Maid for the Mafia by Jaylee

Only the Dons

**ROMANY**

*Matthew's new girlfriend?*

As far as I know, Matthew only ever dated one woman during his tenure at the university, and that was when he first got hired. Coincidentally, she was also the Dean at that time. Marjorie Albrook. She was replaced the year *prior* to my attendance and unsurprisingly for most, she left the job as single as she began it. The entire fiasco had all the makings of a scandal, but Matthew never caught any fire for it the way he should have. Even when Marjorie made routine visits to the campus to humiliate Matthew, accusing him of doctoring his college transcripts and claiming she caught him flirting with students online, the presses remained cold.

Other than Dean Albrook, I couldn't think of one single consort, besides Charlotte Scottsdale and I *would not* be dragging her into this.

*Unless... it's me he's talking about!*

Scowling at him with sudden apprehension, I snap my teeth at his fingers on the seat, hiding my annoyance when he eludes me yet again, and places his hand flat on the other side. "I *was not* his girlfriend at that time," I practically growl, my chin jerking up and out from behind his butter soft jacket as I pull it in closer and shrug my terry cloth sleeves through the arms.

*There! Now if he decides to leave as abruptly as he did before, he can go without his perfectly tailored coat!*

The left side of Mickey's mouth quirks up, hiking into a half smile as he gazes sadly at some point past my shoulders. "But *you were* kissing him," he rasps out, his voice thick with some buried emotion from the past as his eyes drag back toward my own. The muscles of his jaw pulse avidly, his eyebrows drawing together and forming a strained line between them. "I felt like I'd been punched in the chest when I saw it. Nothing had ever hit that way," Mickey admits with a low, guttural growl. "That's when I finally let myself see how ridiculous I was being. Chasing shadows and wandering after a girl that didn't even know what she had just done to me." The line between his brows deepens for a second and he rips his gaze downward when he says, "But this time... you knew. And fuck if it didn't hurt in just the same way."

I gasp, my arms throbbing with the urge to reach for him. But I already know he won't let me. He'll just knock my hands away and press himself farther back into the door, so I scoot a good five inches forward instead and although he notices, he doesn't remark on it.

I shake my head at him, the back of my throat tingling as blood rushes up from my neck so quickly it's painful. "I didn't know you were there! Alex said you were all gone! And just because I said what I said to him, that doesn't mean-" "Don't!" Mickey snaps, his muscles coiling, and his leg bouncing again. "Do not even attempt to feel sorry for me! I am not a charity case."

with a snap of my neck. *Is he serious? Are all of these fucking mafia dudes as equally self-centered as Alex DeMarco and his cousin Mickey? Does this fool honestly believe that it is him that I should be feeling sorry

weird, manic sort of frustration begins to bubble up inside of me and before I know it, I'm giggling into my hands like a drunken Sunday School Teacher who woke up

chest rising and falling with the heave of new anger. "Fucking

murder. Swallowing down the last of my amusement, I flip the bitch switch at the forefront of my brain to max power and throw every thread of talent that I may or may not possess into this next act. "You think I should feel

eyes and what is left is a cross between panic and self righteous suffering. He doesn't *like* being called a jerk, and it appears he *really* never expected to hear *me* accuse him of being one. "Well... I..." he

you so much right now that I'm finding it hard to even

out, traces of his poker face surfacing as he begins trying to close off his emotions. He nearly succeeds for a moment, but then it is as if he is reevaluating everything that we just talked about, and like it or not, the subject of his stalking me seems to be the one thing that bothers him enough to seize his focus. "Because

why truly has not a damn thing to do with his obsessing over me and has

quips, his gaze darkening. "I

I pause for a moment, studying him as he grants me a quick nod. "Why?" I moan out, sadness trickling from every pore in my body as the night in question filters into my mind. There are only a handful of times that Matthew has ever kissed me in public, and only one of them has ever been on his front porch. So, now I know exactly what day Mickey was referring to. And

why?" Mickey asks, his voice growing thick with regret. "I just told

you were obsessed with me," I snap angrily. "So

mimics. "Do

snap. "Or introduce *yourself* to me on any other day! We could have been friends, Mickey. You of all people should know...

wasn't gonna risk your life,

been *more!"*

shaking his head in disbelief. "Do you *really* think you would have wanted that? Come *on*, doll. I was practically humping your leg that first day I met you here. You had *zero* interest. You weren't even very *nice* to me until I saved you from that

narrowing. "And you think for some reason, that I acted that way because I