Savage Sinner: An Enemies To Lovers Russian - Italian Dark Mafia Romance (Sinfully Savage Mafia)

“You’re sure? Anything you need for the christening, I can do with you—”

“Anya, seriously. It’s fine. I have plenty of help. And you’ve barely taken any time to yourself since you started.” Heaven smiles but it doesn’t reach her big bright eyes as it normally does. “You have fun. We’ll have a great day tomorrow.” She winks at me. “And you’ll shine like a star in that dress.” With a quick, affectionate squeeze, she walks out of the room and I follow, marveling over that conversation. I didn’t expect any of what I just heard. Looks like there is no shortage of more parents making shitty life decisions that will forever impact their children.

I don’t know anything about Heaven’s family other than what she just told me but if I could, I would tell them just what total and complete assholes they are for disowning her and Aisling the way they did over some bullshit business decision.

They have time to fix their mistake, unlike others who never got the chance.

How strange.

Here I was, thinking Aisling and I were the kindred spirits.

Who would have thought that it would be Heaven and me instead?

Chapter Seventeen

Dante

“So the nanny…” Sergio waggles his eyebrows at me as we stand outside next to the balcony infinity pool. “She’s fucking hot. You nail her yet?”

“She’s not a nanny, she’s an au pair.” I toss a glance over my shoulder, watching Anya follow Heaven into the kitchen.

“Oh, she’s definitely got a pair.” Sergio snickers and gulps down the rest of his water. “But you didn’t answer my question.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“And I didn’t ask if you kissed her.” A wicked glint makes his blue eyes twinkle.

“Just drop it, okay?”

“Fine. Why are you so sensitive, anyway? You getting tired of playing bodyguard?”

“It’s been months, Serge.” I sink onto one of the chaise lounges and lean back with a deep sigh. “I wanna help. I really do. But this isn’t me. It’s not who I am, who I want to be.”

“You sure about that? Because you look pretty damn cozy here every time I see you. Getting in time with the baby, now you have a new plaything.” Sergio holds up his hands. “Hey, I’m just saying. She’s smokin’ hot and yours for the taking. What the hell is wrong with that life, D?”

I rub the back of my neck. “Nothing, for a while. Until I get itchy and need that adrenaline rush again.”

“I don’t know. It sounds like a good plan to me. You get to unwind for once in your life. Why not enjoy it?”

Jesus, it does sound good, in theory. For someone else.

But my head is just in a million places right now, especially with Anya around. Part of me is afraid that if I stay too long, I won’t be able to keep myself from falling back under her net. That’s why I’ve been avoiding her. It’s dangerous. She makes me lose focus and I can’t figure out why. I can’t help protect anyone if my head isn’t in the game.

Of course, avoiding her means I’m not around to protect anyone, so that plan doesn’t exactly work, either.

And my head has us back in Heaven’s bedroom, peeling her out of that hot-as-fuck dress.

Right now, I feel just like the trust fund baby she thought I was when we first met.

Useless. Entitled. Vacuous.

I need purpose.

“You talk to Matteo about this?”

“Yeah. He thinks I’m using my job as an excuse to find redemption.”

“Are you?” Sergio lifts an eyebrow.

I shrug. “Maybe.”

“You think you’re ever gonna get it?”

“Nope,” I say. “But does that mean I should stop trying?”

“I think if you stick around here for a little while, you’ll see that you can figure out how to build a future instead of trying to fix the past.”

“Did Matteo feed you that line?” I snort. “Jesus, you guys sound like you’re reading from the same script.”

“He’s worried about you. So am I. You’ve been dicking around for long enough. It’s time to set yourself up for the long term.” He shrugs. “You can’t be a hit man forever.”

“It’s what I’m good at.”

“Maybe it’s time to figure out what else you might be good at.”

“This place has nothing for me.” I fling an arm over my eyes to shade them from the sun. “I like my job. Love it, actually. I’m fucking awesome at it, too. I get paid a lot of money to handle shit other people can’t. That’s how I always contributed to the family. I took care of anyone who was a risk to our empire.” I sit up and squint. “But here? There aren’t any threats. There’s just a really fucking paranoid boss who wants constant surveillance on his wife and kid. I agreed to do it for a few months but now…I don’t know. I love them to pieces, Serge. But I don’t wanna be stuck out here forever. Matteo keeps telling me to open my own personal security firm out here for the whales who need protection for their cash and drugs and whatever the hell else.”

“Sounds like easy money to me,” Sergio says.

“Too easy, it’s boring,” I grumble.

“I don’t know about that. Anya seems like she can add plenty of spice to your days here, bro. Nights, too.” He chuckles.

And there it is. That pull is back, just at the mere mention of her name.