Maid for the Mafia

**TINY**

I've never been the type to get jealous. I have way too much confidence for that. But I have to admit, seeing Romany launch herself into Santos' arms when he steps out of the deck does something foul to my insides.

"What the fuck?" I hiss to myself, following their every move as my breathing picks up in tempo. "Oh baby, no. No way."

*Clear your head Thaddeus. This may not be what it looks like. Think, think, think.*

I train my eyes on Santos' hands, the way they stroke Romany's bare back almost tentatively. As if he's not so much in possession of her as he is in *protection* of her. He's smiling in her direction, yet his eyes are trained on the windows at his back. He's speaking to her calmly, yet it appears his teeth are grinding together.

Hmm.

I shift to Romany and see her eyes widen then relax, as if he's just told her something troubling. Her hands on his biceps appear to be clawing into the shirt and the seductive grin on her face appears pasted there.

It's for show.

Ruiz.

He must have threatened her in some way. Or else Santos decided the best way to keep her safe is to pretend they are together.

*Shit.*

I'm going to have to come up with a plan. A safe one that puts Ruiz on the losing end of a barrel with no sort of back up plan.

The thing is, I don't really know much about Ruiz. I have no idea how he operates other than the grimy rumors I've heard of him swooping into unwelcomed territories and attempting to monopolize the drug trade.

Mickey doesn't deal in drugs and Alex only *allows* their sale at his clubs. Even then it's only the party favor kind. X, Molly... Burn. Shit like that. Ruiz however, I've heard he favors the darker side of addiction. Black tar, opioids, and the like.

Just as I am about to put down my binoculars and text Ruby, Ruiz steps out onto the deck.

The tension in Romany's shoulders is immediate and when I see the way Ruiz's eyes linger on her body my body temperature spikes ten degrees.

"You sorry motherfucker. I'll take your fucking eyes," I growl.

Shifting my line of sight to the tent across the way, I note the action there with a cruel turn of my lips.

It takes a full minute to calm myself when I notice what two of the men are doing in the back corner. The pair that are most decidedly on watch. They've got their hands on their dicks and are shooting one each into the bushes like a couple of degenerate perverts. Fucking disgusting.

Then again... also a perfect distraction.

Suddenly a plan begins to unfold in my mind, but I will need someone's cooperation for it to work.

A very inaccessible someone.

Unless...

That's it.

It has to be.

I need to find a way indoors.

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Somehow... I need to get inside that house.

**ROMANY**

The five of us sit around the large oak dinner table in the coastal style dining room. Candlelight pushes shadows along the pale azure walls as well as the contemplative dinner companions. One of whom looks even uglier in the meager luminance of the otherwise charming firelight than he does in the bright of the sun.

Ruiz.

He has hardly taken his eyes off of me even to burp for this entire meal.

I'm seated next to Anna, but across from the goblin, with Santos on my left at the head

of the table and Jaime at his opposite. No one wanted to sit next to Ruiz. No one.

What a shocker.

"Have you been to see the sun deck yet? Miss Romany? The balcony above the third floor? There is access to it from the hall patio."

"I have not," I say sleepily, faking a yawn. "Maybe tomorrow. In the daylight."

Ruiz grants me a quick grin, his eyes falling toward the cleavage laid out for him courtesy of my low-cut scoop neck blouse. Before dinner, Santos informed me of Ruiz's expressed interests in my company and implied I should dress as seductive as possible in order to throw Ruiz off his game.

I agreed, because why not, but having that lizard's eyes on me was curdling my tummy.

"The stars are lovely up there at night," Ruiz coles. "I'd love it if you would join me for a night cap."

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It's on the tip of my tongue to decline, but a surreptitious kick to my chin from the mohawk on my left has me gritting my teeth in acceptance instead.

I smile like a proper asshole and my eyes shoot to the left, daggers protruding from my vision. "Why not?"

*Go on, jerkface, tell him why not. Tell him!*

Santos smiles, reaching over the table to squeeze my left hand which is ominously fastened to the hilt of my steak knife. "Sounds fine, babe. I have a few phone calls to make anyhow. You go on. Have fun."

My smile widens and I crush Santos' sandaled feet with the soles of my brand new ivory pumps while he buries his face behind his hand to disguise a chuckle. Santos is casually dressed this evening. Wearing thin white polo that I'm sure Ruby would die over and a pair of freshly pressed khaki shorts that show off his boulderlike calves. A look that is so at odds with the blaze of tribal tattoos that adorn his dark skin that it's almost comical.

"Jaime," Santos says, pushing away from the table, "dishes."

"Ayyy, nah, Ant. What'd we even bring the guera for if not for dishes?"

Anna snorts, eyeing Jaime with open disdain. "Sorry Captain Pickle, I'm on a paid vacation."

"Captain Pickle?!" Jaime glowers, huffing as his eyes go from Anna to Santos. "Eh, you better tell this chica that my dick is bigger than a pickle, ay. Either you tell her or I'm gonna show'er."

"Jaime just do the fucking dishes. You're the tonto that can't keep his mouth shut. So you'll be the bitch in the kitchen." Then Santos excuses himself, disappearing into his rooms, but not before sending me a conspiratorial nod.

*Fuck.*

"Shall we, Hermosa?" Ruiz simpers grotesquely, his gold teeth glinting off the minimal glow of the overhead crystal chandelier.

As the pair of us head for the stairs, my eyes trail toward the view of the dark sea and the edge of the weatherbeaten pier in the low lamp light beyond the windows. My breath catches for a moment when I think I see a man climbing onto the deck from beneath, but no sooner do I blink, the man is gone.

*Huh. Must have been a shadow.*