My Mafia Stalker (25 Days of Christmas: Bikers & Mobsters #7)

Chapter 1

Ivan

Walking into the Cornerpost Cafe, I should have expected it would be overly cheery for the holiday season.

The window display at the front is covered in canned snow with little paintings of Christmas trees and Santa’s reindeer leading his sleigh.

On top of that, there’s a small, glittering espresso-brown tree covered from top to bottom in coffee-themed Christmas decorations.

“Grab a seat. We’ll be right with you,” a blonde woman says from the cash register. I grunt my response, barely looking at her, as I slide into one of the many empty tables and look at the menu.

I might not like the Christmas cheer, but small mom and pop cafes like this usually have the best coffee. It’s been a long fucking day, and I need that.

“Wait, are you coming to the party tomorrow night, Danielle?” the blonde woman asks. I don’t need to look over my shoulder to recognize her shrill, Disney princess-like voice.

“I can’t. Final exams are coming up, and I can’t afford to miss any time studying,” a much softer voice says behind me. This one catches my attention.

Her voice is gentle, almost angelic, as it cuts through the cacophony of jingling bells from the speakers. I turn to look at her, eager to see the face this voice belongs to.

My eyes linger on her, studying everything I can before she even notices me.

She’s absolutely stunning. Her auburn hair is long and straight, pulled back in a high ponytail with a few strands falling out.

I can imagine her instinctively running her fingers through her hair with stressful patrons.

She’s in a pair of black slacks and a white T-shirt, covered by a red and white striped Christmas-themed apron that she somehow makes look less ridiculous than it is.

What draws my attention more than anything is the wide smile on her lips. Even though she’s just looking down at a receipt, she’s somehow happy. Content. She has tiny dimples at the corners of her lips, and I can’t help but admire them from afar.

“You’re always studying,” her coworker says, rolling her eyes dramatically. “How many pluses do they even put behind the A’s? One night of fun isn’t going to kill you.”

“It might not kill me, but if I don’t keep a 4.0 GPA, then I could lose my scholarship,” Danielle replies, laughing under her breath as she briefly looks at the blonde and then back to the register. “When I’m forced to drop out, my parents will kill me. So in a way, it actually might.”

I’m forced to look away from her as the blonde walks around the counter with a notebook in hand. My heart sinks when I realize Danielle won’t be the one serving me. I was really looking forward to talking to her.

“Welcome! Have you had a chance to look over the menu?” she asks, smiling broadly at me.

Her blue eyes take me in, and I see how they settle on my face before her pupils dilate.

She leans against the table, and I see the flirty look in her eyes before she says anything else. “Anything off-menu you like?”

Honestly, I’d normally be into it. She’s good looking enough, and she seems like she’d be good for a night of fun. But my eyes are still set on the beautiful redhead behind her.

“I’ll just have a double shot of espresso,” I say, handing her the menu.

Her eyes stay on me for a few brief moments before she realizes her flirting isn’t going to get her anywhere, and she grabs the menu with a nod. I notice a little frustration in her step as she walks away.

Danielle moves effortlessly behind the counter, making a coffee drink for another customer, and I admire her as she does.

Even though most people would find this work somewhat menial, she seems to be at peace in the repetition.

I find myself wondering what’s going on in her head.

What does she think about as she pours each drink?

What does she study? Where does she go to school?

I want to know everything about her.

“Can you bring this to table four?” the blonde asks her, handing her a saucer with a small mug resting on top. She leans in closer and lowers her voice enough that I can barely make out what she is saying. “The guy was kind of an ass.”

“That’s my problem now?” Danielle laughs, taking the drink from her. The blonde shrugs, and Danielle just rolls her eyes before walking around the counter and heading in my direction.

Looking at her head-on, she’s even more beautiful than I thought before. She’s stunning, with a heart-shaped face dotted with freckles. All I want to do is trace lines between them and stare at the small constellations God put on her face.

“Double shot?” Danielle asks as she approaches.

I nod and move my phone aside in front of me, ready to ask her more about herself.

Before I ever have the chance, she trips over her own feet and sprawls through the air.

I watch as the smile on her face morphs, and she opens her mouth wide in a scream.

Instinctively, I reach out to try to catch her, but it’s no use. There’s a whole table between us.

The steaming hot double espresso lands directly on my chest, stinging through and burning my skin. Danielle collapses on the floor, glass from the mug shattered around her.

I ignore the pain on my chest and immediately jump up from the chair to kneel on the ground beside her. “Are you all right?”

“I am so sorry!” Danielle promptly says, whipping her head around, her face beat red. “I am such a klutz.”

I reach out for her hand and pull her up so she’s kneeling on the ground beside me.

She looks up at me, her gaze meeting mine up close for the first time.

I swear, it’s like all the air is siphoned out of the room.

Her eyes are chocolate brown, but they soak up every bit of light around us and twinkle like diamonds.

She’s so fucking beautiful.

I have to have her.

“You wouldn’t think walking and carrying coffee could be such a hazard,” Danielle says nervously, her eyes lowering to the brown stain on my white button up shirt. “Oh no...”

I look down and see my suit jacket has been damaged from the accident too. Little brown spatters of espresso all over the gray fabric will make this virtually useless.

“I’m fine, I swear,” I say, smiling for the first time since being here. I don’t care about the annoying Christmas music playing around us or the fact that my skin is still stinging from the burn. “Are you okay? That was quite the fall.”

She’s clearly frazzled after everything, and she jumps to her feet, nearly slipping on some of the coffee still on the ground before I grab her arms and steady her.

She doesn’t acknowledge that as she rushes to the counter and grabs a rag.

Before I know it, she’s back in front of me and holding the rag against my chest to try to soak up any coffee she can.

“The suit is completely ruined. I’m so sorry,” she continues in a panic. She shakes her head and wrinkles her eyebrows in disappointment, whispering under her breath. “It looks really freaking expensive too.”

I can’t help my smile at the use of “freaking” instead of a proper swear word. It’s so innocent, sweet. I’m intrigued. It’s not often in my line of work that I meet women who are truly innocent like this.

I want her even more.

“Hey,” I say, putting a hand on hers, holding it in place to stop her from dabbing the towel against me.

Her eyes glance up from the coffee stain back to me.

She bites her lip nervously, and I don’t know if it’s from fear that I might somehow retaliate against her or if it’s a similar attraction to what I feel.

“Take a breath. It was an accident. The suit is just fabric; it’ll all be fine. Now, did you hurt yourself?”

She takes a deep breath, the wild frenzy in her eyes fading as she looks down at herself, then at the mess on the floor. She shakes her head. “My pride has definitely taken a bump, but that seems to be about it.”

“The good news is, pride injuries aren’t fatal.”

“Are you a doctor?” Danielle asks, raising her eyebrows playfully.

“No,” I say. I’m not exactly in the business of helping people. “I’m Ivan, by the way.” I hold a hand out to shake hers. She smiles at me and extends her own hand. It’s small in mine, frail even.

“Danielle,” she says, as if I couldn’t tell from her conversation with her coworker. Her name tag, too. “If you don’t mind waiting a few extra minutes, I’ll get this cleaned up and get you a new drink on the house. I promise I won’t spill it on you this time.”

“I’m happy to wait,” I say, stepping aside as she goes to get a mop for the coffee. While she’s gone, I pick up the broken glass pieces so she doesn’t have to. If she’s as clumsy as she appears, I don’t want her cutting herself.

I take a seat once again as she moves behind the counter, my eyes moving between her and my phone. Now that I’ve spoken to her, seeing her up close, she has to be mine.

I don’t know how I’m ever supposed to live in a world where she and I are nothing but strangers anymore.

I text Lev, my second in command. He replies right away without asking me any questions about who Danielle is or why I need to know everything about her.

I know that soon enough he’ll have a brigade doing deep dives into her life to figure out everything I need to know about her.

I’ll have a full report by the end of the day with her last name, social security number, where she’s going to school, what she dreamed of last night.

When I know everything there is to know about Danielle, I’ll make her mine through whatever means necessary.

I heard her talk about some scholarship she can’t afford to lose. If I can find out what that is, I might have some power here. People are easy enough to manipulate, and if she doesn’t have that to fall back on, she might need my help.

I watch her as she makes a new drink for me, a swell of excitement in my chest at all of the possibilities waiting for the two of us. She doesn’t know it yet, but her whole life is about to change.