Maid for the Mafia

**ROMANY**

At exactly Ten thirty on the dot, the watch on my left wrist began to beep. The sound seemed to echo in my chest, bringing my attention to how hollow I was feeling. How empty.

I might never see this place again. Might not see Alex, Mickey, Tiny, Damien... ever again.

"Damn it," I hissed to myself as I tied my sneakers and finished braiding my hair. I should have taken the time to write a letter or *something*! Anything... I would have loved to leave them something to remember me by just in case. But now... it was too late. "Fuck it, Ro. Think of Ruby."

Taking one final glance around at Damien's place, I suddenly have an idea. Any minute now the watch was going to flash with a message from Santos, so I needed to hurry.

Racing into the restroom, I hunt for a pair of scissors. The moment I find them, I pull a good sized strip of my silvered streak from my braid, wind it into a twist, and tie a tiny band around it. Then I shear it off my head entirely. It's not noticeable at all, which is good, but at the same time the locks are just thick enough to be noticeable.

*Perfect!*

The moment I replace the scissors and slide the drawer closed, an echoing beep sounds throughout the halls of the mansion and althought I was already warned it would happen, it causes me to yelp.

*You're on edege, Ro. You're going to need to calm down.*

My watch chirps with a notification and I lift it toward my eyes to scan the message. UNKNOWN: *Cameras are now down. You have ten minutes. The path is clear.*

Shit. This is really happening.

I don't know who the spies are and who they are not, but being as how Santos was thorough enough to plant a smartwatch on the balcony ledge and cut off the security system, I have to assume the loyalty ratio in this place is something like three to seven in favor of Santos. AKA greed. Because I'm willing to bet most of them are people Alex hired himself and yet enough of them were able to be turned toward the 'enemy'. Money changes more allegiances than any other currency in the world.

Coiling the lock of hair in my hand I exit Damien's suite and race down the hallway, careful to slow my steps whenever I spy a maid. I don't have time to take the stairs so I head for the elevator, praying that there won't be anyone in the hall when I descend.

The message says the path is clear and I have a hunch that it will be. My suspicions that Santos controls most of the men here is reinforced when I see that there isn't one bleeding soul *anywhere* on the first floor *at all.*

*Whoa.*

In the couple of months that I've been here the one thing that is a constant is the activity on the ground floor. There is *always* someone lurking about, but tonight... no one. Not a soul.

Trying to shake the eerie feeling of being watched is hard, because somewhere deep down, I just know that I'm being monitored. Maybe not by *Alex's* cameras, but by Santos for sure.

The sudden thought that maybe this is how I die creeps into my mind and my steps stutter, my heart thundering as sweat begins to dampen my palms.

"Stop it! Would it change anything if you were? Are you going to give up?" I ask myself, hardening my resolve. "No, Ro, you're not. So keep fucking walking."

My watch beeps then vibrates indicating a new message and I glance down at the thing warily.

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*UNKNOWN: I'm not going to have you killed, Miss Dubois. Hurry up now. You have five minutes to disappear into the tunnels before the cameras turn back on.*

I almost laughed after reading that.

Taking a deep breath, I haul ass toward Alex's office, thinking for some reason of Ana asleep in my old room. A wave of nostalgia sweeps over me, mingling with a bit of possessive anger that I wasn't even aware I was harboring until I remembered how many different ways Damien and I fucked on that bed.

*Damn her.*

*I hope the sheets are dirty.*

Oddly enough, I don't dislike the bitch. I wanted to, but I just couldn't. She was actually a welcome change from my dinner companions of late. Smart, funny, completely unaware that her father is dead, however she didn't like to talk about that pig much. I almost got the feeling that she despised the man, but was too much of a good girl to openly say so. She was definitely sweet enough for Mickey and I would approve if I was willing to share him the way he shares me, but unfortunately for her and the rest of the world - I'm not. Nope. Call me what you want to because I do not GIVE A FUCK. Mickey is mine, from his vibrant green gaze, to his long chiseled penis. All fucking mine.

When I reach Alex's office door, I fish Simone's key from my pocket and unlock it easily.

Another deep breath later, I'm inside.

A quick glance around confirms that the place is empty and I quickly shut the door and flip the deadbolt back in place. As quiet as I'm able, I approach Alex's desk, the alarm on my watch suddenly blaring and warning me that I have exactly sixty seconds to disappear.

*Shit, shit, shit, this is it.*

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Scrambling around to the head of the desk, I pull out the flashlight I had stashed in my pocket and flick it on to study the floor beneath the heavy oak monster that I pray I won't have to *move.* *That would have been a serious setback.* The damn thing must weigh five hundred pounds.

Right away I notice the crooked oriental rug and yank it back to reveal the tiniest little handle at the edge of one wood slat.

*Bingo.*

With a sad sigh I reach for it and wrap my fingers around the cool steel. Tensing my muscles I pull. The hatch is heavier than I thought it might be and I strain myself a bit, kicking Alex's chair back in frustration as a fifteen second countdown vibrates to life on my watch. Five seconds later the hatch swings open with a quiet hiss and a series of lights go on in the tunnel at my feet.

*Well thank fuck.*

Still, I pocket my flashlight before climbing inside, then reach for the handle of the hatch, which is surprisingly easier to close than it is to open.

With five seconds left on the clock I slide Simone's key and my sheared off hair onto the floor of Alex's office, right under the corner of the desk where I pray no cameras will be able to see.

I pull the hatch in place precisely at zero and then hear it lock above my head at exactly the same time the beep of the security system sounds throughout the house. My watch chirps.

*UNKNOWN: You have one hour to make it to the end of the tunnel. Run.*