Maid for the Mafia

**ROMANY**

*The Red Raider... is he talking about Ruby? He must be. He has proof???*

My face sours and I throw Dana a glare, suddenly wanting to hit her again. "Liar!" I snap.

"He's talking madness," Dana spouts, calling attention to herself - which may not have been the best idea.

Alex and Damien, who are seated in different arm chairs on opposite sides of the open archway, both look toward her at precisely the same time and flinch simultaneously.

A slight smile turns Alex's lips and he says, "Your eyelashes are missing." His eyes scan her body then her face before he asks innocently, "Did you neglect to take my advice and fall down the stairs?"

Damien begins to chuckle, then looks my way as if it just occurred to him whom Dana had been fighting. His eyes freeze for a moment on my knotted buns then they descend toward my face, seeming to take inventory. There's a scratch on my neck and another beneath my chin. I only know because I can feel them and sure enough, Damien eyes both injuries with a hooded gaze, then sighs as if displeased.

*Really? Is he mad at me for hitting that bitch?*

Crossing my arms under my chest, I cock an eyebrow at him accusingly. I want him to know that not only am I still furious about my wake up call, but I am also unimpressed with the bullshit he just pulled. *And* I definitely plan to tell him just how *unimpressed* I am, the very moment I have him alone. Trying to pour all of that into one concentrated glare, I turn it on him. If he notices, he either doesn't care or refuses to show it. The muscles of his arms flex with tension, his eyes shuttering before he pointedly looks from me to Alex then back again. Disapproval flashes in his navy blue irises and a barely perceptible shake of his head is all that he grants me before looking away.

"No I didn't *fall* down the stairs!" Dana howls. "Your *maid* assaulted me like a rabid dog."

Tiny doesn't so much as grace her with a look, instead he keeps his focus on Alex, folding his hands together and relaxing his stance as he awaits a response regarding his claim of proof. One of the maids walks in carrying two silver canisters, heading directly for the corner archway. She hands one to each of the big brats in the corner and then retreats back the way she came, pausing only to cringe at Dana as she walks by. Her reaction makes me snicker and Dana sneers at me angrily.

Damien's eyes return to me after he's taken a moment to study Dana and when our gazes connect I swear I hear Alex growl, but his attention appears to be on Tiny.

"Fine," Alex barks, taking another deep inhale of his cigar. "Have a few of my men help haul it in through the service entrance."

Tiny nods then throws a wink my way, squeezing my arm before he leaves the room, causing me to blush and my body to heat with anticipation. The thing about Tiny that I like the most is that with him there is absolutely *zero* jealousy. He's content to not only let me have my cake and eat it too, but serve it to me one bite at a time. That - and then of course - there's his body. His build is unreal and today he's wearing dark jeans and a short sleeved black shirt, showcasing his colorful dragon tattoos that pop and ripple with every movement. I watch him depart with my eyes on his ass until he disappears from sight. *I remember what those glutes felt like beneath my fingertips. What I wouldn't give to actually see them in action. Jesus.* With a bite of my lip, I force my gaze back to the room, pursing my lips guiltily when I notice Alex and Damien watching me.

"What?" I quip, playing innocent. They don't say a word as they stare at me and I roll my eyes, gesturing to the canisters in their laps. "Shouldn't you both be icing *your wounds*?

Alex's head snaps to the right and he winces, closing his eyes briefly as if willing away the pain. "I've already called the doctor," he informs me while glaring at Damien. "My jaw might need to be set."

"What a shame," Damien says darkly. "Guess that means you won't be sucking my dick after all."

Alex flashes a feral grin in response, coupled by a look that is *anything* but friendly. "Nope. I'll probably be on bedrest and have to have my angel spoon feed me soup and rock me to sleep."

"Or..." Damien replies with a snarl. "You can drink your whiskey through a straw and I can come put you to bed myself. Just to make sure you're good and knocked out."

Alex takes a hit of his cigar, blowing enough smoke Damien's way to force him to slam his eyes shut. "No, I don't think so, you're not nearly as pretty as she is. Besides, I had plans to show her the playroom tonight. She wanted you to join us, but I'm thinking you're going to be too busy kissing my ass for the next few months."

*The playroom? What?*

"What is the playroom?" Dana asks, voicing my question out loud, but they ignore her.

"Maybe I would be...if your legs were broken," Damien murmurs with a tight smile. "But it seems that I left you those. So it looks like I can be there tonight after all," Damien announces sweetly.

Alex chuckles humorlessly, then takes a hit of his cigar. "You are so lucky I didn't have my knives."

"Well, by all means..." Damien quips, "...go and get them. We can always go another round."

"Don't fucking tempt me," Alex hisses, opening his canister to pull out an ice pack and place it on his face.

"When did you decide to hire a new secretary?" Damien snarks, opening *his* canister as well but emptying the ice pack into the container and using it to soothe his swollen knuckles. "Around the same time you set up the hidden cameras in Romany's bedroom?"

*Hidden cameras in my bedroom? What?*

"Motherfucker," Alex grumbles under his breath, throwing a large piece of ice at Damien and hitting him in the center of the forehead.

The ice cracks with the force of the impact, leaving a red mark and threatening to lump up. Damien growls, shooting a returning cube straight toward the side of Alex's face and hitting him in the jaw. Alex hisses with pain and Damien grins, his eyes sparkling with mirth. "I hope you enjoyed the show. Had I known you were watching I would have had her say hello."

*Oh man, what the fuck?*

Shaking my head irritably, I ignore them and get down on my knees to scour the floor for my phone. After what Dana said about Ruby, I've changed my mind about telling Santos that she's here. Because now that I know what a bitch she is, I *want* him to know. For a number of reasons really. Call me crazy, but I don't feel nearly as threatened by the man as I probably should. And I don't know why, but I get the feeling Dana isn't really as close to him as she pretends to be. If she was, would she really be *here?*

After searching every inch of the carpeted dining room I'm confident there is only one place left to look. Jumping to my feet I approach Dana from behind. She's standing about three feet away from Damien who is pointedly ignoring her as he continues to argue with Alex.

"Hand it over," I snap, shoving Dana lightly in the back.

All three of them cease movement, Damien and Alex finally looking up from their quarreling to stare our way.

"Don't fucking touch me, bitch," Dana groans, racing to Damien's side before turning to face me.

I grin. "He's not going to save you, I promise. You'd have better luck hiding behind one of the maids. Now... give me my - phone - cunt!"

Her eyes narrow and she snarls, "I don't have your-"

"This phone?" Damien says, pulling Dana toward him by the back of her skirt then reaching inside of the waistband in an all too knowing fashion. Dana's eyes snap closed when he releases her, shoving her aside to hand me my device. "She has hidden pockets in all of her skirts."

I attempt to yank it from his hand, but he uses it to pull me closer. "I'm still angry with you," I snap, tumbling forward until my hands are on his shoulders and I'm standing between his legs.

"I know," he whispers, leaning his head back to stare up at me. "But I heard what you said."

"Oh? And what was that?" I ask, my eyebrows drawing together in question.

He casts a look toward Dana in answer, then turns back to me and smiles. "I'm sorry, baby. Forgive me?"

Dana's body flushes so red I can see it even though I'm not directly looking at her. Damien's shoulders flex beneath my hands and I bite my lip, considering my answer. Damien licks his lips and I'm just about to surrender, at the very least with a kiss, when an ice pack strikes him in the face with enough force to send the back of his head slamming into the wall.

"Fuck!" Damien barks and I swallow a laugh, stepping back just as Alex throws another.

Just then Tiny steps back into the hallway and catches my eye. Damien and Alex can't see him and Dana is on the opposite side of the room glaring at her lunch. Tiny jerks his head in the direction of the service elevators, signaling that I should follow him and with a bite of my lip, that's exactly what I do.