Sugar Daddy

Adelaide

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Even when I laid in bed that night, hopelessly trying to slip into a rousing sleep, his words rang over and over in my head like a broken record.

"They're watching."

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They're watching, they're watching, they're watching, they're watching.

His words crept into my every thought for the next few days. Questions of his vague statement crowded my mind. Who was watching? Were they watching me? Why were they watching me? What were they gaining from it?

Is there something going on here that I don't know about?

I didn't have the guts to ask Malcolm the questions that rang through my head and instead I chose to ignore him as if he never existed, talking only when necessary.

The same treatment went to Romano who was under the impression that I was still angry at him for speaking up against me. I hadn't told him what I knew yet. I knew that I would have to tell him at one point but I was being patient, biding my time.

I needed to calculate the consequences before I acted. I was foolish thinking that I could trust a man that I knew next to nothing about and I wasn't about to make the same mistake again.

Jamie was the only person I had been talking to regularly, going over various people's background information together and discussing who would be the most likely to screw the operation up.

He had done well in compiling the information.

I had been distracting myself by going out into the gardens more often and exploring the massive compound that the house was located on though I actively avoided the rose bush and the elusive gardener that knew much more than he let on.

They're watching.

I abruptly stopped in my path as his words travelled through my consciousness yet again. I couldn't take the pain of not knowing.

I needed to do something.

I rushed into the house to try and track down Romano but instead bumped into Lissa, the maid that was still afraid of me, diverting her eyes to the ground.

"I-I'm so sorry, ma'am." She stuttered, making me inwardly sigh.

Was I that terrifying?

"It's fine, do you know where Romano is?" I took a step back, leaving her bubble of personal space to hopefully ease the tension she felt when she was around me.

"In his office ma'am." She stated, her eyes still trained to the ground as if it was the most interesting thing she had seen all day.

My lips quirked down, creating a slight frown. I had been making progress in exploring the mansion but I had only lived here for a few weeks and had yet to memorize the layout, which was something I should've done on my first night in.

"Where is that?"

She pointed up the spiral staircase, "up the stairs to the right, fourth door on your left," she paused and readied herself to leave before seemingly remembering a valuable piece of information, "remember to knock before you enter."

She scurried away down through a maze of doorways and left me behind watching her retreating figure.

I took a breath before slowly climbing up the stairway, trying desperately to ignore the fluttering butterflies desperately trying to make themselves known.

I shouldn't be nervous, I told myself. It was just Mano. And yet, the fluttering didn't dissipate as I hoped they would.

I needed to squash this crush before it grew into something more.

My knuckles softly rapped against the wooden door as I waited patiently to be let in. I drew a deep breath trying to stabilize my slowly increasing heart rate and succeeded in doing so until the door opened and his brown eyes met mine.

My heart sped up again.

"La mia bellissima stella, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

(Translation: My beautiful star)

He leaned against his door frame looking me up and down with a small smirk on his face.

"I want you to buy me some jumpers," I stated, successfully hiding my bashfulness at being around him.

His eyebrow quirked up alongside the corner of his lip, making his smirk all the wider.

"Am I your sugar daddy now?"

It was obvious that he was playing with me but that didn't stop heat from rising to my cheeks. I quickly averted my eyes from his delicious gaze and racked my mind on how to reply, coming up with nothing.

He chuckled lightly.

"Don't worry, la mia carota carina, go downstairs I'll be there in five minutes."

(Translation: My cute carrot)

I jerked my head up in shock but he was already turning away into the depths of his office. I wasn't expecting him to accept so easily.

Exactly five minutes later he met me by the door of the mansion in a pair of jeans, a dark red button-up shirt that had been rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of sunglasses. He looked ravishing.

"Follow me, carota."

He brushed past me, his cologne hitting me a second after and making me deeply inhale before racing after him and sitting comfortably in the beautiful Tesla.

I gazed out the window at the scenery.

"Why haven't I ever been in your family house?" I asked him as we passed by the biggest mansion I had ever seen in my life.

He quickly glanced at me through the corner of his eye before focusing on the gravelly road again.

"It's not necessary, porro."

His voice was harsh and commanding, making the questions hanging on the tip of my tongue dissolve. Maybe it would be better to leave him be.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence.

I was disposable to him.

I couldn't bring myself to tell him what I knew. Maybe it was because I was afraid of feeling rejected, or maybe it was because I was scared that what I was thinking was the truth.

Whatever it was I didn't confront it, I just sat there stewing in my doubts.

When he had parked the car, I rushed out of the stunning car that was succeeding in making me feel claustrophobic.

They're watching, they're watching, they're watching, they're watching.

"Are you okay, mia stella?" He asked me, noticing my rushed way to get out of the car.

I nodded in response before heading into the first clothes shop I saw which ended up being H&M. I perused their basic clothing, picking out four different kinds of hoodies that I deemed suitable to stash knives in for a mission.

The whole time I spent browsing, I could feel the hot steely gaze of his brown eyes on my back. Me, being a petty bitch, ignored his existence the entire time hoping that he would get the gist.

Watching, watching, watching, watching.

I shouldn't be angry. I knew that I was being stupid, he didn't even know why I was mad at him. He probably thought it was because of what happened in the meeting room, but I knew different and I couldn't bring myself to confront him about it.

I sighed, I wasn't even here to buy hoodies, I just needed a cover for what I was actually there to buy, but with his gaze hot on my back, I had to get creative.

I moved towards the line and stuffed the item in my jacket before dumping all of my sweatshirts on the counter.

The boy behind the counter looked to be in his early 20s and I could tell that either Mano or I was making him nervous by the sweat starting to develop just under his hairline and around his nose. I smiled sweetly at him, trying to alleviate his nerves and he smiled back.

When it came time to pay, Mano came up behind me, pressing his chest into my back as he handed his black credit card over to the man behind the counter.

I felt his hot breath on my neck, making my body tense up in the process.

What the hell did he think he was doing?

He gingerly placed his hand on my waist, testing whether I would pull back but when I didn't, his grip became stronger.

The man behind the counter looked between us uncertainly before he caught Mano's gaze and ducked his head, handing back the credit card. I looked up and saw Mano glaring at the poor boy and I gently squeezed his bicep before sending him a death glare telling him to back off.

I patiently waited for him to fold the clothes and put them in the bag, conscious of the fact that Romano's hand was dangerously close to the item that I had stuffed into my jacket.

They're watching.

I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding when the boy handed over the bag of clothes and Romano took them, stepping away from me. It was short-lived, though, because as soon as I started to walk, he put his hand on the small of my back leading me out of the shop when the sensors began to beep.

The security guard made his way over to us, checking our bags, seeing the receipt and all the items we had purchased before huffing and letting us past.

He was shitty at his job.

"Since we're here, carota, why don't we go for a bite to eat?" Romano asked me, leaving me with no choice as he led me towards the food court where he sat me down at a table.

"Stay here, stella." He said before leaving me behind to guard the table as he made his way through the crowd to a booth.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned with a tray with two steaming bowls of soup filled to the brim.

"What is it?" I asked in wonder as the beautiful scent invaded my nostrils.

He softly smiled as he sat down next to me, ignoring the seat directly in front of me and putting his arm over the top of my chair.

"Pho, it's Vietnamese."

I looked down at the steaming bowl and picked up the chopsticks he had placed next to it. I tried my hardest to use the unfamiliar utensils even though the noodles kept slipping off of the chopsticks, making the soup hit my face with every slip.

Romano tried to stifle his laughter at my blunders but eventually gave in, letting loose a loud chuckle.

"Just use a fork, piccola patata."

I hung my head in defeat as I twisted the noodles around my fork, shoving the delicious food in my mouth.

Romano cleared his throat, bringing my attention to him.

"So, tell me, cavolo, why did you steal that notebook?"

Shit.

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