Philippe shut the door behind them, checking to see if the locks worked, then moving to check the bathroom and the window latches.
She watched him in silence. When she could no longer control her curiosity, she spoke.
“Did you say that this house belongs to my Pappa?’ she asked in incredulity, turning to face Philippe. To her astonishment and growing suspicion, he looked slightly embarrassed as he grunted, avoiding her eyes.
“Yes…it used to be…’ he sighed and took out his guns and keys, laying them on the table, his back to her. The wheels in Ria’s head began to turn.
She crossed the room and grabbed Philippe’s arm, digging her nails into the jacket as she said, frowning fiercely,
“Are you saying that…?’ She gulped and forced the words out, “Is that …that woman…?’
Philippe gently prised her hand off his arm and spoke in a level tone.
“Carmen is a…ummm…manager of sorts. She takes care of the …uh…guests who sometimes stay here, to make sure they are…uh… well looked after…’
Seeing her ashen face, he added, ‘She works under Danielle.’
Ria shook his arm, angry at his evasion of her real question, as she asked in a shaky whisper,
“And my Pappa? Does that creature downstairs…?’
The Capo met her eyes as he replied.
‘Lucien Delano does not use this house now; not since he met your Mumma.’
And as the relief coursed through her, he said,’ He has not been here in years. It is kept for guests who come.’
Ria stepped back, her mouth in an O, her face white. She turned away from him, wrapping her arms around her waist and walked to the bed, sinking down shakily.
***
Proserpina
Around dawn, she came awake, the need to use the washroom uppermost on her mind. Her husband was lying beside her, a large muscular arm across her breasts and she gently eased herself out of bed.
A sudden desire to see Paddy overcame her and changing into her clothes, she tiptoed out of the room, taking care not to wake her husband.
*
Paddy was asleep, his body attached to the tubes, a monitor beeping as she stood close to him. There were two nurses on duty round the clock, stood up as she entered but she smiled at them, indicating that they should sit down. Gently, she sank onto the chair that one of them had brought to Paddy’s bedside. She gently, lovingly stroked his thin hand, and the nurses moved away. Proserpina leaned her head on her arm and began to speak to Paddy in her soft, melodious voice. She did not know how long she sat there.
And then to her shock, Paddy’s lashes fluttered.
Just the once.
But the movement made her cry out.
*
Ria
She sat down on the bed heavily as the words sank in.
Philippe looked at her, as he texted the Boss and Piers to let them know where he had brought Ria. he felt sorry for her; she had not known the staggering reality of her father’s sexual exploits of the past and he had inadvertently made her aware of it by bringing her here. But it was the best option. A place where no one would suspect.
The house had been the epicentre of the Mafia Don’s amorous rendezvouses years ago, even before Lucien Delano had met Proserpina. And it had been the place he had kept Proserpina when he had become besotted with her, when she had just been a teenager, around Ria’s age. After a chance meeting at his gentlemen’s club and a night of unforgettable passion, she had become the mistress of the notorious mob Boss, Lucien Delano, who was the father of the young woman standing before him, eyes wide in shock.
He did not add that Proserpina Delano had also been housed for a while in this very same place, the infamous residence where the Mafia Don, Lucien Delano used to keep his woman of the month. With his seemingly insatiable sexual appetite, he had needed to have a woman ready for him at all times and his exploits were almost legendary.
And hence the seemingly innocuous house in the suburbs; the place where the Mafia Don housed his mistress. Till he tired of them and brought
in a new one, as his fancy took him.
Since the Boss tired of the kept women very soon, the small house had seen women come and go rapidly; until that is, Proserpina Winters, the shy and lovely teenager had stumbled into his life. Suddenly, things changed and the much older Don could not have enough of her although he fought the attraction with all he had, even sleeping with other women openly to try and get over her. The sweet-natured Proserpina, who had loved him wholeheartedly, had at one point, run away from him but he had chased after her, tracking her own after almost a year and a half, to bring her back and marry her. She had already borne him two children, the twins, by then.
*
The women changed regularly but the Don continued to keep up with this practice until Proserpina Winters ran away from him, leaving him, the first woman to dump him. The Don had been consumed with rage; how could any woman leave HIM?
And behind it was the very real knowledge that this was the only woman he wanted in his life. When he discovered that she had given birth to his twins, he had shut the house down; he no longer needed another woman in his life. he only needed His Woman, Proserpina, to satisfy him.
*
Ria looked up and glared at the Capo who was searching the room in a methodical manner. He had stripped off his jacket and she could see the muscles bunching under the shirt as he moved.
A sudden wave of heat, of desire, flooded her and with that came the anger; why was he not affected? He had kissed her so thoroughly but he remained unmoved. She jumped to her feet and said,
‘Philippe, you don’t ever do that again.’
He stopped, and then turning slowly, he met her eyes, the black gaze hard as he said,
“Do what. Princess?’
She stiffened, but inwardly, she was trembling as he removed closer.
“Do Not Kiss Me.’ she snapped, saying each word slowly. The big man smiled, a feral smile, as he moved closer and said in a low voice,
‘And if I do?’