Chapter 10 – Rae
By the time I got to the kitchen, I was as worked up as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockin’ chairs.
Sitting down to eat and kick my feet up wasn’t an option.
I grabbed my lunch and stormed out the back door.
My head spun with arguments. As I sped down the gravel path to the staff quarters, I let myself vent.
This wasn’t just some shady business that the mob boss was contemplating. It was a human rights issue.
I just didn’t see a way to help. I didn’t even know the grandson in question.
Leaking the scandal to the press, as the lawyer helpfully suggested, would be hard. I wasn’t a computer wiz and didn’t have the first clue how to protect my digital footprint.
Rounding the corner of the house, I pulled up short. The garage door was open. The one that protected my baby.
A head snapped up from behind the cherry red hood.
“What the hell are y’all doing?” I shouted, the instant rush of anger fueled by the turbulent thoughts already stewing in my mind.
A second head poked around the other side.
My heart slammed against my ribs. Oh, shit.
Eyes the color of midnight ensnared me. I read the truth in his gaze. He recognized me from the pub. And he was probably putting it together that I was the one who’d been attacked in the kitchen.
Shit.
It was suddenly too hot in my uniform.
“Rae! Hi!” AJ rushed around the side of Cherry Pie. “I tried to find you and ask if we could take a look.”
I didn’t pay attention to the groundskeeper-chauffer. Pinned by the stare of the other man, AJ seemed insignificant. That gaze pierced me, and a tangible jolt of something raced through my veins.
“Beautiful Camaro,” Dominico said pleasantly.
Damn him, that voice slid against my skin. I resisted the urge to rub my arms.
“Thank you,” I clipped out.
“Rae, I’m so sorry. I knew you were on break, and I wanted to have you here, but Nico’s in a hurry,” AJ continued to stammer.
I tore my gaze away and filled my lungs with some much-needed oxygen. “You should have waited then.”
“I’m sorry—”
“You can get back to work, Angelo,” Dominico interrupted him.
I bristled at the way the chauffeur was brushed off.
AJ looked between us, said something that sounded like goodbye under his breath, and took off.
“When I heard that the butler’s niece—our new maid—had a ’69 classic, I had to see for myself.” Large hands brushed up along the hood and pulled it shut. The clang of the metal ricocheted through my already shaking frame. “Don’t be too hard on AJ.”
Words spluttered in my mouth, getting jumbled and tied on my tongue. “Too hard? After that…. What?” I shook my head. “Never mind.”
The devil had the gall to chuckle.
That irked me.
“You had no right coming down here and messing with my personal things.” I drew myself up and crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t give a shit if you’re the boss’s little prince, you don’t mess with private property.”
Dominico merely lifted an arm. The sleeve of the black dress shirt was rolled up, exposing a tanned forearm. There was line of script running over the skin of the inside. Veins popped over the muscles, and my stomach tightened at the sight of that exposed flesh.
It took my scrambled brain a moment to realize what he was insinuating. The damn watch sparkled with a mocking glint at me.
I pursed my lips.
“You’re mad at AJ because he showed me your car.” Mirth glittered in those steely eyes.
“It’s not his!” I resisted the urge to stamp my foot.
“Seems a little ironic considering….”
That teasing lilt sounded like sweet, dark honey. But as the meaning sank deeper, it felt more like stinging nettle.
I’d had enough. “Hey! You put hands on me. I was teaching a stranger a lesson.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “And then what? You broke into my car because you had a sudden case of a guilty conscience?”
“No, my conscience was always clear,” I snapped. “That was me covering my tracks.”
“You’re going to have to explain that one, little thief. How exactly was you putting it in my car covering your tracks?” He lowered his arm and slid both hands into his pockets.
The picture of casual grace.
My muscles gave a traitorous little pulse.
“I didn’t realize you were related to my employer.” I tried every technique to seem cool, calm, and collected. This was tricky territory we were dancing around. And the inconvenient heat in my body wasn’t helping. Not one bit. “I wanted you to think you lost it there.”
Amusement made his lips twitch.
Stop looking at his mouth!
But it was such a nice one. Made for kissing.
“Magnolia Rae…Maggie.” He tasted my name and took a deliberate step forward.
I held my ground, refusing to lean against the taillight for support. “It’s not a lie; I use that name sometimes.”
Dominico shrugged. One careless lift of his shoulder. He took another step forward. “It’s not the truth.”
“Exactly.” I had to tip my chin up to hold his gaze. “What kind of idiot gives out her real identity at a bar?”
The stuck-up ass laughed.
As much as I wanted to hate the sound, it sent a shiver rattling down my spine.
“Well, Magnolia, your car is stunning.” He lifted a hand from his pocket and gently traced his finger over the back fender.
“Thank you,” I repeated, because there wasn’t enough air to think of anything else to say.
Dominico bent closer. The clean scent of his cologne washed over me. It was wintery—green and cool. I took another breath, instead of doing the smart thing and backing up.
“I’d love to drive it sometime,” he murmured. “That engine is a work of art. And the fact that you have the original Yenko stripping and badging makes it even sweeter.”
Oh, fuck me…. There was no stopping the heat that began to thrum between my legs. This monster knew cars.
“I’ve gotta ask, do you have the original documentation?” he asked. That question was the sweetest sin.
“I do,” I gulped. “She’s authentic.”
“Damn.” Dominico let out a whistle.
“And to answer your request, I don’t let boys handle my girl,” I added with a smirk.
One eyebrow shot up. “Boys? No, little thief, a boy should never handle something this perfect.”
“Men too,” I said with a bite. “Cherry Pie is off limits. In fact, no one drives her but me.”
He didn’t mock me for naming my car.
A small mercy.
“See, here’s the thing.” Dominico drummed his fingers on the fender.
Tap-tap-tap. Normally, I would have screamed at him for putting fingerprints on the paint job.
Instead, I stood there, mesmerized by his voice.
Lulled by his scent. Cursing him in my head, but unable to make him stop.
“A man knows a beauty’s worth. I’ll earn the right to drive the car. Deal?”
I shifted, thighs rubbing together as I tried to shake the rush from my ears and make sense of what he was saying. “How do you plan to do that, Dominico Grimaldi?”
Using his name was supposed to be a slap.
The devil only smirked. “I’ll think of something.” One final tap of his finger and then he stepped around me. “Nice to officially meet you, Magnolia.”
I spun around. “It’s Rae.”
The bastard only chuckled. “Fine, but only if you call me Nico.”
Yeah, like that was going to happen.
There was no way I was going to be on a nickname basis with that one. Too dangerous. Much too dangerous. I worked for his family.
He fought for you….
I stared at Dominico’s backside as he strolled to the house. Thinking about how I could bounce a quarter off his ass was far more preferable to thinking about the events of last night.
Before rounding the corner, he stopped and turned slightly—
And caught me staring.
Hell, who was I kidding, I was probably drooling.
With a devious smirk, he threw out, “Don’t be angry with Angelo.”
“I’ll be mad at anyone I damn well please,” I shouted back. “AJ had no right. I’m fixin’ to tear him a new one, and that ain’t none of your business!”
His grin only grew. “If you need to work out some of that anger, cherry-bomb, come find me.”
My cheeks burned.
Words failed me, even though I knew that I most certainly would not be doing that.
Having the last say, he continued walking. That trickle of laughter carried past the open garage door on the breeze. I clashed my teeth together, stomped to the shelf, and tore a microfiber chamois from the box. My elbow screamed in protest as I rubbed the fingerprints off the back fender.