The Maid: Mafia Romance (Series)

A Date with Dente

I nervously glanced around the empty restaurant. Empty of patrons that was, except for me. I wasn’t sure what to do, afraid I was in the wrong restaurant. But upon the young male waiter politely confirming that I was at the right place, I calmed down and waited for Giovanni at the bar, since he hadn’t shown up yet.

A small part of me was really afraid of being the third wheel on his date, but the larger part was really fascinated and excited about the prospect of dining in this beautiful and luxurious restaurant set in the Grand Duke Hotel.

I stood facing a large floor-to-ceiling mirror, and for the first time, I saw what I looked like after the complete makeover at the salon.

I was fair, with a light dusting of freckles on my nose. My hair was curled in ringlets. My green eyes matched the green dress perfectly, the very green dress that I’d dreamed about since I took it off at the boutique store.

Giovanni was very kind to buy me this dress. Then again, he probably didn’t want to be embarrassed by his maid. But then again, it was weird for him to even bring me along on their date in the first place.

But I should be considerate and thank him when I saw him next, because never in my life had I dreamed of ever wearing such a beautiful dress for his kind of occasion.

Pulling up my long dress, I caught a glimpse of my high heeled. I smiled at my own reflection. At home with Pa and Amelia, my typical outfit would consist of a pair of sneakers, a sweater, and tight jeans. Here I was Cinderella, going to the ball. Except this was an empty ball with just me, Cinderella, and no prince, as Giovanni still hadn’t made his appearance.

Who could blame him? It must be Jennifer he was waiting on. She must be taking her time in getting dressed.

I’d been waiting for a good five minutes when the same male waiter approached me again. “Would you like a drink, miss, while you wait?”

“Oh, it’s okay. I’m fine for now. Thank you.” I shook my head, politely declining the offer.

I wasn’t sure if Giovanni was paying for my meal since it was supposed to be a date between him and Jennifer, so water would be my best bet in case I had to pay for this meal myself.

“You must be the lucky woman tonight,” he chatted away beside me as if we were friends. “We had to close the whole restaurant tonight because Mr. Dente requested to dine alone with his woman.”

So, that’s why the place is empty of patrons. Wait, what? His woman!

“Oh, you’re mistaken. I’m the other woman.” I quickly corrected his mistake.

“The other woman?” He showed me that what the hell is she on about look.

“I’m his maid, or her maid to be exact. No, more like the assistant for his woman.” I laughed, confused at my own explanation. “Sorry, let me start again. I’m Mr. Dente’s maid. He’d asked me to accompany his woman. I’m only here in case they need anything, as a kind of personal assistant, you know. I believe Mr. Dente is coming with his woman, though, so they’ll be here soon.”

“Oh, well. My bad.” He scratched his head and laughed. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but I really thought you were his woman, since you looked so well-polished and all that.”

“I look well-polished?”

“Beautiful is the word. You look beautiful.”

I smiled, somewhat reminiscing my past. How I wished Giovanni would say I looked beautiful.

“Thank you for saying that.”

“You sound awfully sincere. Has no one ever said you look beautiful before?”

I smiled at him. “I’m used to people calling me plain.”

“Pardon my impertinence, but you’re not plain at all. You’re stunning to say the least. Especially with your fair skin and green eyes. If I didn’t know, I’d say you look like a beautiful Irish woman. Someone who would capture any man’s attention. And now I’m very glad and somewhat relieved that you’re not Mr. Dente’s woman.” He wiped his brow to showcase his relief.

I asked, confused, “Relieved? Why?”

“See, I thought to get your number so we could hang out. You know, get to know one another. Be friends. And then maybe something more.”

“You want to be my friend? And something more?” And now I sounded like a broken record, repeating whatever he said.

“Yeah. Why not? If I could guess, we’re similar in age, right? We should get along well.”

“Well, how old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“No harm at all. I’m twenty. This is my part-time job. I’ve just arrived from England. Oh, I’m Jake by the way. You?”

“Jenny.”

“Jenny and Jake. We sound like a couple already. So, mind if I get your number?”

“I don’t mind being friends, but I already have someone I like,” I confessed truthfully. And I had no idea when my crush with Giovanni would subside.

“Oh, well, that’s too bad. But we could still be friends. That is if you don’t mind.”

I smiled at him, and at that moment, my phone rang. It was an unknown number. “Hello.”

“Don’t go around flirting, Jay. Especially not in front of me.”

“Oh, boss, is that you?” I pressed my ear closer to the phone to hear better. “Where are you? I’ve been waiting for ages.”

“I’m already here.”

“Where, boss?” I swirled my head around looking for him, neglecting Jake, who’d suddenly disappeared altogether.

“Behind you,” said the voice on the phone.

I swirled around fast, only to trip over my ankle like a clumsy idiot. But someone held me fast, embracing my waist, calmly collecting me into his arms.

Warmth and comfort, like drinking coffee on a really cold day. That was the feeling that exuded at that moment. And I didn’t want to let this feeling go. I wanted to burrow deeper into that cavity of warmth, embraced forever by those arms.

“If you go around falling, who’s going to make me my coffee?”

Giovanni.

I melted a bit upon hearing his voice.

“Oh, hello… boss.” That last word popped out of my mouth when my eyes rose to meet his. And the oxygen built up in my lungs, with the pressure rising high, heating even my face, I ended up speaking in incoherent sentences. “You… you’re finally here.”

“Yes, Jay. I’m finally here. As promised.” He still held me tight, arms caging me so I couldn’t move an inch from that confined space.

There near the bar, we were molded together like strands of black licorice, our eyes locked onto one another without breaking contact.

Giovanni looked absolutely amazing in the suit he’d bought, the same one I recommended. His black hair was swept back, so sleek and shiny. It shone under the chandelier lights. He was cleanly shaven, unlike earlier this afternoon with that short stubble highlighting his jaws.

“You’re looking very fine tonight, boss,” I said, eyes still locked onto his, heart thundering in my chest, hoping and praying he wouldn’t hear it from where he stood. “I’m sure Jennifer will find you very appealing.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Appealing?” Giovanni laughed, letting me go and running his hand through his hair. “Jay, I think Jennifer will find me totally alluring, don’t you think?”

Just my thoughts, exactly. I found Giovanni totally alluring. To all my senses. Scent, sight, touch, taste, he was everything a woman could want. He smelled of expensive cologne and something delicious, I wanted to lick him dry.

Now, that didn’t paint a pretty image.

“So…” He carried on, leading me by my waist to our seat. “What do you think? Do I look totally alluring to you?”

Did he really need my opinion? Shouldn’t Jennifer’s be the one that mattered? And talking about Jennifer, where was she?

“You took the words out of my mouth, boss. You’re definitely splendid. And totally alluring.”

With my answer, he seemed to cheer up, sliding into the seat opposite me; not forgetting to toss a foul look Jake’s way as he walked by with the menu.

Giovanni quickly glanced at the menu and lifted his gaze to me. “Have you decided what you want to eat?”

Oh, I decided what I want to eat centuries ago. I wanted to dine on all the food in this restaurant. But my urgent need wasn’t the food, but one simple answer.

“Never mind the food, boss. I’ll eat anything in this restaurant, but the most important thing is, where is Jennifer? Did she not come with you?”

“She’s coming later. We’ll eat first.” Giovanni brushed aside the subject and turned back to his menu.

“But that would be considered rude, boss.” I interrupted his concentration. “Shouldn’t we wait for her?”

“I’m hungry, Jay.” He slammed the menu down. “I don’t dilly-dally waiting for a woman. If I’m hungry, I’m eating. So make your order.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, unsure, looking at the menu again. I smiled up at Jake who all this time was still standing beside me, waiting for our order.

I peered at Giovanni over my menu again. Strange, how he could say that of his woman. Maybe Jennifer was just one of his playthings.

Once he’d ordered for the both of us, and Jake disappeared, Giovanni started acting strange again, asking me all sorts of random questions, like how was my studying going, and if he was using me to the bones. I responded normally. All he did was nod with a few oohs and aahs.

Several moments later, the meal arrived. We started digging in.

“It feels quite strange, boss. Just you and me, eating dinner,” I said, in between bites of food.

“There’s nothing strange about dining with you, Jay.” Giovanni replied casually, forking his food into his mouth.

“But I’m your maid.”

“Haven’t the others dined with me before?”

If he said that, he did have a point. At home in Cory Mansion, we all dined together, like a family. But right here, in this beautiful restaurant, with just Giovanni and me, the atmosphere felt kind of romantic, like… a date.

Damn, I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. Except this wasn’t. Because I was the third wheel.

“Like the food, Jay?” he asked me, like I was a small bunny he took interest in, taking me away from my wandering thoughts.

“Do you need to ask?” I asked, after swallowing another mouthful of heavenly food. “This place is amazing. I can’t thank you enough for inviting me along, too.”

I was actually quite glad Jennifer hadn’t made an appearance yet. I didn’t want Giovanni’s future lover to be turned off by his maid’s eating habits.

I couldn’t help the way I ate. When one grew up poor and hardly had enough good food to eat, one tended to lose some table manners.

Giovanni chuckled softly, alerting me to his presence. He smiled, and in that moment, I knew I was totally captivated by him. And to me, the word totally captivated was akin to the sentiment love.

I stole another peek at him. He hardly smiled, but when he did, like tonight, he looked so dashing. My stomach did a flip-flop and my heart raced in sync to a horse’s gallop.

Yes. I had to face reality. There was no use daydreaming anymore. I was in love with Giovanni. Madly so. But there was nothing I could do about my situation. If Jennifer was only his plaything, then what did he see in me?

My thoughts dissolved when the second course arrived. Everything was just splendid. The meal was excellent. Having Giovanni as my sole company was also excellent, and by the time dessert came around, I’d totally forgotten all about Jennifer.

“My God, boss. This chocolate mousse is amazing.” I took another spoonful of the dessert into my mouth, literally buzzing my taste buds into heaven.

“I’m glad. You can have mine, too.” Giovanni offered me his, sliding his tiramisu across the tablecloth.

“You’re not eating yours?”

“No. I’ll have my dessert later tonight.”

“Well, I won’t say sorry if I finish everything, because this is delicious.”

Giovanni chuckled sinuously. “Oh, I’m sure my dessert will be more delicious than the dessert having.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” I said without a second thought, slipping another mouthful of the mousse into my mouth.

Giovanni chuckled and leaned forward, wiping something off my lips.

I froze.

One second. Two seconds. Three. Time stood still as I watched his tongue darting out to lick his finger; licking that whole digit clean while his eyes were still locked onto mine. My beautiful mafia boss. My hot and totally alluring mafia boss. I had to instill this memory in my mind.

“Where does all that food go, Jay? It certainly doesn’t fatten you up,” he said, breaking up my beautiful train of thought.

I blinked, and thankfully, my mind quickly kicked back into gear. “We’ve spoken about this before, boss. I work hard. I eat just as hard.”

“Do you play hard, too?” he asked, his tongue darting out to lick his lower lip this time. Again, I was mesmerized by that move.

What would it be like if he licked me, too? If I were that little bit of cream on his finger? Would he licked me seductively as his finger?