Maid for the Mafia

**ROMANY**

Unfortunately, Ruiz was right about the stars... the sight of them is exceptional from up here. The black of space is glittered with bushels of light so radiant with color I could almost imagine I was at the center of an opal, or a jeweled cavern.

Ruiz saunters directly over to the bar as I step cautiously toward the white washed banister and I keep my head slightly cocked to the side to watch that fucker as he pours us a couple of shots.

"It's all very pretty, no? Miss Romany?" Ruiz says throatily, eyeing me up as he joins me near the ledge.

I feel the slither of his gaze as stands close. Like the sharp split of a reptile's tongue on every point of my bare flesh as he watches me. From my ankles to the hem of my designer cutoffs, then over my wrist and up the bare chill of my arms to the heave of my weighted breasts - it's as if he slimes me with a disgusting film of depravity. It makes me want to shower in acid.

"It is," I say flatly, my chin tilted toward the sky as I accept my tiny glass of heady brown tolerance that smells a lot like brandy. *Guh. I hate brandy.* Still, I sip it greedily, needing to be anywhere else but next to this mutant.

Ruiz slides a bit closer, the sweet scent of cigars and salted flesh invading my nostrils potently enough to curl my lip toward the ground. "So you must tell me about this romance of yours. This thing with my cousin, you must know," he says collusively, "it is destined to fail. Antonio is not the kind of man to give himself to a woman. Not wholly. Not like others might."

Others like you I suppose *Barf.* I release a small chuckle, the kind that flashes all my teeth, and then I toss my head, tipping the rest of the night cap back into my throat while watching the hunger of his eyes fire up the entire way. I grin, passing him back the glass. "Why did you call me up here, Ruiz? Are you jealous of your - bug - muscular - sexy as fuck cousin?" His eyes flare wide, half anger, half arousal, and I lift a finger, poking him in his chest just barely. "Are you thinking you could fuck me better than he can?"

*Gah!* I feel like a nasty, foul little slug just saying those words.

"I know I could fuck you better, Bonita. I might not split you in half the way that Antonio or that fucking slimy shit Alex might have, but I promise you I am a much more attentive lover," he hisses, his eyes riding my body the entire time. "But even better than that... I could give you things. Things that someone like my cousin never would. Things like power and connection. Things that most women only ever 'imagine' they possess." He slides closer, swallowing back the rest of his drink.

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I snicker, forcing myself not to budge. Knowing that taking even an inch of space for myself will kill the entire plot I am meant to ensnare him with. "I like Antonio, I do. My cousin-" I snarl, shaking my head in irritation "-she couldn't give him what I can. That bitch. She doesn't have a heart."

Just like that, Ruiz's dark brown eyes brighten, a cool glow of amber tainting their depths. "No. i don't imagine she does," he agrees. "So," he chuckles darkly," he did fuck her then. That puto. He lied to me." Fire flashes in Ruiz's gaze and right away I know I've hit that mark, the one that's meant to incite the chaos Santos promised would work in our favor.noveldrama

Telling myself that I will soak my hand in a bucket of iodine the first chance I get, I reach for him, sliding my hand up over his bicep which, unfortunately, is surprisingly muscular. His eyes soften, his pupils blown wide and I whisper, "Please don't be angry. I'm so tired of angry men. I'm done with the fighting and the brooding, the obsessions and the twisted fucked up games you gangsters tend to play with my heart." I meet his gaze, biting my bottom lip as I allow my eyes to trail toward his mouth. "I want something more. Something different."

His breath catches and despite that I tell myself not to look down, I do, and sure enough he is hard as a fucking steel pole - not a bad size either on a side note, not that I'll be measuring - and before he can think too much on the shift of my attention, I draw my gaze back up toward his houndful eyes.

Lost in the world of this story? Make sure you're on Ñe5s.com to catch every twist and turn. The next chapter awaits, exclusively on our site. Dive in now! "Now I understand," he hisses, licking his lips. "The obsession they all have with you. Alex and his men, my cousin, my *father* and his partner. At first I didn't believe. I didn't quite get how a simple woman could become a commodity nearly as coveted as power itself... but now... I do." He sneers angrily. "You are a fucking witch. A witch that possesses men and turns them into slaves." At first, I'm a little frightened, and granted I am supposed to be, so maybe that's why it works so well when I try to back away from him. It must show on my face. The fear. The upset. Ruiz snatches my arm and yanks me against him and my hands shoot out to clutch his shoulders. (Is it wrong that I even get a little wet? Yeah. Probably.) He tips his face into my hair and I feel the slide of his wet, greedy tongue against the shell of my ear. "And... if I didn't want you so badly right now, I'd throw you over the fucking railing like I first planned to when we came out here." *Oh shit.* "But you, Bonita, you are much more than I thought you would be. And you and I are about to become very, very, close."

He nibbles my earlobe and I force a shudder in response, then he releases me to back away slowly, leaving me there half panicked and half relieved. I pant out, "Wait! I-"

"Not tonight, Bonita," he whispers, his eyes falling over me dangerously. "Soon. Sleep well."

I watch him descend to the third story terrace, waiting until I've heard the soft click of the patio doors to expel a breath of pure terror.

*Sleep well, he says.*

*Not fucking likely.*