Mob Mistress (5 page)

The maitre’d actually bowed to her. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“If she comes here, with or without me, you take good care of her, and put it on my tab,
capisce
?”

“Absolutely, Mr. Manghini.”

She tried to hide her pleasure at the idea of having free rein to dine on his dime. The waiter came and Bobby looked over the top of the wine menu at her. “Do you prefer wine or a cocktail?”

“You decide,” she told him, overwhelmed by all the new luxuries coming at her at once.

He ordered a bottle of wine. “And Anthony?” he said, calling their waiter back.

“Yes, Mr. Manghini?”

“This is Lexi, my girl. I want you to treat her like a princess, understand? If she says ‘jump’, you ask ‘how high?’ got it?”

“Of course, Mr. Manghini.” Anthony gave her a deferential bow of his head. “Don’t hesitate to ask me for anything,” he said.

When he walked away, she found Bobby’s eyes on her breasts, and realized her nipples were standing on end, pointing out her thrill to him, even through her bra. “If you are trying to impress me, you are coming awfully close,” she confided.

* * * * *

He grinned. “Glad to hear it. You take care of me and I’ll take care of you, Lex. Speaking of which,” he said, reaching into his pocket. “I have a present for you.”

He handed her a smartphone, the latest model, modified to make it untrackable and untappable.

“This is for me?”

“Yeah. Gimme your old phone and I’ll put the sim card in.”

She handed her phone over and he made the swap.

“I want you to use the calendar on there for your hair appointments. It’s shared with me, so I can see what time you have to go in and get off.”

He saw the flicker of resistance on her face.

He grinned and decided to acknowledge what he saw. “Yes, I do own you, now.”

Her chin lifted at a defiant angle and her face flushed but she did not open her mouth to disagree.

On the drive home her new phone rang and she jumped, fishing it out of her purse. “Sorry, it’s my mom,” she murmured, staring at it without answering.

“You can take it,” he said. “I don’t mind.”

“You sure?”

“Answer it!”

She slid her finger across the screen. “Hi mom.” She remained silent a long time, listening to her mother’s voice. “Shit,” she said softly. He could feel tension radiating from her.

“Okay… All right, thanks… Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow or call me if you hear anything. I love you, mom. It’s going to be all right….Okay, goodnight.”

“What’s going on?” he asked when she hung up.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, her throat sounding strangled.

“Bullshit. I thought we already talked about you lying to me.”

She turned to look at him, her forehead creased with worry. “Just some family issues.”

“What issues?” he pressed.

She drew a breath which stuttered on its way in, as if she were holding back a sob. “My little sister just tried to commit suicide again,” she said, the tears evident in her voice.

“Oh baby. I’m so sorry,” he murmured, taking his hand off the wheel to stroke her nape. “She’s alive?”

“Yeah,” Lexi said, starting to cry. “They pumped her stomach and she’s been admitted to a psychiatric hospital.”

“Do you want to go see her?” he asked, trying to fix it for her. “I’ll fly you out, first thing tomorrow.”

Chapter Four

“Thank you, but no. Not right now, anyway. I wouldn’t really be able to see her until she gets out.” She could hardly believe Bobby’s amazing offer, but she didn’t want to burden him with her family drama.

“This has happened before?”

She leaned her head against the headrest. “Yes,” she said heavily. “She’s schizophrenic so she struggles sometimes. If she takes her meds, she’s really high functioning, but sometimes she has a psychotic break. She told my mom the voices said to kill herself.” She wiped the tears that seemed to be falling in an endless stream. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin our date.”

He pulled into the parking garage at the apartment and found a place to park. “You couldn’t have helped it, baby.”

He got out and her stomach tightened. As grateful as she was for his acceptance of her breakdown, she did not want to “be available” to him tonight. Not that she would refuse him if he insisted, but she really didn’t feel up to it.

As if he read her mind, he said, “Don’t worry, I’m not coming up for sex.” He met her on the other side of the car and put his hand on her back to lead her to the elevator.

What was he coming up for, then?

He unlocked the door to his place — her new place — and ushered her in, then headed to the kitchen. “What’s your comfort food?” he asked, opening the refrigerator.

“Huh?”

“Your comfort food. What do you like to eat when you’re down?”

A giggle tried to make its way out of her depression, erupting as a sort of snorting sound. “Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.”

He opened the freezer and found her guilty indulgence, returning with the pint and a spoon.

She stood, dumbfounded. Really? Mr. You’re-Available-for-Me-when-I-Snap-My-Fingers was waiting on her? Knowing he wasn’t going to get sex? It made fresh tears pop into her eyes, but they weren’t the sad kind. More the kind she sometimes got whenever someone unexpectedly showed they cared.

She kicked off her heels and padded into the bedroom, changing into a pair of jammies. They were not sexy in the least, but they were her favorite, the thin pink cotton threadbare in places from repeated washing. When she returned to the living room, Bobby had settled on the micro suede couch to watch television.

He patted the seat beside him and she took it, tucking her legs up underneath her. He fed her bites of the decadent ice cream treat before taking them himself. “This
is
delicious,” he observed, examining the label. “You have good taste.”

When they finished the entire pint, he set it on the coffee table in front of them and put an arm around her, pulling her head against his shoulder. It had been a long time since she’d experienced anyone offering her tenderness, and she had not expected it from her demanding new sugar daddy. She settled against his warmth, letting his strength and powerful presence soothe her into a sleepy haze.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” he murmured when her eyes drifted closed. He helped her to stand and followed her into the bedroom, pulling the blankets back for her and tucking her in like a child. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

She nodded.

“I mean it. If you want to fly back to visit, just send me a text and I’ll get it arranged for you.”

“Thank you, Bobby,” she mumbled, too exhausted to be able to meet his eye.

He kissed her forehead. “Good night, Lex.”

“Good night. Thank you.”

She listened to the sound of his steps leaving, tears burning her eyes.

Shit.

The last thing she needed was to fall head over heels for this guy.

* * * * *

He drove home and parked in the garage, glad to see both his daughters’ cars in the driveway. He had to exercise an enormous amount of restraint not to still treat them as if they were in high school, requiring a midnight curfew and a full accounting of where and with whom they had been.

“Hi Daddy!” Juliana said from the kitchen. “I’m making meatballs!”

“At midnight?,” he asked, giving her a peck on the cheek and sitting down on a barstool at the breakfast counter.

“Yeah, why not?” she said.

“Well, when are you going to eat it, tonight?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. It will just be ready for whenever we want to eat it.”

He smiled. “Thanks, sweetie. I like it when you cook.”

“Where have you been?”

“Yeah, where have you been?” Janine asked, joining them in the kitchen.

“I had a date.”

“I knew it! I told you,” Juliana said, looking past him at her sister. “You have a new girlfriend, don’t you?” she demanded.

“What makes you think so?”

“You got home late last night and this morning you seemed way too happy. And then you said you weren’t going to be around for dinner. So I knew it!”

“Reasonable deduction.”

“What’s her name?”

“Lexi. She’s a hair stylist — very cute and smart, too.”

“Are you going to bring her by?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because you two do not need to be exposed to my dating life.”

“Why not?” both girls demanded at the same time.

He rolled his eyes. “This is the way it’s always been. Why the sudden interest in my love life?”

Janine shrugged. “We just want you to be happy.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Juliana said. “We’ve been talking about it. Remember when you and Mom first got divorced and we used to tell you we never wanted you to remarry?”

He nodded.

“Well, we’re sorry for that. Kids are selfish, you know? But now that we’re grown up we see things differently.”

He blinked at the sudden burning in his eyes. “Thanks, but I like the way things are,” he said gruffly.

His phone rang, and seeing Joey’s name, he answered it.

“Hey Bobby,” Joey said in the clipped tone that meant they were going to discuss business. He stood up and walked out of the room, away from his daughters’ ears, though they knew better than to listen in on business conversations.

“What’s up?”

“My insider with the FBI said they’re sniffing into Manghini Construction. It sounds like it’s being driven by Republicans who are trying to get the Mayor out of office. They’re looking for any payments or kickbacks you made to him for the city construction deals.”

“Will they find anything?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. You made three legitimate campaign contributions — one through each business entity. They believe they’re going to find something else. Is there anything to find?”

“Some cash. Twenty grand, maybe, not much. Just a little thank you bonus when we got the contract.”

“Well, we can hope he was smart enough not to deposit it in a bank. You should be fine. The worst that could happen is they link the contributions to you and make a big smear campaign out of it. But that’s more a problem for the mayor than you and it’s nothing for the Feds to chew on.”

“Thanks for the heads’ up.”

“No problem. I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything else.”

“Okay. Get back to that pretty wife of yours. Isn’t it past midnight?”

“Yeah. Goodnight.”

He hung up and sighed. Feds. They always came sniffing. Just to be safe, he’d better change out his phone again.

* * * * *

She plopped down on a barstool at Plush and waited for Gina to come over.

“Well?” Gina prompted.

They had texted each other since she left last weekend with Bobby, but Gina wanted the full scoop.

She smiled. “Yeah, it’s the real deal. Total sugar daddy. He’s great.”

Gina beamed. “I thought you guys would be a good fit! How was the sex?”

“Honestly? Amazing. I’m supposed to be at his beck and call, but I haven’t heard from him in four days, and I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m almost ready to call him!”

“Oh my God,” Gina said in shock.

“Well, I’m not falling for him or anything,” she said, a little too peevishly. “Is that what you believe?”

Gina held up her palms. “Hey, I didn’t say anything. I’ve just never heard you talk this way about a guy before.”

“Well, you were right. He’s hot.”

“Like what? What’s so hot? What’s he do?”

Her face grew warm remembering how he bent her over the sofa and spanked her. “He’s rough. Totally demanding. But in tune. Does that make sense?”

“Not really.”

“I mean, he knows when I start getting nervous and slows down, but if I’m on board, he’s the type to throw you up against the wall and fuck your brains out.”

Gina raised her eyebrows. “Did he do that?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“So, what’s the scoop? How often do you see him? When do you see him next?”

Her belly clenched. She hadn’t heard from him in four days, even though she’d texted a couple times. She feared her family drama had turned him off. Maybe he didn’t find her sexy now that she had worn her old pajamas in front of him. And she needed to see him, because the manager at the salon told her she had to pay in full by the end of the week or she’d find a new renter for her chair. She had all the money she’d made that week, but it wasn’t enough. She had hoped to see Bobby a couple times to supplement the income enough to at least pay one month’s rent and get the manager off her back.

Before she could answer a skinny blonde waltzed up and took the barstool next to her. Gina shot her a meaningful look, which she did not know how to interpret.

“What can I get you?” Gina asked, sliding a cocktail napkin in front of the blonde.

“Cosmo. Were you talking about Bobby?”

Lexi whipped her head around to look at the woman.

She shrugged. “I saw you leaving here with him last weekend. Is that who you’re talking about?”

Gina clamped her mouth shut and got busy making the drink.

Lexi realized this must be the ex-girlfriend. Or ex-mistress. Or whatever. Well, hell. She could use some more information about the guy. “Yeah. Did you used to date him?”

The blonde nodded. “I still do, sometimes,” she said. “I’m Stacy. Did he mention me?”

Gina shook her head when the blonde wasn’t looking, rolling her eyes.

“Um, no.”

“How about you? Have you seen him since that night?”

“Uh, yeah. A couple times. He’s letting me stay at his apartment for a while.”

The blonde’s lips tightened. Gina set the drink in front of her and Stacy drained the glass. “I’ll have another, please.” Turning to Lexi, she smiled. “I lived in that apartment for six months,” she said. “But, things just didn’t work out between us. He’s too controlling. He gets off on being the one in charge, you know?”

Lexi made a non-committal sound.

“Listen, do you have his new number? Because I tried to call him this week, but it sounds like he swapped phones out again. He does that a lot, you know.”