Chapter Eight Jennifer
Chapter Eight
Jennifer
Although Daniel promised me his mother would get Mary here safe, I can’t help but feel anxious. My leg won’t stop shaking, and my breathing is ragged.
Daniel led me to another room, which seemed to be an office. I’m not sure if it belongs to him but judging by the wristwatch lying on the desk in front of me, I’m sure it does.
He’s been wearing that wristwatch all day, and he wouldn’t just leave me alone in a stranger’s office. Right?
Besides, how many people in the mafia have an office? Not many, I’d say.
But then again, I have no idea about how the mafia operates or how they organize things.
I asked him if I could just pick her up and find a reason to go to this place so I could explain it to her. I can’t even begin to imagine how my daughter must feel right now, being picked up by strangers and not knowing where they’re bringing her.
I called her teacher earlier, telling them a “new nanny” would pick her up, so they wouldn’t get suspicious.
As much as I’m thankful that he sent his mother and not one of his men, it still worries me. Who wouldn’t be worried? She’s my child, after all. My little sweet pea.
Of course, I had to raise her alone all her life, and of course, it was hard. But there’s nobody in my life I could love more than my own child. She’s my everything.
I stare at the big clock on the wall, checking the time every few seconds.
Seconds that feel like minutes while all I can hear is the tick-tick-tick of that goddamn clock.
My brain doesn’t seem to quiet down. It only seems to get louder with every passing second. I tried washing my hands for ten minutes in the bathroom before Daniel started asking me if I’m okay. I’m not.
My hands still feel wet. Like there’s blood on them. But I know they’re clean. I’ve been rubbing them for several minutes with soap, hoping the feeling of blood would leave.
But it didn’t get better. It only got worse once my skin started to get irritated and red.
At some point of simply sitting around for a while, I get up from the chair and walk around the office.
Daniel left me alone here, most likely an office with lots of family secrets and documents, and he didn’t show a single sign of nervousness.
How the hell does he even trust me enough to leave me here alone? I wouldn’t trust myself if I was him.
It makes me wonder how much this man knows about me.
He didn’t even lock the door, which seems suspicious to me. Like he’s not even worried about me looking around his office, maybe even trying to find out what’s going on by sifting through documents or just leaving.
But I know better than that. The only thing I do is walk around, look at some books on the bookshelf, and some pictures on the wall. For most of them, I’m sure they’re of men who have worked for, or still work for his family.
Hearing footsteps, my body stills. What will he think of me if I’m not sitting down? Will he think I’m sneaking around?
What if he thinks I’m leaving? Would he punish me? No. I’m a woman. He said he doesn’t hurt women. But still…
I sigh as the footsteps fade. Oh, God. I shouldn’t risk anything here. But then again…
He never told me his full name. As much as I want to make sure my baby and I are safe, which will always be my biggest priority, I’m also curious.
Curious about his real full name. Which mafia is this? We live in Chicago, after all. I’ve heard names of several gangs in the news before. What if I’ve heard theirs too?
I stand completely still, listening to the silence that seems to fill the room—hell, the entire corridor. God, I really am alone. But I can’t leave.
I don’t even know where the exit would be. And I couldn’t leave without my daughter.
For a few seconds, I make sure no one’s near, and then I take two more steps toward his desk. It’s huge, and I don’t even want to know how many documents lie there.
I don’t want to know what they’re about either.
I just want to know the goddamn name…
My hand picks up a folder before immediately putting it down again. Finances. As if that would lead me anywhere.
I sigh and open another one, but no matter how many folders or letters I look at, the name isn’t anywhere.
Just as if they wouldn’t want any evidence nearby. Clever. Really damn clever.
Just as I’m about to give up, I take another look at Daniel’s wristwatch lying in the middle of all the files.
It looks expensive, and I’m sure he’d kill me if anything happened to it, but...
I pick it up slowly and stare at it. It’s beautiful, with a black rose imprinted on the back and gold lining the case. God, it’s so gorgeous. I can’t even begin to imagine how much it costs. More than a million, probably.
Another deep breath escapes my mouth before I turn it around. Finally. Along with the year of manufacture, there’s a name I’ve been searching for on the main housing.
Caruso. Daniel Caruso. Fuck, that sounds a little too sexy for my own liking.
“You’re a pretty curious woman, aren’t you?”
I gasp before turning around, making sure to keep the watch safe in my hand. “I’m sorry, I just—”
He looks at the desk and nods knowingly.
“I understand you have lots of questions. I’d just prefer to answer them verbally instead of you sneaking around,” he says calmly, but with a dangerous tone.
I gulp, my heart beating fast in my ribcage, threatening to fall out.
Daniel strikes toward me, hovering over me as he grabs the watch from my hand.
“I told you we don’t want women involved in our business. I’d like to keep it that way, pretty.”
While he stays calm and looks down at me, my eyes widen. Suddenly, his body is all over mine, making me feel smaller than ever as he firmly presses himself against me.
My lower back is pressed against the desk, and I accidentally knock over a picture with my hand.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry, I—” I look back to make sure nothing’s broken when he lifts his hand to grab my face, forcing me to look back at him.
At this handsome face of his. The black curls, the dark eyes, the sharp jaw. Fuck.
His strong, yet firm grip makes me blush as he practically stares into my eyes.
“You’re such a pretty woman. Don’t act up now. Your daughter will be here soon. You don’t want me to punish you and correct your behavior, do you now?”
My eyes widen at his words. “What do you mean? You said you wouldn’t hurt me,” I whisper, afraid of saying a single wrong word.
Worried about triggering a side of him I haven’t seen yet. I keep forgetting he’s a stranger. I also keep forgetting how he could literally grab the gun from his waistband and shoot me before I could even move out of the way.
It terrifies me. And yet, I can’t help but wonder why he would take care of my daughter if he’d actually be the dangerous man I expect him to be.
He said he wouldn’t hurt me. But I can’t trust his words. Not yet.
We both stand there in silence for a few seconds before footsteps and voices fill the corridor outside. I let out a huge sigh the second I hear her voice.
She’s safe, and that’s all I’ve been waiting for all day. For hours.
I push Daniel away just seconds before there’s a knock on the door, and to my surprise, he doesn’t seem to care that I basically just shoved him away from me with full force.
“Come inside,” Daniel says, this time with a much softer voice. I don’t know if it’s because his mother is about to enter or because of my daughter.
But the dark, scary aura he had just seconds ago completely disappears. And while he freaked me out with that aura, fuck, he looked so hot. Those dark curls, those eyes…
…I should stop thinking of him like this.
The door opens, and I look straight into three faces—two of them, I know.
I smile as soon as I see Mary. Her eyes light up, and she giggles, running towards me and right into my arms. I hug her tightly, trying hard not to be too obvious about the huge relief I feel.
“Hello, my sweet pea. How was your day today?” I ask her, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead. She giggles again. “It was so much fun! We learned a loooot of things! The teacher said I’m going to be a big artist one day!”
The smile on my face doesn’t leave as I listen to her ramble. Her brown hair is still in the pigtails I braided this morning, though they’re a bit ruined. She’s a child, after all. They play around. Get dirty, everything. I can’t blame her.
“That sounds amazing, darling,” I reply. Mary looks behind her, pointing toward Daniel’s mom and the younger woman next to her.
“They told me they’re friends of you, Mom! And they were so nice, they even gave me some cookies!” I cringe at the idea of my daughter being with strangers and accepting their food. Fuck, they don’t even know about her allergies.
I’ve met Daniel’s mom, and I’m sure she’s nice, but I’ve only known both of them for a few hours.
God, I hate feeling like this. Helpless. Worried. Scared.
“They are friends of mine, yes. We will live with them for a while, darling. But…” I feel all their stares. Fuck, this is hard.
“The next time somebody tells you they’re a friend of mine, and you don’t know who they are, don’t go with them. Never. Do you understand that, my baby? This was an absolute exception.”
She nods at my words, the huge smile still on her face. “I do, Mommy! Never go with any strangers. Understood!”
I smile back at her. “That’s my smart girl.”
I stand up and look at the young woman next to Daniel’s mom. “Oh. Excuse me, but... I don’t think I met you yet.”
She smiles at me softly. Could she be Daniel’s wife, perhaps? But if she was, he wouldn’t have pushed me and…
“She’s my sister.”
Oh God.
She walks toward me to shake my hand. “My name is Victoria, but you can call me Vicky. Everyone does around here!” she laughs.
I nod at her words. “It’s nice to meet you. Really… Thank you for bringing her here safely,” I thank her.
Vicky smiles. “She’s a precious angel. I’d always do it again.”
“She is, indeed,” I agree. Daniel smiles at us softly as he watches us interact.
Something about him is different now. The way he looks at me, at his mom, his sister…
At my daughter.
It makes me want to soften around him, but I can’t. He’s a completely different person from who he was this morning, but…
This morning, he seemed like a cold killer to me. Even when I found out it wasn’t them who killed the man, it didn’t change much about my opinion.
They were involved in a murder, and frankly, that’s not something I want to be part of.
I prefer a quiet, calm life with my daughter. Alone, without any dangerous man.
Let’s just say life had different plans for me. And I despise life for being such an asshole. I overslept last week. Couldn’t it have been today, instead? I thought the butterfly effect was supposed to warn me.
Though, maybe I would’ve met Daniel last week already if I woke up on time. I sigh internally. Why the hell did I have to choose this route today? Why did I ever choose it? I’m such an idiot.
Daniel’s body language is completely different from this morning. He’s calm now, his shoulders relaxed, and he sure as hell doesn’t look around like he’d get killed any second—or like he’s about to kill someone.
It’s not just his body language that’s changing. He’s letting me know everything about how he feels toward me. The expression on his face as he looked into my eyes while I hugged Mary…
And for the first time today, I realize that there might be more to Daniel than I thought. There has to be more to him than just being a mafia boss. He’s so much more.
I can feel it deep inside of me.