The Mafia Lost His Queen novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Rotherhithe

I had my apron off before Jess finished the sentence.

"Where?"

"The house. The big one. He took a cab from the corner." Jess grabbed my arm. "He said you'd come after him. He said to tell you this one's his to do."

"He doesn't get to decide that on his own."

"That's what I told him." She let go. "Go on, then. Take Mum's scarf, it's freezing."

The housekeeper opened the door at River Forest before I'd finished knocking.

She didn't say anything. She just pointed down the kitchen hall.

I knew where before I saw them.

The cellar door was open at the end of the hall.

Armando stood at the top of the stairs, in his shirtsleeves, with one hand on the frame.

Rory stood a step below him on the stone, so their eyes were level.

Neither of them saw me.

I stopped by the kitchen door, where the housekeeper had stood that night, and didn't move.

"You wanted to hear it," Rory said. "So hear it."

"Go on."

"I was at the other end of this hall, coming to find her. I saw you open this door." Rory's voice was flat and quiet. "I heard her say your name. Then I heard her say the baby."

Armando's hand tightened on the frame.

"You heard it too," Rory said. "You were standing right where you are. She said the baby, and you said get up, you're embarrassing me."

"I know what I said."

"You walked her back to the party past me." Rory didn't blink. "You looked right at me in this hall. You told me to take the back way so the guests wouldn't see."

Armando didn't say anything.

"I went down there and she was lying in it," Rory said. "Holding herself. She couldn't get up. She asked me if it was bad, and I lied to her, and I carried her up the back stairs while your band played."

Armando's face was gray.

"That's what I saw," Rory said. "Every night since. You wanted it to your face. That's your face."

For a long time neither of them moved.

Then Armando took his hand off the door frame.

"The families leave you alone," he said. His voice was rough. "I'll tell the table myself. You're nobody's business in Chicago. You never were."

"And her?"

"Nobody touches anything with her name on it. The bakery. The cousin. The mortgage." Armando looked down the stairs into the dark. "She was never mine to keep. I should have known it the day she told me my suit was ugly."

Rory came up the last step.

← Chapter 21 · All chapters · Chapter 23 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend