The Maid: Mafia Romance (Series)

Giovanni Vs Lorenzo

My stomach coiled in dread. When Giovanni had told me he’d get Amelia back, I had thought he’d fling some three-million-dollar cash over Lorenzo’s head, like the usual arrogant person he was, and the negotiation would be a done deal. Cash in exchange for my sister’s life. Simple as that. But this, this was something else. This was not what I had anticipated. This scared me.

I eyed my lover, Giovanni Dente, who was up in the boxing ring, fists poised in a fighting position. He was half nude, wearing only his tight denim jeans that showed off his perfectly shaped butt. His broad chest was on full display, showing his spectacular chest muscles for the whole female population in the underground garage to see. Whenever he moved, those muscles would flex and contort, sending those girls into a frenzy, oohing and aahing at his God-given physique. I couldn’t help feeling the spur of jealousy. Giovanni was mine. He belonged to me and only I was allowed to ogle his body. But clearly, I was too worried for his safety to even think straight; the thought of him being injured scared the shit out of me.

Who in their right mind had decided to battle out for supremacy using a fistfight as the ultimate criteria? Was this a mafia thing I wasn’t aware of? Maybe one of their rules between interclan rivalry?

I grew pale, thinking of all the possible outcomes that might transpire during this event tonight. Either Giovanni came out battered, looking black and blue, with a severely bruised ego, or he’d come out victorious, winning Amelia’s freedom as a bonus. Whatever it was, I was scared shitless.

I was literally spewing in my gut because Giovanni’s opponent wasn’t some lame lanky dude like those high school boys I saw fight behind the school gate after class, or like Finnie and Jonny who just merely fought with Giovanni for the sake of practice. No, his opponent this time was asking for the kill. Big broad shoulders, cascaded colorful phoenix tattoo covering the whole expanse of his back, and eyes so fierce he could literally kill people with one look. Giovanni this time had met his one true opponent, Nikolas Lorenzo, the qualified head clan of the Lorenzo mafia group.

“You look like you’re about to faint,” Dawson said, his eyes also fixed on the two opponents in the boxing ring. “Don’t stress out. Giovanni will win for sure.”

“She’s never seen men fight,” Justin said quietly.

I was wedged between Giovanni’s two best friends. Justin was on my left, and Dawson was on my right, while Finnie and Jonny were seated on either side of them. We five sat wedged together in this underground garage, with dark dingy light hanging from the ceiling, the perfect platform to get bashed tonight. Opposite from us sat the Lorenzo clan.

My eyes fell on my sister, who was sitting among them, and a beautiful blond woman with breasts the size of an E-cup sat to her right and a bald-headed man on her left. Amelia was scared, I could sense, but she put on a brave face. Because the outcome of her life would depend on this battle tonight.

How shitty both of our lives had been. We were just some random girls who were minding our own business when fate took a turn for the worse, both of us being sold to mafia leaders while our own father had disappeared into the unknown. At least my mafia man loved me. What about Nikolas Lorenzo, though? He looked like the type of man who was not to be reckoned with.

Poor Amelia. What had she suffered during the last four months we were separated? I wished I had more time to talk to her, get to know how she had been faring these last few months, but when Giovanni had come to rescue me and had taken me back to our place, all I could think about was rescuing my sister from this dark mafia man named Nikolas Lorenzo.

I was uncomfortable with the way he’d treated her. Where Giovanni had treated me with nothing but stark kindness, providing me with a roof over my head and endless delicious food to feed my stomach, before announcing that he would like to take me as his lover, and now endearing me with all facets of life, Amelia, on the other hand, must have suffered a different fate.

What was she feeling right now? I wished I could sit beside her, take her hand in mine and comfort her like she always did to me. But we were a good distance apart, and only my lover, Giovanni would be able to save her tonight.

The discomfort I felt not only radiated from my chest, this physical pain at seeing my own lover about to get bashed to a pulp by his equally strong opponent, but also from the physical discomfort of my seat.

“Can you both move a bit?” I directed my question at the two gentlemen on either side of me. “I’m feeling a bit squashed with you two wedged so close to me like that.”

“No can do,” Dawson explained, slinging his hand over my shoulder in his attempt to relax me. “Giovanni had strictly told us to take care of you. If anything happens to you, we’ll be dead meat.”

“Mmmm.” Justin added, if you could call the sound he made an answer.

“I have a feeling he treats you both like his underlings rather than his friends. How did you guys become friends, anyway?”

“Long story, my girl,” Dawson spoke. “We will explain to you some other time. But us five, Justin, Julian, you remember him, right? You met him and his partner back in Singapore?”

“Oh, yes,” I said. “I remember them. Kimberly and Julian Devereux, right?”

“Yep, that’s them. Julian and Kimberly. That pair. They are based in Miami now. You should go visit them when you’re around Florida sometime. Now, where was I?”

I was going to answer Dawson when Justin beat me to it. “Us five.”

“Oh, yeah, us five.” Dawson nodded and started his story again. “People in the underground world like to call us the bachelor billionaires. Not that Julian or Giovanni is a bachelor anymore. And Justin, I say he’s going to be a bachelor forever, unless he found his first love again.”

“Fuck off. Don’t bring my business into this conversation.” Justin decided at that point to intervene, since I was sure he didn’t like to be called out, especially for something to do with his personal love life. I got a feeling he didn’t like to disclose his private life much. And if I knew better, I’d make sure never to utter that subject again, especially in front of him. He looked like he had some history going on there.

“Alright, dude. That’s cool.” Dawson backed off, not in the least bit affected by Justin’s harsh tone.

I had no idea what kind of language they used as friends, but to my ears, they were quite harsh. But what did I know? I was an innocent bunny until being thrusted into the world of underground mafia by Giovanni.

“Now where was I again?” Dawson said, scratching his head in irritation. “Shit, being in this dark garage is playing with my brain cells. I keep forgetting what we’re talking about.”

“About Giovanni and Nikolas being friends, or was it something else?” I reminded him.

“Oh, right. No. No. Giovanni and Nikolas are not gay. Unlike me.” And Dawson decided at that moment to disclose all his private matters to me. He just rambled on and on. “And no, I don’t find any of them appealing to my standard. Now my standard is more like your best friend, Crispin. Now when can I get to see him? Can you arrange a date for us?”

“Dawson.” Justin reprimanded the man. “Get back to the subject. Now is not the time to talk about your lust life.”

“Hahaha,” Dawson chuckled again, like it was their everyday conversation. These men were beyond my comprehension. They weren’t normal people who conversed in normal manners. They were something else entirely. “Don’t mind Justin. He’s always a party pooper. Since his girl ditched him some seven years back, he’s never been the same again.”

“Dawson, I’m warning you for the last time. If you carry on talking about my private life, let’s battle it out in that boxing ring.”

“Alright. Calm your panties. I will never win against you anyway. And for the record, it’s my love life. Not lust life.”

“Whatever,” Justin scoffed, his eyes still focused on the front arena. A little later he added, “Nikolas is also part of the bachelor billionaires. We were all friends, but Giovanni and Nikolas are the only two who never seemed to get along.”

“Yeah, that’s what they called frenemy, always at each other’s throat since the time they first met a few years back.” Dawson finally managed to finish his story.

“How so?” I asked, interested in their life story, almost forgetting about my own lover who was busy getting ready for the fight. They were doing a splendid job of keeping me busy because right then, I wasn’t feeling as tense or anxious. Hearing their story, I was able to understand that this fight would not result in a life or death situation, just maybe a little bruise to the ego here and there. “What happened between them? Why the rift?”

“Just some shit about land ownership and territorial rights,” Dawson explained. “Giovanni was put in charge of the Las Vegas and New York areas. Lorenzo in Chicago. What I don’t understand is, their old men were best friends, but when it came to their sons, they fight like cats and dogs.”

“So Giovanni’s father is Mr. Dente?” I concluded.

“Giovanni is Signor Dente’s adopted son. Signor Dente had no offspring, so he took Giovanni under his wing.” Dawson disclosed this exclusive information to me.

“Oh, this is something I didn’t know,” I said, chewing my own lip. Because clearly this was privileged information and maybe as his lover, I didn’t get granted access yet. Somehow it made me feel a little sad that I just didn’t understand Giovanni better. I wanted to know him more, understand him more. Because that’s what lovers were supposed to be like-caring for and understanding each other.

Dawson seemed to sense my sullen mood. He wrapped his arm over my shoulders again and comforted me. “Don’t be sad. Giovanni always has a reason for everything. Maybe he never wants to talk about his dark past.”

“Dark past? Giovanni has a dark past?” I asked, my voice betraying me.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“You got that right, sweetheart,” Dawson said. “Giovanni has a past. A very dark one too, so dark, it’s literally a black hole. So don’t go digging into it. You might come out scarred.”

“Stop scaring her, Dawson.” Justin’s stern voice reprimanded his friend. “Giovanni is not half bad. Everyone has a history. And we all thrive from it.”

“Exactly. Just like Justin.” Dawson leaned close and whispered into my ear. “You know Justin grew up in the slum of Brooklyn, Jenny?”

“Really?” I whispered back, perked up by this knowledge.

Justin just gave off this aloof cold vibe where newcomers found it hard to approach him. He held this absolute power over everyone, including me, that I found it hard to believe he was a kid who grew up in the slum of Brooklyn.

“No talking about my past,” Justin issued his warning.

Dawson only laughed. “Hahaha. We are only joking. Sorry, Justin. Like Justin, Giovanni’s past is like all of us. Nothing less than shit crazy. But that’s why people fear us in the underground world. Except maybe for that dude over there.”

And my eyes zoomed back to Nikolas Lorenzo and Giovanni. I held my breath, my eyes so focused on the sight before me, that when the first hit happened, it literally knocked the breath out of my lungs. Stupid Lorenzo aimed the first punch at Giovanni, and I was already choking back tears until I couldn’t control it anymore, and silent tears streamed down my face. It was too painful to watch.

I didn’t want this to happen. I never wanted to see him hurt. But my sister’s life was on the line, and only Giovanni could set her free.

“Jay. Come here.” Giovanni’s deep baritone whipped me out of my delirium, and I automatically pushed to my feet, walking toward him. He fisted his hand behind my head, and tugging me in so fast, I was spinning from the impact.

“Why the fuck are you crying?” he chided before sealing his lips over mine. We kissed in front of everyone. I felt his tongue probe in my mouth, his minty breath and that special taste that belonged only to him. Forgotten was our surroundings, all my sensation was solely focused on Giovanni and his expert tongue, coaxing me to stop crying, silently asking me to be strong.

When he pulled back, I finally remembered to breathe again and out came the first question burning my in heart. “Gio, do you really have to fight?”

“If you’re worried about whether I’m going to die, don’t. Now stop crying.” He wiped my tears and kissed my forehead. His breath an inch away from my ear, he whispered, “I’ll make sure you get your sister out of here. I promise.”

I jumped to wrap my arms around his neck. “I love you, Gio. Please don’t get hurt.”

“Love you, too, my beloved.” He gave me his signature side smirk, and I knew at that moment that everything was going to be okay. Tonight, Giovanni would come out victorious, and Amelia would earn her freedom.