Page 9 of Undeniable

“Breakfast?” I ask.

His little nose wrinkles and his big brown eyes look at me suspiciously. “It’s nighttime.”

I roll my eyes and smile at him as I start grabbing pans. “So? It is never too late for breakfast. I would eat it every meal of the day if I could.”

He snickers at me while he plays with a few of his toys on the floor. “You are weird. I like you.”

I smile and my heart warms at his casual, yet sweet words. I don’t really know what I’m doing, and you definitely shouldn’t nominate me for nanny of the year or anything, but I think I’m doing a pretty good job and I genuinely have a good time hanging out with the little guy. He is always respectful and polite, and I even noticed that he seems more open and happier today than he was the last time I watched him.

He seems to carry a heaviness with him, similar to his father. Not that Giovanni doesn’t have a softer side. I see it as he practically melts in front of Alessandro when he shows off his toothy grin, but the underlying feeling that I get is that Giovanni is not a man you want to upset.

After I stir up the pancake mix, I let Alessandro help me pour the pancakes into the pan. We attempt to make dinosaur pancakes, but they end up looking more like messy blobs, but don’t tell him that. I scramble up some eggs while the sausage links cook and soon, we are dishing up our plates.

“Eat syrup, Dino!” Alessandro shouts, before he dumps half a bottle of syrup onto his pancakes.

I let out a loud gasp as I quickly grab the bottle for him, not able to contain my laughter. I shake my head and add a little drizzle to my plate before setting the syrup back onto the table.

“I think you got him buddy,” I say in between chuckles.

He gives me a proud smile before he takes a bite of his pancake. I smile back when I catch someone out of the corner of my eye standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, watching us. My stomach drops as I jump to my feet ready to fight off the intruder. I grab my fork in a death grip before stepping in front of Alessandro when the figure moves into the kitchen.He found me. But how?

My shoulders instantly relax when I realize that it is only Giovanni. The fork in my hand clammers to the table as I place my hand over my racing heart, willing it to slow down. I really have got to get a hold on my paranoia, it is freaking exhausting to be on edge 24/7.

“You scared the…heck out of me,” I censor as I look down at Alessandro.

Giovanni squints his eyes curiously as he looks back and forth between the fork and I. His eyes trace over my position in front of Alessandro, doing my best to block him from view. Giovanni then gives me a small smile and a nod which looks a lot like approval.

He strides over to us as he loosens his tie. “Sorry. Guess you didn’t hear me come in with you drowning dinosaurs in syrup and what not,” he teases as he glances at Alessandro’s plate.

“Sorry,” I cringe. “We didn’t know what to do for dinner, so we thought breakfast was a good idea.”

“She did,” Alessandro interjects with an accusatory finger pointed right at me as Giovanni ruffles his hair. “We are eating breakfast at night. Isn’t that silly, Papa?”

Giovanni shrugs as he takes a seat next to Alessandro. I slowly sit back down on the other side of Alessandro across from Giovanni. “It isn’t silly, it sounds delicious,” Giovanni says.

Alessandro nods as he takes another bite. “It is! And I got to make my pancakes all by myself,” he says proudly.

“Is that right?” Giovanni asks with an amused smile.

“Mhmm. Will you come play with me tomorrow?” Alessandro asks me.

I give him a soft smile and nod. “And the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that.”

His face lights up like a Christmas tree as he turns to Giovanni with an excited gleam in his forest green eyes. “Will she be here forever?”

Giovanni’s eyes flick to mine briefly, they look hard and serious with a hint of something else underneath before they return to Alessandro. I am not sure what that look was supposed to mean nor am I sure how to feel about Alessandro’s question. Staying anywhere for too long isn’t an option for me, but I can’t deny that when the time comes, I already know that I will miss the little guy.

“We will see,” Giovanni says cryptically as silence descends over the room for a few beats.

We will see? What is that supposed to mean? And why does 3 insignificant words have my stomach turned up into tight knots?

Are you all done?” Giovanni asks as Alessandro pushes away his plate. He nods happily and hops down from his seat. “Alright, go put on your pajamas and brush your teeth. I will be up in a little. And say thank you to Tasha.”

“Thank you. I had fun,” Alessandro says before he walks over to me and wraps his little arms around my neck. I don’t know how to react at first, so I freeze. By the time I get myself to put an arm around him he is pulling away and bounding off towards his room.

I feel a heavy set of eyes on me and am suddenly all too aware that I am now alone with this Adonis like man in his home. I stand quickly and grab Alessandro’s plate as well as mine before making my way to the sink. I quickly rinse them off and load them into the dishwasher.

“Are you hungry? There is more,” I offer as I hold up the plate with the extras.

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