I woke up with no memories after being sick last night. How I had gotten home, changed, and then slipped into bed, I had no idea.
What I did know, however, was that my head was hurting, and I was in a desperate need for some Advil. Thankfully, there was the Advil bottle and a tall glass of water placed on the bedside table. I popped two in my mouth and took a few sips of the water to help them down.
I made a mental note to thank Luciana for putting them out for me later but for now, I needed a few more hours of sleep.
When I settled back in the bed, nuzzling my face into the pillow, an arm reached out and wound itself around my waist, pulling me back. My eyes widened and I was quick to shriek loudly. I kicked out and tried to free myself of the arm, but it only tightened around me, determined to keep me there.
It was only when in all my worries that I glanced over my shoulder and relief washed over me.
I didn’t know what exactly I was expecting, but when my eyes landed on Massimo, sound asleep and snuggled into bed behind me, a big wave of relief washed over me.
His face was the definition of calm and serene, nowhere near as serious as he always looked like when he was awake. The sheet was pulled up all the way to his chin, and he has his face turned, no doubt buried in the crook of my neck before I had pulled away for Advil.
It was then that it must have been Massimo that had left out the Advil and water for me. Not Luciana.
My heart fluttered at the thought and when my body reacted out of its own will, turning around to face him, my lips turned up at the corners into a small smile.
A quick glance under the sheets revealed to me that apartment from the boxers that he was wearing, Massimo was completely naked. I, however, was no longer in the dress and tights combination that I had been wearing last night. Instead, I was wearing the white shirt I remembered him to be wearing last night, and the soft, cotton material of it felt heavenly against my skin.
Massimo must have changed me before tucking me into bed. And then he must have climbed in behind me and spooned me from behind all night.
My heart fluttered once again at the thought, and I gave into the innate desire to lean in and press a soft, gentle kiss to his mouth. He barely moved, only his head angling up slightly, as if seeking another kiss, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Sighing, I closed my eyes and snuggled into his chest, throwing both my arms and legs over him.
I wasn’t sure what time it was when I woke up next, but the light had started seeping in through the curtains, so I knew it was morning. When the reminder that I was working the afternoon shift today popped to mind, I groaned and pressed my face further into his chest.
Wrapped around him like this, our bodies a mess of entangled limbs, I couldn’t imagine leaving the bed…but then everything from last night came rushing back to me.
My eyes widened and I gulped painfully at the thought that I had been drugged last night by Riccardo. He had intended to rape me, and if it weren’t for Massimo and Dino, perhaps he would have gotten away with it.
How many times had he done this? How many unsuspecting girls and women had Riccardo slipped the drug to before taking advantage of them?
How many women had he violated?
The more I lay in bed with the thought of Riccardo on my mind, the angrier I got. And the angrier I got, the more times I replayed the events of last night. All the way from meeting Riccardo upstairs when we had both been in line for the bathroom, to when he had marched out of the house in a strop because I had done what I had been dared to do in a game, and then finally to the way I had thrown up all over Massimo’s feet.
I grew hot at the reminder but detangled myself from Massimo. Or tried to, anyway.
Even in his sleep, Massimo’s grip on me was tight and it took several minutes before I could slip out of his arms and the bed. When he turned over, still asleep, with his lips tugged down in a fierce scowl and buried his face into the pillow I had just been resting my head on, I laughed quietly to myself.
Turning around, I glanced around the room.
Massimo’s room was large and spacious, but nowhere near as large as I thought a Mafia boss’ bedroom would be. I would estimate to be just as large as my parent’s bedroom back in our family home outside of the city, which was a standard double room in size. His furnishing, including the bedframe, the bedside table, small desk and a chest of drawers at the end of the bed, were all a glossy black, no doubt from the same set.
Dark mahogany floorboards spanned the floor, and I was currently stood on a large, fluffy white rug which was splayed out in the middle of the room. Other than the light fixtures – also black – the walls were completely bare except for two picture frames hanging above the bedframe where Massimo was still asleep.
The first frame was of a beautiful woman, looking as if she was in her early twenties. She had a baby wrapped up in a white blanket, and upon further inspection, I assumed that she was Massimo’s mama. The resemblance was uncanny, all the way from the way they both smiled – not that Massimo smiled all that often – to their blonde, curly, almost unruly hair.
The second picture was of Massimo. He was wearing his usual attire of a white crisp shirt and dark dress pants. Except this time, he had a lavish black furry robe draped over his shoulders. He sat on what appeared to be a big throne, making him look even more majestic than he usually looked.
The highlight of the otherwise standard room was the balcony which overlooked the driveway and the gated community Massimo appeared to live in. If I wasn’t in a rush to avoid not just being late for my work shift, but missing it completely, I would have ventured out to admire the view.
Thankfully, Massimo had a bathroom attached to his room, so I was able to get dressed without having to do the walk of shame from his bedroom. Not that we had done anything but sleep last night. My dress and tights from last night were folded neatly and placed on his desk, but I only reached for the latter and my boots left on the ground as I headed into the bathroom.
The idea of having to shimmy into the dress from last night didn’t appeal to me this morning, especially not after I had experience just how comfortable his shirt was. Of course, it was big on me and near enough the same length as my dress. With the addition of a pair of tights, it made for an outfit good enough to get me back to my apartment where I could get changed for work.
Immediately, my eyes zeroed in on the object he had left out for me on the counter. It was a new toothbrush, still in the packet and my heart fluttered at the sight.
Massimo was the kind of man that could give you a heart attack from how thoughtful he was without actually saying anything. He was far more serious than I was and appeared to take life more seriously than I did. On paper, it was starting to look like we were stark opposites, but I could feel myself really falling for this man, even if he was a dickhead that somehow, couldn’t text me back but told me that he had missed me immensely when he saw me next.
My heartbeat rapidly in my chest as I did my business and washed my hands in the sink. There was no hairbrush in the bathroom, so I brushed my fingers through it briefly before piling it on the top of my head in a messy bun, using a hairband I managed to find after a quick rumble through my purse.
Massimo’s skincare routine was next to non-existent. The only thing he had was a hydrating cleanser which looked alright but wouldn’t stand much chance of removing the smudged makeup still on my face from last night. Thankfully, a double cleanse did a good enough job and when I headed back into the bedroom, Massimo hadn’t moved since I was last out here.
He was still laying on his stomach with his face pressed into my pillow. My eyes lingered on him as I stuffed my dress in my purse.
The best thing to do right now was to slip out of the room, do the walk of shame and head back to my apartment so I could get ready for work. However, I couldn’t leave just yet.
Going against my better judgement, I perched myself on the side of the bed and leaned down to press my lips to the back of his head. One hand lingered on his bare back while the other gently raked through his hair, my nails digging into his scalp. I pressed another kiss into his hair before I stood up and forced myself to head out of his room before I allowed the temptation that was Massimo Mancini to lure me bac into bed.
Much to my surprise, there was no one in the hallway outside Massimo’s bedroom like I had expected there to be. I only started seeing people when I walked down two flights of stairs, and then there was far more people when I walked down one more and found myself on the ground floor.
There were far more people here, and they were all looking at me. I didn’t blame them. I was sure that I looked quite the sight, dressed in their boss’ shirt and a pair of tights. The messy bun and half-asleep, dazed look on my face probably weren’t helping my case any.
These people were no doubt mafia members and I’m sure that they all thought that I was doing the walk of shame from their boss’ bedroom and while that was technically true, there was nothing shameful about this walk. And there still wouldn’t have been even if I had actually had sex with Massimo last night.
I forced a polite smile before turning around in search of the front door.
I had thought Massimo’s room was rather simple for a mafia boss, but the same couldn’t be said about the parts of the mafia house that I had already seen. The flooring was an old-fashioned black and white checkered tiles, looking like that of a chess board. The furnishing were classic and tasteful, but it was the beautiful, grand staircase that grabbed my attention. It stood at the centre of the house, connecting all the floors together. The actual stairs were white marble, long and tall, and the railing was littered with marble beautiful, baby angel ornaments at the very bottom.
“Yasemin!” a familiar voice called out to me just as I reached for the front door. “Where are you going?”
“Dino?” I guessed and when he stepped into the hallway, I was proved correct. “I’m just heading home,” I told him.
“Why?”
“I’m going to be late for work.”
Dino hummed as he stared at me. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“My head is still a little heavy, but I feel so much better. But I had some Advil so I’m sure I’ll be feeling fine and dandy in no time.”
“You should have some food for the Advil to kick into full effect,” Dino told me and before I could deny it, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me behind him as he headed into what appeared to be the dining room. There weren’t many people in here which made me think that I was either extremely early or extremely late to breakfast. “What do you want for breakfast?” Dino asked as he pushed me into a chair besides two men that I didn’t recognise but were clearly Mancini’s from the strong resemblance between them all.
“Toast is fine if you have any.”
Dino nodded and placed a plate with two slices of toast in front of me.
“Help yourself to whatever topping you want,” Dino told me as he took a seat in front of a bowl of half-eaten cereal. “I’m glad I caught you before you left.”
“Why is that?” I asked as I reached for the pot of jam closest to me. Thankfully, it was strawberry.
“Massi would have killed me if I let you go without at least eating something,” he told me, and the butterflies fluttered in my stomach at his words. “And that’s already on top of how annoyed he’s going to be to wake up and find you gone.”
I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. Instead, I took a bite out of my toast and glanced around the table.
The dining room was long and large, looking to fit about twenty people. There were a few people sat on the other end of it, but I was stuck between a few Mancini’s on this end.
“Hi, I’m Yasemin,” I smiled politely and held a friendly hand out in front of the guy sat on my right. He appeared to be a little older than Dino and me, looking to be closer to Massimo’s age.
“It’s nice to meet you, Yasemin,” the man smiled warmly. “My name is Sergio but everyone calls me Gio. You can too.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Gio,” I returned his smile and gave his hand a firm shake before turning my attention to the Mancini sat on my other side. “And you are?”
“I’m Francesco and as much as I would love to stick around to get to know the woman that’s stolen my brother’s heart, I’m extremely late for work.” Francesco shook my hand quickly and pinched the second slice of toast from my plate before he rushed out of the dining room.
“The funny thing is that he’s his own boss,” another Mancini chuckled as he took Francesco’s seat. This one I recognised from the news to be the infamous Fabrizio Mancini that had recently had his name cleared from the alleged murder of Nolan Huntsberg. He was also the primary focus of my Media assignment and had the sole power of saving me a final this semester in the very palm of his hand.
For a moment, I contemplated opening up the notes app on my phone and asking him some of the questions I had written down in there this past week, but the moment was quick to pass when he introduced himself to me.
“Hi, Yasemin,” Fabrizio smiled brightly. “I’m Fabrizio Mancini, also known as the most superior of the Mancini’s.”
“You wish,” Dino snorted. “Just wait until I graduate college and start working full-time. Then we’ll see how you’re the most superior Mancini.”
I could have easily argued that Massimo was the most superior Mancini brother, but instead I sat back and enjoyed the funny banter between the three brothers.
“How many Mancini’s are there?” I asked, curious.
“There’s seven of us,” Gio told me.
“Eight if you count our papa,” Fabrizio added, looking unsure whether their papa counted or not.
“I guess nine now,” Dino mused aloud, sending Fabrizio a pointed look.
“And with Yasemin, it’ll be ten.”
“Wait…what?” I asked, my lips parted in surprise by the obvious mystery wrapped around their words. Instead of answering me, they all shared a knowing look and grinned before changing the subject.
I laughed several times as I enjoyed the impromptu breakfast of jam on toast with half the Mancini brothers, but one quick glance at my phone told me that even if I left now, I would be nearly an hour late for work.
I was quick to excuse myself before Dino could attempt to stop me once again. I tried to remember the way Dino had guided me to the dining room earlier, and when I finally found myself back in the grand foyer, I paused in shock at the sight in front of me.
Fabrizio and someone else. Kissing. With their hands all over each other. It took me a few moments to realise why this woman looked familiar and where I knew her from.
She was the woman from the news. Fabrizio’s lawyer, and the same woman that I had believed to be romantically entangled with Massimo…but here she was, kissing his younger brother. In the mafia house. For all to see.
Were they not afraid of getting caught? Either way, this was the reminder I needed that Massimo was a taken man. That he already had someone…except, his special someone was currently kissing someone else.
It didn’t matter to me that Massimo’s girlfriend was cheating on him, even if it was with his own brother. All that mattered was that I had kissed – and fucked – a taken man, and this wasn’t like me at all.
What kind of person was Massimo Mancini turning me into?
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Layla Knight
29.01.2022
