Page 62 of Tailored for You

I was an excellent marksman. Torturing and killing didn’t bother me. It was part of the job I did to keep the Cosa up and running. I did it for the family.

Rafael was a touch better at all those things than I was, not that I’d ever tell him. He approached wet work with a focus and ruthlessness that neither Marcello nor I could match.

He wouldn’t let anything happen to Harper when I wasn’t around. That was the nail in the coffin. There was no one better to protect her in my absence.

“Fine.” I stood up, suddenly needing to move around as I told him my plans.

We went back and forth, both on how to ensure Harper would be safe and on how to make something magical happen so Serena would fall in love with me.

“I think we have it all sorted out.” Rafael stood. “Let’s get those two in a room and hope for no bloodshed.”

I nodded. Everything else I could control. Two women like Minnie and Martina in the same room? That, I couldn’t.

“Ready for this?” Rafael asked.

“Yes.” I think.

I held the key card to the reader, saying a quick prayer that we weren’t about to walk into a murder scene, and pushed open the door.

Rafael pushed me in with a hand on my back.

The two women sat on opposite couches, staring at each other.

The plate of food I had sent up was untouched, and the small knives left to cut the cheese were still on the table.

“Martina.” Rafael moved around me to Martina and kissed her on the cheek. I did the same.

I looked at the woman on the other couch, who sat ramrod straight, her face a blank mask.

“Minnie Clearwart. Nice to see you again,” I said.

“I wish I could say the same. I don’t appreciate cryptic messages or being put in a suite with someone I barely know glaring at me for ten minutes.” She eyed the room. “Regardless of how nice the suite is.” She adjusted her position, crossing her legs with practiced elegance. “If this is because of the scene Charles created at La Luna, I am sorry. Chuck shouldn’t have told him we were cutting him off there. It was in poor taste.”

“This isn’t about him,” I said. “This is about Serena.”

“What has her imbecile of a son done now?” Martina asked.

“Ladies,” I said, knowing that despite Minnie knowing her son was an ass, she’d still defend him. “I’m in need of both of your help.”

“Whatever Serena needs, I can help with,” Minnie said. “She knows I’m only a call away.”

“Me, too,” Martina said, narrowing her eyes at Minnie.

“Ladies, let’s take a step back. This isn’t a competition,” Rafael jumped in. “This is a meeting of the minds. Of two women who love Serena and Harper and want the best for them.”

Martina scrunched her nose, a telltale sign that she was ready to continue arguing. Minnie tilted her head in one motion, looking down her nose at Rafael.

This meeting was going down in a blazing inferno, fast.

“I called both of you to fill you in and ask for your help,” I said. “Mostly with Harper. Serena and I need uninterrupted time together, which means Harper needs someone to watch her.”

“She can sleep at my house. We’ll cook, watch movies,” Martina said. “She’ll love it.”

“Or she could stay with me for the weekend. I’ve been meaning to ask Serena if I can introduce her to horses and horseback riding,” Minnie countered.

“Why don’t both of you watch her?” Rafael asked. I sent him a grateful look. I should have foreseen it, though—neither of them willing to let the other win, already trying to one-up each other with activities so we’d have to pick a favorite.

“Both of us?” Martina wrinkled her nose.