I Saved the Mafia Boss—Now I'm His Obsession. novel Chapter 15

Adriano

⫘☠︎︎⫘

I leaned against the hood of the matte black SUV, fingers tapping a lazily on the metal, but there was nothing lazy about the way I watched that building.

Every creak of a window, every rustle of a curtain, every set of footsteps echoing down the block, I clocked it all. I wasn’t here to play games, not tonight.

My men blended in, hoodies, worn jeans, delivery uniforms, cheap coffee cups in hand but I knew what was tucked under every jacket, what was strapped to every ankle. Glocks. Switchblades.

Enough steel to turn this street into a warzone in less than sixty seconds if someone made the wrong move.

I glanced up toward the third floor. Her window was opened just enough for me to see the soft flicker of warm light.

I shouldn't have come. I had a hundred things that needed bleeding but instead, I was standing on a busted sidewalk in a neighborhood that smelled like piss and desperation, waiting on her.

I glanced at the busted front door to her building, paint chipping, lock barely hanging on, the kind of door anyone could kick in with one good boot.

I checked my watch. Two minutes late. My pulse ticked up, not out of impatience, but out of instinct.

I stared back up at her window, lips pressed into a hard line, “Come on, Sunshine. Don’t make me come up there.”

Then as if the universe actually listened, the front door slowly opened.

And there she was.

Madeleine stepped out slowly, hugging her arms to herself. That blue dress of hers clung in all the right places but billowed gently around her knees in the wind. Her curls were a mess but it was her face that shocked me.

Her eyes were rimmed red, nose pink and her lips trembled, like she’d been trying not to cry and failed, probably more than once. She looked small and so fragile.

And then, she ran.

Without any hesitation, just straight to me. I barely had time to brace before she collided with me, arms flinging around my waist, face burying into my chest. I felt her whole body shake against mine. She was warm and soft and trembling like something delicate I didn’t know how to hold without ruining.

“Oh my god,” she gasped into my shirt, words pouring out in a rush, “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. I didn’t think you’d come. I thought you forgot. I thought I made it up, the card, everything, I didn’t know what else to do.”

I stood there for a second, not moving. My arms hovered around her, fists clenched at my sides because I didn’t know where to put them.

Because the second she touched me, I felt it.

That fucking jolt.

That current.

It zipped through my blood like someone had struck a match and dropped it into gasoline.

So I gave in.

I wrapped one of my arms around her, my hand found the back of her head, fingers threading into those curls as my chin involuntarily rested on top of her.

“I owe you my life,” I murmured.

She pulled back, now a little shy like she finally got ahold of her emotions and stepped back, that soft little smile tugged at her lips, almost apologetic.

“You don't look so good, Sunshine,” I said gently.

She let out a breath of a laugh, wiping under one eye with the back of her hand. “Yeah,” she said. “I feel worse.”

I don't know what happened but what I do know is that whoever had scared her enough to call me? Whoever had touched a hair on her head?

They weren’t walking away from this.

Not with their teeth.

Not with their fingers.

Not with their fucking life.

“What happened?” I asked, keeping my voice calm, gentle, even. The kind of tone I only ever used for Aurelia, my niece.

She sniffled and glanced around the street, her eyes flicking to the men posted up like they were just loitering. She didn’t know they were mine.

That uncertainty was all over her face, “Can we talk inside?” she asked, quiet, like she didn’t want to be overheard.

I let my gaze drift over her again. The blue dress clung to her in the breeze, her curls messy, eyes still puffy from crying.

I tilted my head. “Have you eaten?”

She blinked, like she hadn’t expected the question. Then shook her head. “Nope.”

I smiled again to make sure that she was at ease, “Come on,” I said, nodding toward the car. “We’ll get dinner. You can tell me everything there.”

She hesitated, glancing back at the building then she looked at me again. That same little spark in her eyes, scared, yes, but trusting.

“Yeah, sure,” she whispered.

I held the car door open for her and waited until she slid in. Then I shut it and rounded to the driver’s side, jaw clenched.

She didn’t know it yet.

But before this night was over, every single bastard that made her look that afraid was going to beg for death.

And I’d make sure it came slow.

I turned down a quieter street in the Gold Coast, pulling up to a low-lit building with dark glass windows and barely a sign.

She glanced at it, confused, “Uh... what is this?”

“Restaurant,” I said simply, putting the car in park for the valet.

“This looks... expensive,” she said.

I smirked a little, tugging my door open, “It is.”

She looked at me like I was crazy. “Adriano, I'm not dressed for this.”

“You haven’t eaten and you like the place,” I said, stepping out and walking around to her side. I opened the door for her.

“I’ve never been here in my life.”

“No, but you mentioned it once,” I said, tilting my head, “That time you were spoon feeding me soup. You said you always wanted to try this fancy vegan place in the Gold Coast but it was out of your league.”

Her mouth opened, then closed again, “You remember that?”

I lifted my shoulder, “You talked about this grilled watermelon salad thing for ten minutes. Hard to forget.”

She blinked up at me like I just grew a halo and horns at the same time, “That was more than a month ago.”

I gave her a look, “I don’t forget things.”

She stepped out slowly, hesitantly, “Okay... but, like, I was half-joking. And I think I called it ‘hipster rabbit food.’”

I smirked, letting the hostess inside know we were ready with a flick of my eyes. “Yeah, I remember that too.”

She laughed softly, “Okay, now I’m really starting to think you might have bugged my apartment.”

“I didn’t,” I said, hand hovering behind her back as we walked through the doors, “But I do have ears. And I listen.”

She glanced up at me, with those big amber eyes, bright, and flecked with gold like sunrays or honey.

She blinked at me, “Are we... really eating here?”

I nodded once. “Yeah. Come on, sunshine.” I offered her my hand, palm open. “Let’s sit.”

The maître d’ led us to our table. I pulled her chair out before she could even hesitate, waited until she sat, and pushed it in gently. She glanced up at me again, startled, like she wasn’t used to that.

I just picked up the menu and nodded to hers.

“Pick anything and order for me too. I don’t know shit about vegan food,” I said, “I trust you not to poison me.”

She looked up at me again, eyes still wide, like she was trying to read if I was serious or not.

She focused on the menu with sudden purpose, her brows furrowed in concentration like this was a life-or-death mission.

I couldn’t help but stare, at how her nose crinkled, how her lips moved slightly as she read under her breath.

“You like risotto?” she asked, finally glancing up.

“Sure,” I said. “As long as it doesn’t have fake cheese that tastes like wet cardboard.”

She gasped, clearly offended, “That’s nutritional yeast, and it’s amazing.”

“Right,” I drawled, “Amazing like duct tape on pasta.”

She laughed harder this time, and for a moment, she didn’t look scared or small.

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