen."

"That *would be nice," Simone said. "I've been trapped here even longer than *you* have."

"It's not impossible," a familiar voice said at my back and I felt his eyes climbing up my body before I even turned around.

"But it is impossible," I snapped, spinning on Mickey with a glare. I still haven't forgiven him for giving up on my cousin yet.

His expressive green eyes met mine and I noticed he was fully dressed in a dark gray suit. "You're leaving," I stated, ashamed of the sudden sadness that washes over me. Realizing right then, that I don't want to be here without him. "I am," he said apologetically. "I have to. I have a house of my own to run."

I turned my back on him, not wanting him to see the disappointment in my eyes.

The clack of his expensive shoes on the deck got louder as he approached. "I'll be back before you know it," he whispered, in my ear.

"I don't care what you do," I lied.

I felt him stiffen, heard his quick intake of breath before he chuckled. "You're really angry with me," he admonished. "You *really* don't want me to go."

"I really don't care what you do," I snapped, another lie of course.

"Oh... doll," he breathed, stepping closer and slipping a hand over the smooth skin of my stomach. He taunted, "If only you knew the truth about how well I know you. You'd probably think even less of me than you do now." He pulled me backward into his embrace, closing his arms around me and pressing the front of his expensive pants into my ass. He was hard as a rock and try and I might, I couldn't help but punish him for leaving by pressing back against him cruelly. He growled, nipping my ear with his teeth and causing me to shiver. "Do you think that bothers me? You, grinding against me?" he cooed. "I've spent the better part of four years with a hard on for you. What's a few more days?" "Four years?!" I hissed, turning my face to look at him, into his jewel-like eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you, doll. You." The intensity in his gaze as he stared back at me was like a simmering fuse that had been waiting to combust. "I can show you when I get back. I've been keeping a surprise for you, locked up tight. I've just been waiting for the right time to give it to you."

"Locked up tight?" For some reason, I think of Matthew right then, and of the strange phone call he made to me over a week ago. "Tell me. What the hell are you talking about? And what do you mean, four years? I haven't known you for *four* years."

"No," he sighed. "You haven't. But I've known you." He's still staring at my lips when he releases me. "When I get back I-"

"No! Fuck when you get back!" I snapped. I spun on him, glaring at him with all the frustration that had been building in me from day one. "I want to hear about it *now*!"

He groaned, running a hand over his face and shaking his head as if he knew better than to say anything and now he was regretting it. "Doll, I have to go. I don't have time right now."

"Fine," I snarled. "Then I don't ever want to know."

He frowned, the beautiful green of his gaze flaring with anger at me for the first time. "You really are turning into a spoiled fucking brat. Do you know that?"

I shrugged, plastering an evil smile on my face. "Maybe."

His jaw clenched as he began to back away from me and I almost crumbled, thinking that for the first time since I met him he wasn't going to give me my way. Just as he turned to leave I said, "Guess you lied to me then." He froze, shaking his head with his back turned to me, but I could see his smile in the reflection of the windows. "You told me if I wanted something from you, all I had to do was ask. You said you would give me anything. You lied."

He whirled on me so quickly I almost tumbled backward. His hand shot out, snatching me at the waist and pulling me into him. He leaned into my ear. "I didn't lie," he whispered. "But you forgot a very important part of what I said. I offered you anything, yes, I did. But not for nothing. I wanted something in return. Something I still haven't been able to-"

"I didn't forget," I interrupted, and his sudden gasp told me I had won. "I know exactly what you want, and I *want* it too," I admitted quietly, dragging my lips over his throat.

"Doll," he choked out. "Don't play with me anymore," he whispered. "I can't take it."

"I'm not playing with you," I said honestly. "I haven't been. But Simone and I want to get out of here for a while and since we can't go on our own... and you're leaving..." I let my sentence hang to gauge his response.

To my surprise, he grinned. "Then the pair of you better be dressed and ready to leave in ten minutes," he whispered, his tongue swirling in my ear. "If the two of you are not out front and in my car by then, I'll leave without you." He chuckled, stepping back from me with a wink. "And if Alex catches you before then..." he shrugged. "You won't make it out he door."

My heart began pumping in my chest as I watched him head back into the house. "Did you hear all that Simone?"

"I sure as fuck did," she grumbled somewhat nervously. "I could lose my job."

"You don't have to join me," I said, not really meaning it.

"Are you kidding?" she hissed and I smiled at her. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."