99

Moving day will always be the worst day to ever exist.

I fucking hate some of the men in this mafia, and I can't deal with their asses throughout the entire day today. But this is what I'm currently suffering through, since the mafia officially is moving base from the Romano mansion to this beautiful palace in front of me. It's insane to think how much it cost, but Xavier told me to shut up when I tried to offer some money.

Such a charmer, really.

"Eloisa," Marc pipes in from next to me, the playful smile of his lets me know that he'll say something stupid. "You know, with these new arrangements here, will you be sleeping with me then?"

Xavier shows up at that exact point, slapping Marc across the back of the head. His eyes meet mine and he smiles, "He's a dickhead, don't worry about it."

"Are any of you guys gonna help or what?" Santi sasses from his spot behind us, placing his hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow at us.

I smile at him before shaking my head, "No, you're on moving duty for the day."

He spots the challenge in my eyes and smiles, "Your ass needs to workout."

Xavier gasps at this, I've never heard him gasp before, "This is what they teach kids these days? I swear, Santi, you're done hearing that shit ass WAP song."

Santi comes closer to me and throws his arms around my waist, looking up at me with a pout, "I'm only joking, Eloi."

Ignoring how much that nickname hurts, I ruffle his hair and smile down at him easily, "I know, Santi."

"Oriana!" I hear Xavier exclaim to his cousin, Marc laughs loudly at this and shakes his head at his mafia boss. "Get your fucking son under control."

Santi tightens his grip on me and I chuckle when Oriana steps to the front, "Santi, what did you do?"

"Nothing, mamma!" He yells into my shirt, hiding his face from all the adult eyes staring him down. "Eloisa and I were only joking, I promise."

I smile at her and nod once, "Don't worry about it. Santi will be cooking me dinner for the next couple of days though."

He nods at this, "I can definitely do that, yes."

She chuckles before shaking her head at us, "Suit yourself."

"You got a kid, Martinelli?!" A familiar voice yells in panic.

My eyes roll before meeting Rocco's surprised ones when he steps out of his car, "He's ten, you goddamn idiot."

"Well, feels like I haven't seen you in the past ten years," Rocco shrugs his shoulders and Santi hurries over to his mom, the shy side of him showing again.

Walking up to Rocco, I throw my arms around him in a hug without thinking. He stiffens before returning the gesture, "Are we hugging?"

"I suppose so," I nod my head, stepping away from him.

His blue eyes cut to Xavier who's watching us with a dazzling smile on his lips, "You ruined her, why is she hugging me?"

"That's not on me," Xavier says with hands raised in surrender.

The rest of them laugh before getting to work, Santi and Oriana help each other on a box from the truck. Marc carries two boxes, he literally can't see shit and I'm excited to see him stumble up the stairs to the front door.

I hear Marc ask Oriana who Rocco is before the three of them disappear up the stairs, unfortunately, he doesn't trip.

"Martinelli," Rocco sings playfully from next to me, Xavier chuckles at my exasperated expression. "If there's a prize for rotten judgment, I guess you've already won that-"

"Nope, we're not doing this again. Shut the fuck up," I tell him, cutting off his singing. It does nothing to waver him because he keeps it up.

"You keep on denying, who you are and how you're feeling," This Hercules song will surely make me rip my hair out of its roots soon enough. "Baby, we're not buying, hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling!"

Xavier has left us at this point, the chuckles leaving him only aggravated me further. He left me here to fend off this stupid ass donkey alone. "I'll kill you, Rocco, I promised that last time you did this," Telling him this is to no avail.

"Face it like a grown-up," He laughs, obviously not believing my threat. "When ya gonna own up, that ya got, got, got it bad!"

"Are you done being my muse now?" I groan and approach the truck.

"Yeah, I just really needed to get it out of my system. I haven't annoyed you in so long," His grin makes it a little bit better. "Do you love him?"

Meeting his caring blue eyes, I see how he genuinely meant that question, "I do. I love him."

"That's all I gotta know," He tells me and grabs a box from the truck, there is a thoughtful expression on his face. "You know, I've been experimenting."

I grab my own box and follow him up the long flight of stairs towards the front door, "With what?"

"With guys," He tells me and it hits me all at once.

"Oh," My eyes are wide. "Like, that, type of experimenting."

"Yeah, that type," He grins at me.

Smiling at him, "And what is your conclusion?"

"That I can understand the hype around dicks all of a sudden," His words have me choking on air and he laughs loudly. "I might be into that whole scene."

"Well, I'm very happy for you," I tell him with a smile, desperately trying to ignore his nasty comment about dicks.

Rocco looks around the grand foyer, his eyes are wide and his mouth open, "If Xavier ever has any enemies visiting, they will for sure feel like they walk right into their death. This is sick!"

"It's a lot," I nod with a smile, looking around my new home. "But this is the vibe he wants for his mafia, and honestly I like it. It feels like an ancient empire in Rome, so luxurious and spacious."

"Do you have a basement for your victims?" He questions with an enthusiastic grin. "Do you kill and torture them down there?"

"Months ago you would've killed me for being this involved with a mafia and murderers, now you're almost more excited than me," I chuckle and he gives me a soft smile.

"I can see how happy he makes you, Eloisa," His words reach my heart and I smile at him. "He's the one for you, and it's pretty obvious. I also trust him, for some goddamn reason. He is respectful towards you, he takes care of you and you deserve all of that."

"I'll punch you if you make me cry," I threaten.

"Then don't be a baby, you bitch," He retaliates with a grin.

I gasp and trip his foot, he falls onto the floor and crushes the box underneath his weight, "Don't call me a bitch, you fucking deficiente." (moron).

"Now look at what you've done!" He exclaims in a panic and stands up, gesturing to the mess on the floor. "Your man will literally kill me for breaking his things. If he sees this imma hide behind you."

"If I see what?" Xavier asks while exiting the elevator to the right, his dark eyes fall upon the ruined box on the floor.

Rocco makes a sound between a whine and a squeal, hiding behind me and I roll my eyes at his antics. "Eloisa, pull your gun on him, he'll kill me!"

"I should let him, especially considering how you called me a bitch," I smirk.

This has him flying up in front of me, his blue eyes cut to Xavier who's standing with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. Rocco scoffs and chuckles nervously, "No, no, I didn't do that. Eloisa must've misunderstood me, I called myself a bitch out loud because the box was heavy to carry."

Xavier's dark gaze travels to the floor, "And then you decided to drop my stuff?"

"No, no, I didn't do that! I was tripped by my friend over here!" He exclaims, before turning to me frantically. "Shit, Eloisa, should I run?"

I can't keep up the mask because of his panic, laughter bubbles up to my throat and I place the box on the ground. Rocco looks at me with confusion reflecting in his eyes, clearly still on edge about what's going on here.

Xavier chuckles with a gorgeous smile on his lips, "Don't worry, Rocco. I won't kill you."

He sighs in relief before pointing to me, "What about her? Will she kill me?"

Xavier places his hands up in the air, his biceps flexing under his shirt and I force myself not to drool, "What she does is her business. Although, I probably wouldn't make a habit of calling her a bitch."

"Noted!" He states and tries to scramble the pieces from the box together.

I grab his shoulder, "Leave it, I want to show you the house anyway."

"Yes, my queen," He nods and stands up to his full height, turning to a smirking Xavier. "Was that better?"

"Much better," Xavier answers with a chuckle.

My heart warms at the sight of them together, joking around and not judging each other. This palace will surely feel like my home within days of being here, Xavier makes it easy for me to feel at home, and him being this welcoming and playful towards my friends is even better.

I adore this chapter in our lives.