I hadn’t worked a night shift in quite some time, but I couldn’t avoid it anymore. Not when my boss sent me a text this morning saying that the only way, I was missing my night shift this morning was if I died, or someone from my immediately family died. And since I hadn’t been annoyed at my brothers enough to fantasise about killing them since I was a young teenager, it appeared that there was no avoiding the night shift for me this time.
Well, I guess this meant that I would stop harassing my co-workers now.
I had been back to my normal life, pre-him for nearly a week now. Every time I spotted a night shift in my calendar, I texted everyone individually until someone agreed to swap with me, so I was working only in the morning, afternoons and evenings. This method had worked for a while but it appeared that my boss had found me out so there was no more avoiding the night shift for me.
Well, it was good until it lasted.
Being back only reminded me how much I quite enjoyed the night shift. Colin clocked out at three, leaving me by myself until six.
While it was a great opportunity to catch up on some of the reading that I was still behind on for all of my classes, I couldn’t deny that I was a little nervous. I was both nervous and excited at the prospect of seeing Massimo this evening.
And I was also nervous over how I would feel if I didn’t end up seeing Massimo tonight. I didn’t doubt for a moment that I would be disappointed that he didn’t come to see me, especially after everything Dino had told me last week about Massimo and Massimo’s feelings for me. And then I would be disappointed over the fact that I had been disappointed in the first place, given the fact that I was determined to move on and continue with the way my life had been before Massimo showed up and turned everything in my world upside down.
Speaking of the devil, none other than the mafia boss of the Mancini Mafia reared his sinfully handsome head not even a moment later.
When my breath didn’t hitch in my throat and I didn’t have to remind myself to breathe, I cheered internally at the little victory. But that didn’t mean Massimo had any less effect on me as he approached the counter, his eyes not once wavering from me.
“Busy night?” Massimo asked in a low, gruff voice, his face a stoic mask.
I ignored him and pursed my lips. It was better to be cold and brush him off, than risk hurting myself again.
“Welcome to Starbucks. What can I get for you today?” I asked with a permanent frown on my face, refusing to look him in the eyes.
“Aren’t you going to look at me, Cara?”
“Welcome to Starbucks. What can I get for you today?” I repeated with pursed lips, still refusing to meet his eyes. The idea of glancing up and looking at him, at looking into his eyes, was almost scary to me.
I knew that one look at Massimo and I would go spiralling out of control once again. My feels for him, no matter how inappropriate or out of place, weren’t to be encouraged or nurtured. This man had a girlfriend and if I had any sense of self-respect, I needed to keep reminding myself of that?
“You know what I want.”
“I meant,” I sighed heavily, showing him that I wasn’t in the mood to put up with any bullshit right now. “What do you want to drink.”
“You know that as well.”
“One Grande vanilla latte with almond milk coming right up,” I murmured under my breath as I rang him up.
“So, you’re ignoring me, but you still remember my drink order?
I kept my head down and didn’t say anything. Instead, I moved to start on his drink, though I couldn’t help but note the way he stuffed some notes in the tip jar as he always did when he dropped by for a coffee.
I refused to care, though. Or at least I tried not to.
“Why have you been avoiding me, Cara?” Massimo asked as he watched me get started on his drink.
Of course, I didn’t answer him. I refused to.
“I’ve really missed you, Cara, and knowing that you’ve been avoiding me really hurts.”
It hurt me to hear him speak like this. Like he actually cared, but I didn’t dare say anything in fear that I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions and feelings for him?
Why did Massimo have to turn up and set my head and heart out of sync once again?
I heard him sigh and felt his sad eyes boring into the side of my watch, his eyes on me unwavering as I made his drink, and I refused to speak or look at him the whole time. It was better that way. For the both of us.
I placed his drink on the counter and then turned around to get started on cleaning a mess I had spilt earlier. I could have gotten away with wiping it away with the dish towel as it was only a few drops, but I went to the effort of getting out the sponge and giving the whole counter a good wipe down. Anything to avoid looking at Massimo Mancini and falling for him even more.
Massimo sighed heavily and when I heard some shuffling around, I finally lifted my cautious eyes to watch as he walked out of the store with his latte.
I had to be honest. It was a little disheartening watching Massimo walk away without so much as putting up a fight, especially after everything that Dino had told me last week, but perhaps this was for the best. Perhaps this was the closure I truly needed to heal and move on from the brief time that Massimo Mancini had spent in my life.
And then all of that went out the window when I spied him turning around and taking a seat on the bench in front of the store.
There was another hour of my shift worked and I really struggled to keep my eyes off Massimo for that entire time. The fact that I had nothing but my textbooks to keep me company didn’t make things any easier for me.
The longer I stared at him as he sipped at his latte, the more it frustrated me that it had most definitely gone cold but he was still drinking it with that sad, forlorn expression on his face.
When my shift eventually came to an end and I swapped over with Isla, I groaned and started on making another vanilla latte even though he most certainly didn’t deserve it. I was doing this because I felt bad for him. Not because I felt sorry for him. Or rather, that was what I was telling myself as I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top to add a little more flavour to the drink.
Massimo greeted me with some food from Frank’s and a milkshake. I had no idea when he had stepped away to order and collect this food without me noticing.
Without either of us saying anything, I swapped out his latte for the milkshake he had gotten me.
Chocolate. My favourite flavour.
“Thanks for the milkshake,” I was obliged to say before I turned around to head toward security to get out of the airport, but Massimo was quick to sidestep in front of me and intercept my path.
“I’m not going to deal with anymore of this bullshit, Cara,” Massimo huffed. “If you don’t come with me to my car right now, I’m going to bend you over my knees right now and paint your ass red. So, your pick.”
My body flushed at his words, and I was back to reminding myself to breath once again.
“Where is your car?” I found myself asking even though the idea of his hand on my ass, even if it was out in the open like this for everyone to see, wasn’t completely unwelcome.
“Follow me,” Massimo demanded in a gruff, no bullshit voice as he turned around and started leading the way. He didn’t need to glance over his shoulder to be sure that I was following. There was enough conviction in his voice to demand a lot of things from me right now, and I would go through with it without so much as a second thought.
The sheer power that Massimo Mancini had over me, it was both a blessing and a curse.
My lips were pursed, and my head bowed in a mixture of compliance and insolence as I followed Massimo to his car. Just like his dress sense and bedroom, his was simple and non-descript.
Was it strange that I expected the big bad mafia boss to have a flashier car?
“Where are you taking me?” I asked once he started the car, but only after his insistence that I strap myself in. He had murmured something else under his breath, but I couldn’t catch it. Not even after I strained my ears.
“Home.”
“Whose home?”
“Your home.”
“How do you know where I live?”
“I think you forget that I’m the mafia boss,” Massimo snorted, and despite the humoured sound, there was no smile on his face. Not even a barely-there one. “I have a way of accessing information when I need it. When you were avoiding me, I found out your address and stopped by but you weren’t home.”
“Did you go into my room?” I was quick to ask.
“I didn’t actually go into your apartment,” he clarified. “I spoke with some of the people in your building. I also spoke to your roommate, and she said you weren’t there. I tried to get her to tell me where you were, but she wouldn’t budge.”
I turned my head to glance out the window, looking away from him. I feigned a look of nonchalance until I felt his gaze drift away from me and focus back on the road. I smiled then. Luciana hadn’t mentioned to me that someone had dropped by asking for me – she must have forgotten – but knowing that she had my back, even without any context of the situation, was amazing.
“Are you hungry?” Massimo suddenly asked.
“A little,” I admitted.
“I got you that chicken burger than you like,” he told me, jerking a thumb at the backseat where I had noticed him place the bag earlier. “Sorry, I forgot to mention it to you earlier. But get whatever you want. There’s some fries and onion rings in there as well.”
“Thanks. I’m starving,” I murmured under my breath as I snapped off my seatbelt. Massimo grumbled under his breath at that, but I ignored him and reached into the backseat for my dinner.
I could literally feel his eyes boring into my ass as I reached for the paper to-go back, but neither of us commented on it. He merely cleared his throat, kept his eyes on the road, and clutched the steering wheel tighter as he continued driving.
By the time he pulled up outside my apartment building, I was halfway through my burger. When he slipped his hand into the paper bag sat comfortably in my lap for the second burger, neither of us said anything.
“You and I need to talk,” Massimo stated firmly before he took a big bite out of his burger. By this point, the car was off, his seatbelt off, and he had turned his entire body in my direction, watching me as we both ate.
“What could we possibly have to talk about?”
“Everything,” Massimo snorted, sounding far from impressed. “Where are you avoiding me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I blinked at him, feigning innocence.
“Let’s try this again,” Massimo groaned, and I could tell he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Where have you been hiding, Cara? And since you’ve been back at your apartment, why haven’t you been at work?”
“One, I’m not going to answer that first question,” I snorted. “And two, I have been at work. I’ve just been working less night shifts.”
“I thought you liked the night shifts.”
“I do.”
“Then why did you stop doing them?”
“I think we both know the answer to that,” I huffed and if I my hands weren’t occupied with my half-eaten burger, I would have pouted and crossed them over my chest like a petulant child.
“Let me make this very clear to you, Cara,” Massimo put down his burger to tell me in the most serious voice I had ever heard before. It made me do the same and when I turned my head to glance at him, I was surprised at the sheer vulnerability displayed on his face. “I have very strong feelings for you, and I have no intention of suppressing them.”
“What are you saying?”
“It’s what I’m not saying,” he murmured, his gaze intense as he stared into my eyes. As he stared into my soul. “I know you’re not ready to hear it so I’m going to refrain from saying it until you are ready, but just know that I’m here to stay, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“What if I don’t return your feelings?” I asked, trying to portray the false narrative that I was cool and collected. That his words hadn’t had any effect on me even though, in all actuality, he had turned my whole world upside with a few simple words.
I never thought I would hear the day Massimo Mancini would admit his feelings for me. I always thought I would be his little thing on the side before he got bored and moved on.
“Look me in the eye and tell me that I’m not the best fuck you’ve ever had,” Massimo dared me, his voice eerily low.
“Just because you’re the best fuck I’ve ever had doesn’t mean that I have feelings for you,” I snorted and rolled my eyes as a defence mechanism, but too little too late, I realised my mistake. “You are not the best fuck I’ve ever had. I didn’t mean that,” I denied, quick to push the words out even though I didn’t believe myself for a second.
Massimo was the best fuck I had ever had, and he would most definitely be the best fuck I would ever have in my life. And we both knew it.
“We both know you did,” he chuckled, his lips turning up at the corners in a ghost of a smile. “Now, all you need to admit is that you have feelings for me, and then we can move together happy and as a couple.”
A pregnant paused passed between us as I just stared at him. Really stared at him.
There was a whirlwind of emotions swirling in his eyes and even though on the outside, Massimo was rigid, stoic and completely in control of himself, his eyes told a different story. Fear and anxiety decorated his chocolate orbs, and I wanted nothing more than to pull him into my arms and assure him that everything would be okay. But I refrained.
There was one last thing I needed clarifying before I could come to a final decision.
“But I thought you had a girlfriend,” I murmured in a small voice, my gaze intense as I studied him, waiting patiently for his reaction…except, it never came.
“What did you just ask me, Cara?” Massimo asked after a few moments.
“You’re dating Benedetta, right?” my voice trailed off, not sounding quite so sure anymore.
Massimo threw his head back and laughed. And it wasn’t the kind of laugh where it was kind of a chuckle, just more spirited. It was the kind of belly laugh where he held his stomach because it hurt so much from laughing, and he even shed a tear or two.
“This isn’t funny,” I was quick to snap at him, my lips tugging down into a fierce scowl.
“On the contrary, Cara,” Massimo continued to laugh. “It’s very funny. I can’t believe that you actually thought I was going out with Benedetta. How did you even come up with that theory?”
My breath hitched in my throat at his words. Did that mean…? Surely not!
“I don’t know how you came to that conclusion, Cara, but I’m not going out with Benedetta. Or anyone else for that matter,” he said, the humoured look slowly slipping off his face as a determined one took its place. “There’s only one woman I’m interested in going out with, but I’m currently awaiting her answer.”
I gulped and turned my head to glance out the window. Massimo sighed and I heard some ruffling as he reached into the paper bag once again, but this time for some onion rings and a handful of fries.
“Benedetta has become somewhat of a friend and confidant to me but before all of that, she’s my brother’s girlfriend. I’m sure you know but she was Fabrizio’s lawyer. I believe they haven’t been going out for that long, but last I heard, my brother has already proposed twice,” Massimo chuckled, the sound laced with humour. “I think Benedetta wants to spend some more time dating before they tie the knot, but frankly, we’re all hoping that the third time would be the charm.”
“That actually makes so much more sense now,” I mused aloud, my eyes wide as understanding dawned on me. “I saw Fabrizio and Benedetta eating each other’s face when I was at the mafia house last, and I genuinely thought that she was cheating on you with your brother.”
“You have a wild imagination, Cara, and I love you for it,” Massimo chuckled and leaned over to press his lips against my temple. My whole body flushed and came alive at the simple brushing of his lips against my skin, and I dared not move in fear that the moment would end too soon. “You have nothing to worry about, Cara, I assure you. With me, you will never have to worry about another woman. Ever. I am fiercely loyal and when I’m in it, I’m in it to the end. And I’m already in this. I’m just waiting patiently for you to join me, but I’m sure you know that I’m not a very patient man.”
“Why didn’t you reply when I messaged you on Instagram?”
“I didn’t get a notification.”
“But you picked up when I called.”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I got a notification for the call and when I saw the username, I picked up immediately. I promise you, Cara, if I had received a notification for your message, I would have surely replied.”
“Stupid Instagram,” I frowned, muttering under my breath.
“Stupid Instagram indeed,” he murmured, a small, amused smile on his face. “Is that all for your apprehensions toward me?”
“I think so,” I nodded. “But I think I’ll keep you waiting some more,” I teased with a grin on my face, but he was quick to swallow it by leaning over the console of the car and slanting his mouth over mine.
“I’m a very impatient man,” he pressed the guttural groan to my lips, sensually stroking it against my tongue. “But you know that already.”
“What does this mean?” I asked, pressing another hard kiss to his lips before pulling away. “For us, I mean?”
“It means that I’m willing to settle for girlfriend and boyfriend. For now,” he told me, a displeased expression on his face as he leaned in to steal another kiss, this one softer than before.
“What does that mean?” I whispered, struggling to keep my eyes from fluttering close from how good his kisses felt.
“All with due time, Cara,” he chuckled, pressing another kiss to my lips. “Now, are we going to sit out here all night or are you going to invite me in?”
“I was hoping we could take things slow,” I murmured, forcing myself to keep my face serious even though going slow was the last thing I wanted. With Massimo, now that I knew I could have all of him to myself,
“We can take things slow,” Massimo insisted, a dazed look on his face as he nodded. “Sorry, Cara. I didn’t mean to pressure you. I just assumed–let’s take things slow.”
I couldn’t hold up the act any longer. When my lips lifted up at the corners into a wide grin, Massimo huffed and sent me a dark glare.
“You can be sit around here and be moody all night, or you can join me,” I grinned cheekily as I reached for the bed. “In bed and most definitely naked.”
“You’re not moving fast enough, Cara,” Massimo complained as he rushed out of the car.
-
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Layla Knight
02.02.2022
