Maid for the Mafia by Jaylee

A Change of Heart

**ALEX**

The moment it was confirmed that the circus had left my property, I rested my head against the cold wall in the front hallway and took a few deep breaths. I felt Damien's eyes on my back, but ignored him as I took a mental inventory of every room that the police might have found... troubling. Rooms like my playroom in my master suite upstairs, or the meeting room that was covered in blood and gore the last time I saw it. But something was telling me that the pigs never ventured any higher than the first floor, and that in itself was troubling. *Why? What were they looking for?*

Morris was a dirty cop. Had been ever since Santos had first come onto the scene and Morris made the mistake of thinking he was easy pickings. Santos turned the tables on him that night. He had that dildo Morris so spooked that the man slept in an empty holding cell for a month. But then suddenly, Morris got his mojo back - or so it seemed. It became a little telling when Morris began raiding every shady establishment that *didn't* belong to Santos and set watchmen at every single one that did.

So I wonder... What did Santos send that fucker over here to find?

"They didn't hit the third floor?" I inquired softly, my head still pressed against the wall.

"No, not that I'm aware," Damien answered me. "They wouldn't have found anything, anyway. Me and Mickey took care of the problem in the meeting room ourselves. We finished minutes before they arrived."

My eyes popped open and I turned around, watching him carefully as he studied me. I could feel his anger, his disappointment. I knew it was on the tip of his tongue to ask me why Romany never made it upstairs to do her job, but I also knew he wouldn't ask. Why? Because you would've had to been blind to miss the three dimensional bulge behind my pants when I left Romany in my office, and some people prefer *not* to torture themselves when the truth is poking out of my pants like a battle cannon. It looked like I had a midget between my legs that was fighting to get free. If I'm not mistaken, it was the insurmountable evidence that I was packing enough heat to wreck a train, that triggered the good detective's moodiness in the first place. I almost accused him of sexual harassment, he was staring so hard.

"Any particular reason why?" I hissed, starting to button up my shirt.

"We didn't think it was right for Romany to have to clean that bastard's remains after he attacked her. It didn't seem... appropriate," he said matter-of-factly. "And a good thing we did, too. Because for whatever reason she's MIA."

I chuckled, tucking my shirt back into my pants and then cursing the fact that my jacket was still in the office. *Fuck.* I narrowed my eyes at him, clicking my tongue in disappointment. "You are aware that we disposed of him because he was a *spy* and a *traitor*, correct? *Not* because he saw a piece of pussy that he just had to have, and decided to take it."

Damien glared at the ground for a moment, shaking his head. "That may be why *you* did it," he raised his head and gazed toward the office. "But that's not why *I* did."

"If I didn't know better," I whispered. "I'd think you were in love."

went rigid before he turned back to face me. "You can think what you want to think, Alex. I don't really give a fuck. But the next

and I glared at

was starting to sound like my best

the guards and do a sweep for bugs," Damien said, backing

closest friend and like

"Alex," Stella whined again.

I snapped at her, shaking her hand off

his assigned suite," she cooed, stepping closer and placing her hand over my

looked starved. There wasn't a single thing about her that was soft and pliant. There was nothing on her

hand to circle gently around her throat. "Make sure you are waiting in my room when I

the Cheshire Cat and I gave her neck a good squeeze

the quiet

replied with

Dubois inside. After you've released her, give her my key. Tell her to hold into it for me,"

down the hall to Enzo's room then

this about, Enzo?" I growled in annoyance, dropping into the

smiled, his beady eyes sparkling as he stared at me from his seat on the sofa. "You remember the deal we made some time back, for the Midtown

it was, it wasn't sanctioned. If it had been, we wouldn't be

his dark eyes shifting. "What if I told you I had a change of

tensed and I gripped the arms of the chair as I worked to control my irritation. *A change of heart? Now? After two months of holding the controlling interest over my head like strings on a

closer to my chair, a sly smile spreading across his lips. "The previous negotiations were for an additional thirty-five percent. Controlling interest of the territory. I'm willing to increase that number to forty percent, effective