Page 119 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

A woman’s Italian voice snapped me back to the present, and I spun around to see a water feature with two angels embracing, and two padded chairs beside it. Two women sat on each chair, staring at me. One wore a kind of uniform, while the older woman, dressed in pale blue silk trousers and a shirt, narrowed her hazel eyes. I knew instantly that she must have been related to Soraya.

The older woman said something to me in Italian again. I had no idea what she was saying, but I could tell she was growing impatient from her sharp tone.

“I don’t speak Italian.” I took a few steps back, ready to bolt, but she switched to English quickly.

“If you don’t speak Italian, what are you doing in Italy, boy? And in my private garden?”

Boy. It reminded me of when Mam used to scold me for running mud through the farmhouse. One more time, boy! My smile died before it could form because of the way this woman was glaring at me with fierce intensity.

“I, er—” Fuck. For the first time in my life, I was intimidated by a woman.

“Should I call for the bodyguards, Signora Buccini?” the woman next to her whispered, keeping her wide, terrified eyes on me. That seemed pointless. Something told me Signora Buccini could handle herself.

Mrs Buccini tilted her head, looking me up and down without a shred of fear. I wasn’t used to it. It made my skin itch. “No. Not yet. I’ll give him ten seconds to tell me who he is and what he wants.”

“Maddox. Maddox Moriarty. I’m staying in the pool house. I’m a… guest.” Her face scrunched as if she were thinking hard, and then her pupils dilated slightly. She ran her hand across the top of a leather-bound book on her lap. “I’ll go.”

“Moriarty.”

My feet halted when she repeated my last name slowly. I glanced over my shoulder as she pressed her fingers, adorned with huge crystal rings, to her mouth. She looked at me again, softer this time.

“How is that possible? You died.”

“I survived.”

She blinked at me, taking me in again. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. “I’ll leave now.”

“No,” she said sternly, making me pause for the second time. “You’ll sit.”

I looked back towards the gate. Every instinct told me to keep walking right the fuck outta there. Instead, I turned back to her. Christ. There was something about defying the woman that felt like disappointing my own Mam.

“I don’t bite, boy,” she said, her lips curling into a teasing smile. “Those days are over, unfortunately.”

I almost smiled.

Reluctantly, I walked back towards her, approaching slowly. She swatted the other woman’s arm. “Please take a long, slow walk around the gardens. Give us some privacy.”

The woman looked horrified. “Signora Buccini, are you sure?”

“Yes. I am quite sure. Off you go.”

When the woman left, Mrs Buccini patted the chair the other woman had vacated. I sat on the plump cushions and looked around at the scenery, taking it all in and doing everything I could to avoid looking at the woman beside me. I could feel her gaze on me, travelling over my shirtless body and grey shorts, down my tattooed legs and bare feet.

“Where are your shoes?”

“I…” I’d got myself out of that pool house as fast as possible before I exploded, so my shoes had been the last thing on my mind. “...forgot them.”

“That’s strange. But you do seem strange.”

I almost laughed. “I guess I am.”

“Good,” she replied. “Strange is better than boring.” She stared at me. “Haven’t we met before?”

“No.”

“Didn’t we read a poem together?”

I glanced at her, seeing pure confusion on her face. “A poem? No.”