5

Chessboard and Hotness-Overload

Giovanni felt his heart go into palpitations. It was weird. His heart never palpitated for anyone or anything. Not since that time twelve years ago when his heart had smiled that once at the taste of that bitter coffee. He smiled at that pleasant thought. A sudden image of Jenny with pleading green puppy dog eyes just moments before robbed his senses, and he could see her in his mind’s eye.

Fuck. His heart flip-flopped again. It must be that instant coffee. Too much wasn’t good. He needed the real stuff. Where was that midget girl when he needed her?

“Bobby,” he barked, his expression growing darker when his right-hand man didn’t appear in that instant. “The fuck’re you hiding, Bobby? Get here right now or I’ll chop your balls off.”

“Ah, boss. Coming.” Bobby came scurrying into the room with hands shielding his private parts. “You need me, boss?”

“Where the fuck were you when I called?” he growled at his underling.

“I was working, boss. You know that collection report you were telling me about. We missed one, a man from downtown. We need to collect money from him today if we want to meet our quota.”

“You’ve been drinking coffee, haven’t you?” He snarled, not listening to a single word his underling was saying.

Bobby blinked at him. “How do you—”

Thwack!

“Ow, boss! Why’d you hit me on the head?” Bobby yelped, rubbing his already throbbing skull.

“You think I’m an idiot. I can smell it across the room. How many cups did Jay make for you?”

“Two, boss.”

“She only made me one,” he muttered under his breath, suppressing the desire to show his jealousy. “And I didn’t even get to finish it before it turned cold. Where is she? Tell her I demand a flat white on my desk now.”

“Ah, boss, that might be a bit difficult,” Bobby pointed out timidly.

“Why?” he roared.

“Because she’s cleaning the bathroom.”

“Which bathroom?”

“Our bathroom.”

“Fuck!” Giovanni swore. If that girl was cleaning that bathroom, there was no way he’d allow her anywhere near him. His underlings’ bathroom was even worse than dog shit. It was the one place he never dared venture to. And for good reason, since he considered himself a clean freak. “Fine. I’ll wait. But when she’s done and all cleaned up, tell her I want my flat white.”

“Yes, boss.”

“And make sure to tell her to wash her hands thoroughly. I don’t want any germs from you all,” he added, just in case Bobby forgot. His right-hand man tended to forget the small details, which really peeved him big time.

“On it, boss. I’ll tell her right now.”

Giovanni sank into the cushy chair as his underling disappeared out the door. He let that small disappointment sag out of his shoulders and turned to more pressing matters, like the money Jay’s father owed him.

Three million dollars.

Stupid old man. He never should’ve loaned him that money. Now look where it got him. A plain midget girl he couldn’t even bed in exchange for the measly three million.

How long would his daughter stay under his charge to pay his debt? Three million wasn’t a lot to him, but to someone like the Stones, who hadn’t a couple of dollars to rub together, it was a big deal.

Giovanni admitted he didn’t like the old man’s daughter. On first sight, she’d disturbed his peace of mind like no other. The way she spoke, loud and rude, not even caring he was a mafia boss, really pissed him off. If it weren’t for her coffee skills, she would have been gone by now. Yet he couldn’t stop staring at her then or thinking about her now. There was something about her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. She looked so familiar somehow, like...

Fuck! He needed to stop this before his head exploded.

Giovanni strode to his bedroom on the second floor and stripped off his clothes, a snake shedding its skin, taking off one article of clothing at a time and scattering them all over the floor. He did say he was a clean freak, but that didn’t mean he had to pick up after himself. He had many servants around, especially that new one he couldn’t get out of his mind.

Ah, fuck. There he went again. Thinking about her. He needed to stop this. It must be the fucking weather. Too fucking hot for spring. It was frying his brains. He needed to cool down. And fast. First a shower. Then coffee. In that order.

Once completely naked, he walked to the ensuite bathroom and opened the door...