Page 35 of His Vicious Desire

Bianca

When I come out of my room, I find Gaetano in the kitchen speaking Spanish with a woman.She’s tall and thin, and I’m an idiot for sighing with relief when I realize she has to be at least fifty.

She sees me first, and her eyes go wide.Then she looks to Gaetano.

Gaetano smiles, “Bianca, meet my housekeeper, Estelle.Estelle, this is my guest for a week or so.Bianca had a little problem, and until she’s clean, she’ll be here.I appreciate you looking after the both of us while she’s here.”

My stomach drops in shame at his words that he told her why I’m here.I blink back the tears I didn’t know were threatening.

“Bianca, what would you like for breakfast?”Gaetano asks me.

“I’m not hungry,” I shake my head as I back up.I want to throw up, not eat.

That fucking eyebrow lifts.“You will eat something.Your body needs fuel to get through the detox.Either you select something, or I will.”

Right, he’s not being a complete fucker because that’s his default setting.It’s to explain why I’m here.God forbid she thought I was here for some other reason.

“So over easy eggs and toast it is.”Gaetano nods.

“No, no.I hate over-easy eggs.Scrambled and toast is fine.”I mutter.And because I can’t take how sad her eyes are on me—like she knows I’m stupid somehow, I go into the living room and sit in the recliner with the remote in my hand, flipping aimlessly through the channels.

The woman is going into the room, and it sends me up after her.“I’m sorry.I can?—”

“Sit back down.Because there’s nothing to be sorry for.”A kind hand is on my arm.“No worries at all.If there’s something you want to put away, I’m going to grab the vacuum.”

I blush.“No, I just… I don’t know.I’m used to apologizing.”

“Bianca, your breakfast is ready.”Gaetano is in the doorway of the kitchen, his black eyes shifting between me and Estelle.“Orange juice is on the table.”

Nodding, I give the woman a grateful smile.

I’m back at work in the kitchen finishing up a paper when she asks me what I’d like for lunch.I tell her I’m fine with whatever she wants to make.

Only a few hours after lunch, she’s gone again.She tells me she’ll be back in three days and hopes to see me then.

Bianca

I walk into the kitchen to find Estelle cleaning out the refrigerator.

“Good morning.Gaetano went to grab some meat from a family business that only sells food on the weekend.You have to place your order the week before, and then you pick it up at the time they give you.He’s going to make you one of the best burritos you’ve ever had when he’s back.”

“Sounds good.”I force a smile.“I’m sorry about my room.I cleaned the bathroom yesterday.Well, not as good as you…”

“Every time you see me, you want to apologize for something.You don’t need to apologize.All you need to do is hold your head high and trust in who you are.Interesting, you don’t do the same with Gaetano.”

I shrug.“Gaetano isn’t expecting anything from me.When you look at me, it’s like you’re waiting for me to say something, and I don’t know what it is.So I get all worried that I’m disappointing you.”

“My apologies then.I would never want you to think you had to say something.I’m simply more surprised by you here than anything I’ve seen in Gaetano’s home before.And I’ve seen many things that surprised me here.You, as the first woman in Gaetano’s home, is a surprise.”

“I’m the first woman in his house, ever?”The words don’t make sense to me.

“Ever.”Estelle smiles.“He’s very particular about who he allows in his home.If he were willing to clean, I wouldn’t be here.”

A little ball of warmth appears in my chest.I’m the first woman he’s had in his home.It feels like a win…like I’m special to him.I want to do a happy dance, instead I decide to take the opportunity to find out more about Gaetano.“How did you meet him, like from a service or something?”

She shakes her head.“He hired me to cook and clean for his little brothers.They were slightly feral, not in a bad way, how they almost were if Gaetano hadn’t hired me.I was worried about telling them anything.Gaetano wouldn’t hear of them backtalking me or not doing what I told them.They made it to eighteen with their high school diploma and without spending time in a cell.That was all Gaetano was hoping for.Add to that, they both spent time in college, Dario got a degree because a teacher told him he wouldn’t.”

“Wait, he’s not that much older than his brothers.How old was he when he hired you?”

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