Owned: A Mafia Menage Romance(53)

“Aunt Millie, is this casserole for us? You really shouldn't have!” I singsong politely, just like I'm supposed to.

Millie gives a disgusted sigh. “Yeah, sweetie, it's for you. Just a little lasagna. Nothing special. For the newlyweds, you know…”

She tilts slightly and peers at Roman over my shoulder, giving him unmitigated stink eye.

“I see you guys got all settled in,” she says slowly. I nod like it's just the most natural thing in the world. Then her eyes slide over to Alek again and she raises an eyebrow. “This one too?” she says as though he's not there.

I feel Alek bristle, and I can't help but enjoy it a little bit. Nobody in the world can insult you quite like an old Italian lady. Right in your face, like they're totally immune to any sense of danger. Which, in fact, they probably are.

“Oh didn't you meet Alek?” I say, holding my hand out by way of introduction. “Alek, this is my Aunt Millie. Aunt Millie, this is Alek, Roman's brother.”

Alek steps forward with his hand out which Millie shakes, squinting suspiciously.

“Pleased to meet you,” Alek says formally.

Sniffing, Millie allows him to shake her hand lightly but her nostrils flare as though she smells something rotten. Wow, she's really giving him the business.

“You living here too now?” she asks directly.

Alek flinches back, but the smile remains perfectly positioned on his face. “I'm security,” he explains.

“And, he's gay!” I chirp. “Completely, totally gay.”

Millie's mouth drops open in a slow Ohhh as she puts it together. She looks him over again, pausing at the perfect eyebrows and perfect teeth. I suppress a squeal of absolute glee as Alek freezes in place, trying to maintain that obnoxious smile. When Millie finally nods and turns away toward the kitchen, he shoots me a death dagger look that just makes me want to giggle.

“There’s room in your fridge?” Millie says over her shoulder as she hobbles toward the kitchen, ready to rearrange my cabinets. “Nancy and Bonnie are on the way over, you know. Should be here any minute.”

“Wait, what?” Alek says.

“Yeah, of course. What did you think? It's a newlywed thing, Alek, you wouldn't understand,” I say meaningfully, enjoying it as he rolls his eyes in frustration.

I glance at Roman as I follow Millie into the kitchen, expecting something like humor on his face. But there isn't any. He's just as stony as before, just as inscrutable as he watches us leave the room.





CHAPTER 14


ROMAN

Middle of the night, and I can't sleep again. This house is strange. It's nice, really nice. There's a lot of room and everything works really well. It's one million times better than that hole in the wall in Atlanta. But it's almost too nice. I feel like I'm staying at my grandparents’ house or something, like I keep expecting the sofa to be covered in plastic.

It doesn't help that Marie seems to be constantly following me around, sweeping the floor right under my heels and fluffing up pillows the moment I stand up from the sofa. It's weird. Like, what does she think I’m gonna do, leave a stain? The more she's doing it, the more it gets on my nerves.

She seems to be everywhere. I don't know if she's checking up on me or what. I guess it's possible that her people are so suspicious of my people that she doesn’t feel like it's safe to leave me alone in the house or something. Or maybe she just doesn't have anything to do. Am I supposed to be giving her something to do?

Fuck. I knew this was a stupid idea.

I stand staring into the refrigerator in the dark until I finally realize I don’t want anything in there. I close the doors and stand back when I see Alek, peering at me from next to the counter.

“The fuck are you doing?”

“Roman, Roman,” he sighs. “The question is, what are you doing?”

I just shake my head. “I'm going back to bed.”

“Nah, come on. Have a shot with me.”

“I don’t want a shot.”

“Sure you do. Have a shot with me, Roman. Just one.”

I stop and lean on the big thing in the middle of the kitchen, the island or whatever they call it. Alek is just gonna bug the crap out of me until I do this shot so I might as well. He waits for a second and then opens the freezer, pulling out a bottle of Stoli and swiping a couple of coffee cups off of the counter.

“Isn’t this nice?” he says as he pours a couple shots. “Just like old times, right?”

“Yeah, fuck you.”

“What? Fuck me? What did I do?"

“Nevermind, Alek. Just forget it. I’m going back to bed.”

“No, wait,” he says, sighing. He bangs his cup against mine and then slams the shot, dropping the cup back on the counter and filling it immediately. “Go on, drink up.”