The Maid: Mafia Romance (Series)

She was his maid.

She was his lover.

But now…

She was gone.

Giovanni Dente, the mafia boss of the Dente Clan, exudes power, arrogance, and charisma. No one dares to cross him, until one did, taking away his most beloved, Jenny Stone.

They had kidnapped her. And now there’s hell to pay. He’ll go in with guns blazing, not stopping until she’s with him again.

Because to her, he’s totally devoted.

Jenny Stone

I was his maid.

I was his lover.

But now, who am I?

Jenny is in love with the billionaire mafia boss, Giovanni Dente. For the past four months, she’d experienced it all. The love he gave to her, the care he bestowed upon her.

It was all like a sweet dream. But it really was a dream, because now she has to wake up and face reality. She was not the person Giovanni loved. She was not his Jennifer.

Reality hit her like a punch to the gut.

Is it too late to tell him she loves him?

Is it too late to make him love her?

Because no matter what he says and does, her heart is totally devoted to him.

Don’t Forget Me

Fourteen Years Ago

Jennifer waited for her friend, right under that same beech tree. It was hot today. The sky was blue; the sun was bright. She worried her bottom lip, chastising herself for making hot coffee. Maybe iced coffee would be better suited for today’s weather.

She clutched the foam cup, feeling it had already gone warm. If her friend didn’t arrive any time soon, the hot coffee might as well be iced coffee. She giggled at her own thought. But he really was taking far too long. He should have been here by now.

Did something bad happen? Did he fall down a ditch? She couldn’t help thinking of these scenarios.

Her five-year-old mind was far too active for her own good. No wonder her family and teachers at kindergarten had said she had imaginary friends. But Gio wasn’t a figment of her imagination she’d made up as a result of loneliness. He was her real friend. Her first real human friend.

The kids at kindergarten always bullied her, saying she was awkward and clumsy and stupid. They always pulled her hair and called her names like sesame seed buns because she had too many freckles on her nose. But Gio was different. He’d made her happy. He’d made her feel like it was okay just to be herself.

She was so lucky to have met him that day. She was just in the park, on the swing, chewing her favorite sweet licorice, when she saw this tall boy that stumbled past her and collapsed against the nearest tree.

Her mama said she shouldn’t talk to strangers. And that boy was a stranger. But he looked hurt. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, and he was clutching his stomach like he was in pain. She couldn’t help but approach him.

“Hello. Are you hurt?”

And the rest was history. They became friends. In the course of those few weeks, she’d viewed him as her older brother, her best friend, her teacher, and her idolized star. She looked up to him and listened to every word he spoke. He taught her to read and helped her with her homework. He was the first one she would confide in, the first one to share any good news. Because to her, he was her very best friend.

She genuinely liked him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life growing up next to him, watching him change into an adult and seeing what life had in store for them both.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize her friend had arrived and was staring down at her with that lopsided grin of his.

“Gio, you came.” She beamed at her friend.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

He was dressed in his usual style: ripped jeans, white shirts, and black floppy hair messed up at the side. He was just so cool.

“Yeah. I came.” He plunked himself down next to her. “Sorry for coming late. I had detention. Had to stay an extra hour after school.”

“What did you do?”

“Didn’t do my homework.”

“I’m good at homework. I can help you.” She offered right away, although she wasn’t sure if she could be of any help. It was usually the other way around in their case.

“Nah! I’m cool.” He gave her that lopsided grin again and rubbed her head. “But thanks for the offer.”

“Licorice?” she asked, tearing a piece off the long strand.

“Thanks.” She watched him chew. “Not bad,” he said after swallowing the glob of sugar.

“Coffee?” She produced her next gift.

He gave her a skeptical look. “What have you got for me this time?”

He peeled back the lid, and she slapped him on the hand.

“No peeking,” she scolded him. “It’s a surprise.”

He laughed, the sound like a song in her ear. And she just wished she could make him laugh more because she loved listening to it. “Come on. I don’t like surprises. Tell me.”

“Flat white.”

“How do you know all these coffee names?” he asked her.

“My ma owns a café. She said I can’t drink coffee just yet, but I can practice making them, since I’ll own the shop when I grow older. Do you like it?”

He took another sip and nodded his head. “Yeah. You’re improving.”

And the compliment just made her go sky-high. “You really think so?”

“Yeah.”

“So… will you marry me, then?”

She didn’t actually know what the word marry meant. She just heard a lot of the other kids using it at kindergarten because they wanted to stay together.

But Gio was choking on his beverage, and she got worried.

“I… How about I make you my lover instead… when you grow up, of course?”

Lover? What’s that? Maybe lover is another word for friend, like getting married. So if they were lovers, they would stay best friends forever. Yes, she’d be his lover.

But would he want to stay as her best friend, though, when she might grow up ugly?

“Lover. Really? You think I’m beautiful? My pa says I’m not a beautiful child, so no one wants to marry me like they want my sister, but you’re the first one who says I’m beautiful.”

“Hey, you are beautiful, Jennifer. Very beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Her best friend was so nice, but he needed to see the truth. She shoved her face right in his view and wiggled her button nose for him to see.

“Even with the freckles on my nose?”

“Yeah. Even with the freckles.” He nodded and patted her head again.

“Then I’ll be your lover,” she said. “We’ll marry and live happily ever after.”

She was so happy she kissed him on the nose. Gio smirked at her, then he fell into a boisterous laugh. She joined in too.

“See, you should laugh like that. Don’t make anyone think you are not beautiful. You’re only a little kid anyway. You shouldn’t be worried about stupid things like that. Just be happy.”

“Okay.” She nodded, taking his advice seriously, when she saw the pendant around his neck. It was of two dragons entwined together. She leaned in closer for a better look.

“It’s very pretty,” she murmured.

“This is a twin dragon necklace.”

“Why is it called a twin dragon?”

“See the two dragons. They are entwined together. That’s why it’s called that name.”

“And it’s green. I’ve need seen a green necklace before.”

“That’s cuz it’s made out of jade stone.”

“What’s a jade stone? Is it a rock?”

“Yeah, but it’s green and very rare.”

“So it must be very important then.”

“Yeah, it is. Do you like it?”

“Mm-hmm. Very pretty.”

“Then you take it.” Gio all of a sudden tugged the necklace off and put it in her palm. “I mean it. Take it. I’m giving it to you.”

“You are giving this to me?”

“Yeah.”

“But it’s very important and rare. Why are you giving it to me?”

“Because our friendship is very important and rare. And this necklace represents that.”

“This is our friendship gift?”

He nodded his head again. “Yeah. So you would remember me when we meet again.”

Big fat drops started welling in her eyes. She rubbed them away, but they kept coming back.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

And that was when her whole body shook, and she started crying out loud. She lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face at the crook of his neck. “Are you going somewhere, Gio? Why?”

If it meant losing her best friend and not being able to see him again, she didn’t want this necklace, no matter how important or rare it was. She pushed it back into his palm.

“I don’t want it. If I don’t get to see you, I don’t want it.”

“Silly girl.” She felt his big hand rubbing her head. “Of course I’m not going anywhere. I’ll come see you every day. We’ll be best friends. I’ll teach you how to ride a bike. This necklace, that’s for you to keep, so that a part of me always belongs to you. So that you don’t forget me.”

She jerked her face from the crook of his shoulder and viewed him with a close eye. “Really? You’re not going anywhere, then?”

She had just found a best friend. She didn’t want to lose him. So she needed confirmation that this was correct.

“Nope. I’ll be here. Every day. Just doing our thing. We’ll hang out like usual.”

She was satisfied, taking back the necklace and examining it closely again. “No one has ever given me a gift before,” she told him. Apart from Mama. “You’re my first friend and the only friend to give me a gift.” She smiled and hugged him tight. “I like you a lot, Gio. I like you a lot.”

And she was so happy to hear he felt the same “I like you, too.”

“I promise to wear it.” She told him again. “I promise to look after it and never forget you.”

“Good. Because if you ever forget me, I’ll be very mad.”

“I promise I won’t ever forget you, Gio. I’ll remember you forever.”

“Kids, get in the car,” Mama shouted from the front door of the café.

Jennifer didn’t quite hear her mother’s voice against the sound of the pounding rain. She was too busy looking at the streetlamps lighting up one by one, and thoughts of her best friend came into her head again. She had already seen him that afternoon, but she already missed his lopsided grin and his affectionate pat on her head.

“Jennifer,” her mother called out again. “Get in the car.”

She woke up from her trance and moved herself to the back seat, seeing that her older sister had taken to the back as well. She quietly shut the door and waited in the car.

“What are you daydreaming about again, Jennifer?” her sister asked.

“Nothing,” Jennifer said.

Her sister didn’t believe her. “I can tell by that look on your face that something happened today. What is it? Tell me.”

“No. There’s nothing,” Jennifer said, turning to watch the torrential rain pounding out the car window.

Jennifer could feel her sister’s heated gaze at the back of her head, but she didn’t care. This was the one secret she didn’t want anyone knowing. She dug into her pocket, feeling for that jade necklace Gio had given her. This gift was their secret.

Soon, the car went into motion, and she went back to daydreaming. A few times she turned to see her sister staring off into space, looking bored. She was bored too. It was going to be a long drive home. Having nothing else to do, she took the necklace out for another look, when a hand appeared in her line of sight and quickly snatched the necklace from her hand.

“Oh, so that’s what happened,” her sister concluded from her strange, quiet behavior in the car. Usually she would yap nonstop. “Where did you get this necklace from? Did you steal it?”

“I didn’t steal it.” She tried taking it back, but her sister was bigger and stronger, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t move fast enough to grab it. “Please give it back. It’s mine.”

Her sister ignored her. “Mom, did you buy Jennifer a dragon pendant necklace? Why didn’t you buy me one, too?”

“What dragon necklace? I didn’t buy Jennifer any necklace,” her mother said from the front seat.

“So, you must have stolen it, Jennifer.” Her sister accused her again. “Where did you steal it from?”

“I didn’t steal it. My friend gave it to me,” Jennifer finally told the truth.

“I don’t believe you. You have no friends.”

“I do. I have a friend. His name is Gio. He gave me that necklace.”

“That dirty boy who you meet in the park gave you that necklace,” her sister came to her conclusion. “I don’t believe you. This necklace looks expensive. I bet it’s stolen. We have to report it to the police. Put him in jail.”

“No. Leave him alone. And give me back that necklace,” she shouted.

“Mom. Tell Jennifer to stop hanging out with that boy,” her sister told their mother. “We don’t even know who he is. He could be a dangerous person. He might even be part of those bad people at school. I heard they always get into fights.”

“Jennifer, your sister is right,” her mom reprimanded her. “Stop going to the park. And stop hanging out with that boy.”

Jennifer burst into tears. Her heart was aching. She had to protect her friend. She didn’t want him to go to jail. Her sister told her many times that bad people get to sleep in a cold dark place called jail, and she didn’t want Gio to go through that. He was a kind person. He didn’t deserve to stay in jail. So she defended him again.

“No, Ma. He’s a good person. He’s kind to me, and he teaches me stuff. He’s my best friend. I promised him I’d meet him again. Don’t take him to the police.”

“Enough, Jennifer. You are not to go to see that boy in the park again,” her mother said in anger. “And give that necklace to your sister.”

Jennifer bawled her eyes out. It wasn’t fair. Their mom and dad had never given her anything, always giving everything to her sister. She didn’t want to wear any more hand-me-down clothing. She didn’t want to receive anything that had been used by her sister already. And for this one time, she just wanted to keep the necklace that her friend gave to her, and now her sister had to go and make trouble for her best friend, too. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone?

She was so mad and sad, words she didn’t mean came out of her mouth. “She’s not my sister. I hate her. I don’t want her as my sister. She always bullies me.”

“I’m not bullying you,” her sister shouted back. “I was looking out for you.”

“No. You don’t. You never talk to me at school. You always pretend like I’m not your sister. Now I found a friend, and you are jealous of me.”

“I’m not jealous of you. I have heaps of friends at school. Why should I be jealous of you?”

“Girls, stop fighting this instant. I’m driving,” their mom shouted from the front seat. But they didn’t listen and kept arguing.

“I hate you. I don’t want to see you again,” Jennifer kept saying. “I don’t want to remember your face. I don’t want to call you my sister.”

“Well, too bad. We are family. You better-”

And that was the last thing Jennifer heard before she saw a flash of white light and a big truck collided into their car.

Present Day

My head hurt. It was that dream again, fragments of images I have no recollection of having. Unknown voices, fuzzy unclear faces talking, before bright white light flashing before my eyes and I woke up. These days it’s happening more and more frequently. The last time was when I had stayed at Crispin’s during my escape from Giovanni. And now again, here. I dismissed the thought, instead going to massage my temple, hoping to alleviate the thundering pain in my head, but it didn’t help much. I groaned and opened my eyes to see the bright peachy ceiling.

Where was I? This wasn’t my bedroom or Giovanni’s room. I didn’t recognize anything here. Especially that crystal chandelier hanging from the middle of the room or the ceramic vase of peony flowers on the bedside table. If I had flowers in my bedroom, it would be roses. Not peonies.

I jolted awake at the sudden realization that I’d been kidnapped, and the memory of those big guys shoving me in the car before I blacked out flashed right into my mind like an unwanted episode of a soap opera on TV.

Through my hazy sight, I saw some shadows. I freaked out, automatically grabbing something to protect myself. My hand landed on the ceramic vase.

I crept out of bed, my legs already slung over the edge, when I heard their muffled sounds and my heart rate just increased tenfold. Blood surged to my brain, and I took action. No matter how afraid I was, I wasn’t going down easy.

I was already poised, waiting in position, ready to beat the crap out of my kidnapper, when the door opened and a silhouette in the shadows said, “Jen, how are you feeling?”

I froze, dropping the vase in my hand. Tears began to prickle at the back of my eyes.

That voice. The name ‘Jen.’ There was only one person in the whole wide world who would call me by that name.

The figure emerged into the light, and I saw her, the face I recognized even in my sleep. Fat teardrops dripped from my eyes. My voice got clogged in my throat, and I couldn’t even utter a single word, save for those choking sounds I made.

Brown hair, beautiful big amber eyes, and a bright smile that any guy would fall for. My sister, Amelia.