THE MAID, THE MATRIARCH, AND THE MAFIA BOSS

Dominic stared at the paper. The silence in the study was thick, heavy with unspoken things.

“I don’t understand,” Dominic said, his voice dropping an octave. “I just paid off your father’s house. Your medical debts are gone. You have nothing to fear from the Morettis.”

Skylar looked down at her scuffed black work shoes.

“I know,” she said softly. “And I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life, Mr. Rossi. But… I’m still just the clumsy maid. I don’t belong in a place like this. I break your crystal. I spill your pennies. Bianca was terrible, but she was right about one thing. I don’t fit in here.”

Dominic stood up from his desk. He walked slowly around the heavy oak furniture until he was standing directly in front of her.

He was so tall, so imposing, but for the first time, Skylar wasn’t afraid of him.

He reached out and picked up her resignation letter. Slowly, deliberately, he tore it in half. Then in quarters. He dropped the pieces into the wastebasket.

“You’re right,” Dominic said softly. “You don’t belong in the kitchen. You never did.”

Skylar looked up, confused.

“When Bianca said you were clumsy,” Dominic continued, his dark eyes locking onto hers, “she saw a flaw. When I see you walk into a room, I see a woman who refuses to shrink herself to make other people comfortable. You take up space, Skylar. Because your heart is too big for a quiet life.”

He took a step closer. The scent of cedar and rain enveloped her.

“My mother needs a companion, not a caretaker,” Dominic said. “And Leo… Leo spoke tonight because he finally felt safe. Because of you.”

“Mr. Rossi—”

“Dominic,” he corrected gently.

He reached out, his warm, rough fingers gently tracing the edge of the dinosaur band-aid on her cheek.

“I have spent my entire life surrounded by people who smile at me while holding knives behind their backs,” Dominic whispered. “Elegant people. Refined people. Tonight, I watched a woman in a torn apron throw herself in front of a weapon to save a child and an old woman she owed nothing to.”

Skylar’s breath caught in her throat.

“I don’t want you to leave, Skylar,” Dominic said, his voice raw with an emotion she had never heard from him before. “This house has been cold for a very long time. You brought the weather.”

From the doorway, a soft voice interrupted them.

“Are you making her cry, Dominic?”

Skylar turned. Carmela was standing there, holding Leo’s hand. Both of them were looking at her with such open, genuine affection that Skylar felt her chest might burst.

“No, Ma,” Dominic smiled, stepping back but keeping his eyes on Skylar. “I’m asking her to stay. As family.”

Carmela walked forward and took Skylar’s good hand.

“We have an empty suite in the east wing,” Carmela said warmly. “It has a beautiful view of the gardens. No cleaning supplies allowed. And tomorrow, we will send a car to bring your father here so he can recover in comfort.”

Skylar looked at Carmela, then down at Leo, who was tugging on her skirt.

She knelt down awkwardly with her splinted arm.

“Stay?” Leo asked quietly, his big brown eyes filled with hope.

Skylar let out a wet, genuine laugh, tears of absolute joy finally spilling down her cheeks. She wrapped her good arm around the little boy, looking up at the formidable mafia boss and the proud matriarch who were looking at her like she was the most valuable thing in the room.

She had spent her whole life trying to make herself smaller. Trying not to be noticed. Trying not to take up space.

But looking at her new family, Skylar finally realized something beautiful.