Page 31 of Alessia
9 - Alessia
The next morning, I wake to the smell of pancakes and coffee. I get off the bed and walk out of my bedroom in the direction of my living room.
There she is. Standing in nothing but a t-shirt that barely covers that curvy ass. Pancake batter all over her face and my kitchen, music blaring from her phone, hips swaying to the music. I lean against the wall and just admire the view for a second.
She looks so worry free, as if last night didn’t happen, as if I didn’t just blow up her entire life. The hard part is still to come. I still need to tell her she can’t go home, not until I found Gianni and put him six feet under. Now that Harper’s associated with me, she isn’t safe anymore. Gianni will try to take her out of the equation. He wants me and if he can’t have me, no one else can. Harper twirls through the kitchen and comes to a sudden stop when she sees me.
“Hi…” I say my voice low and sultry. “Are you making a mess of my kitchen?”
“Uhm… I guess so. I’ll clean it all up… I woke up and craved pancakes and I didn’t want to bother Carmen for them. So, I found all the stuff in your pantry and made them myself.” The words tumble out so fast her mouth barely keeps up.
I laugh and walk over to her; I press a small kiss to her forehead. “It does smell delicious, and is there coffee as well?”
“Yes!” Her eyes light up. She’s like a little doe, happy and prancing around my apartment.
I take a seat at the kitchen bar and survey the chaos that is now my kitchen. Well, it’s nothing Olivia can’t clean. This woman is going to ruin my ‘don’t make a mess’ agreement with Olivia. First the molten ice cream and now pancakes everywhere. That woman needs a raise if Harper keeps this up.
Harper put a stack of pancakes in front of me and a big cup of black coffee. Just how I like my breakfast. Well, almost.
“Are you alright?” I ask as she takes a seat beside me.
“Yeah, I think so. It’s a lot to digest but I must believe you wouldn’t have told me if it wasn’t important.”
“It is. But you need to know there’s no going back now. I told you yesterday that knowing my story means you’re no longer safe to go anywhere without one of my guys following you. You can’t go to work, can’t meet up with friends on a whim, you have to let me know where you are and where you’re going.”
I take abite of pancakes and follow it up with a sip of coffee. Harper plays with her pancakes.
“And then what? I sit here and wait for you to come home doing God knows what? I wasn’t made to be somebody’s housewife.”
“Who said anything about getting married?” I smirk. “You can still do the things you want to do but you need to run them by me. I will put Vinnie in charge of your protection. He will know the rules so if you can’t get a hold of me, check with him.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” I reply.
“What are you going to do today, seeing that the hospital isn’t your day job?”
“I have some meetings I have to attend. My father’s funeral is this Friday so I need to arrange the last details with my siblings in the morning.” I look at the clock on the microwave to check the time. “Actually, they will be here in a few minutes. After that I have a meeting with the other families about my coronation on Sunday.
“Like an actual coronation? With a crown and everything?”
“I don’t know if there’s a crown involved but it is pretty official, I’ll be the first female Don— Donna, in over fifty years.”
“And what about me?”
