Just What The Mafia Boss Ordered

Chapter 3 - A Shocking Offer

Eddie’s POV

I rubbed my temples in frustration, trying to hold off the headache that it’s threatening to make my rough day even worse. Joseph and I had been working in my home office all afternoon, going over delivery schedules for the next few weeks. Things were still a bit of a mess as many of the guys who did the daily grunt work were relatively new. I had met Joseph when I was in my early twenties when my uncle decided it was time for me to start learning the organization from the ground up. He had always had my back which was why I chose him to be my head of security when I took over.

When I had inherited the title of Don Esposito, I had also inherited my uncle’s penthouse on fifth avenue overlooking central park. Although, I had to have the place completely gutted and renovated before I moved in. I wanted to remove any trace of my uncle as possible. That man had been nothing but a judgemental thorn in my side since I was ten years old, and part of me had been elated when Alec had taken him out. It was amazing how much you could get done in very little time when you told a contractor that money was no object and could actually deliver on that promise. I managed to get the whole project finished in four months.

When my uncle lived here, this place had been dark and intimidating, a real mood killer. It was downright depressing any time I came here for a meeting, so I took out some walls and made it more open plan so the light from the floor to ceiling windows could fill the entire space. The color scheme that had used to be a combination of dark browns and reds was now a calm mix of blues and greys, like my own Hamptons beach house in the middle of the city. I saw so much gore, destruction and despair in my line of work it was nice to come home at night to my sanctuary and decompress.

On top of the amazing, state of the art kitchen, the formal dining room and plush lounge area with an open fireplace, the apartment consisted of three bedrooms, including the master, each with its own bathroom, a home gym, my office, which doubles as my library and an outdoor terrace with a private swimming pool and hot tub.

I was just finishing up with Joseph when there was a knock on the office door. The door opened to reveal my housekeeper Agnes Mitchell, carrying in a tray of food. “You two boys have been stuck in here all afternoon, so I thought I would bring you in a snack.”

Agnes was a woman in her late fifties, she had lost her husband about ten years back, and her kids had moved away, so she wanted a job to keep her busy. She had been with me for six years now and was like a surrogate mother to me. She came over a few days a week, cleaned the house, did the grocery shopping, and prepared meals to get me through the week, given that I wasn’t very handy when it came to cooking. She also made sure I didn’t get so bogged down in work that I forgot to take care of myself and always made sure I ate and got enough sleep.

I looked down at the tray, which included two pastrami sandwiches on rye with a side of fries and drinks. Looking at it made my stomach growl with hunger. “Thanks, Agnes, this looks amazing.”

She smiled broadly at me, “You are most welcome. Now, I’m headed off, but there is roast pumpkin soup in the fridge that needs to be heated on the stove, lemon rosemary chicken in the crockpot that will be ready at seven to be served with the salad in the fridge and dessert is also in there. Have a nice night with your lady friend, and I will see you the day after tomorrow.”

After she left, Joseph just stared at me in shock, “Lady friend?”

I was as surprised as he was that this was happening. When I left my card for Zoe, I was hoping that she would call but was still floored at the voicemail on my phone the next day, so I called her back and arranged for her to come to my place for dinner. I normally didn’t do that, it gave women the wrong idea and made them think that it was more than it was, but I felt like I needed to go that extra mile to close the deal with her.

My investigator got back to me pretty quickly. Zoe Amelia Harper, a twenty-eight year old woman from a small town in Pennsylvania that had moved to New York when she was twenty-two. No criminal record, single, up to date with her taxes. Her credit report wasn’t exactly the best out there, but not many people did in this economy, well apart from me. She was clean, not even a speeding ticket. Given I had just turned forty, she was a fair bit younger than me, but I had never let that stand in my way. She had a fire that most women I knew lacked, and that intrigued me.

“Yes,” I told Joseph gruffly, “I have company coming over at six, so eat your food and then it’s time to go.”

I pulled one of the plates off the tray and started eating as I ignored Joseph’s stares. I didn’t want to get into it with him right now. So we ate our food in silence, and then I gave my man his marching orders going for a quick swim to get rid of some of my excess energy before I showered and started getting ready for my guest. I changed into a pair of charcoal grey dress pants, a navy shirt buttoned at the collar and black wingtip shoes. Studying my reflection in the mirror, I added a bit of product to my hair and decided against shaving off my three-day stubble. I liked the look it gave me.

Once I was happy with my appearance, I went to the kitchen to organize the food. The apartment was already smelling heavenly when I placed the pot of soup on the stove to heat through and then went to get the table set. I decided to forgo the formal dining room as it was way too much pressure for the meal and settled on the small four-seater table I had next to the kitchen for everyday meals. I had just finished putting out the wine glasses when I heard the elevator ding signalling Zoe’s arrival, looking at the clock and smiling. She was right on time. I had given her details to the front desk downstairs and authorized them to send her up upon her arrival. They could send the elevator up here using a special key, so I didn’t have to go down and collect any guests.

I made it to the elevator just as the doors opened, and I had no words when I laid eyes on her. If it were possible for my jaw to drop to the floor, I would be picking it up off the ground right now as I took her in.

She had let down her hair, leaving it straight as a pin and cascading over her bare shoulders. Her makeup was much heavier than I had seen on her at the club, smokey eyes and bright red lipstick coating her plump, kissable lips. She was wearing a black, strapless tube dress that was so tight it could have been a second skin, hugging and showing off all of her delicious curves and resting on her upper thigh where I could see yet another tattoo poking out from underneath. My eyes trailed down her toned calves until they reached the four-inch Louie Vuitton heels on her feet. She was utter perfection on two legs.

I was bought back to reality by Zoe’s fingers clicking in front of my face, “You finished ogling me? Or do I need to invite myself in?”

I subtly wiped a bit of drool off the corner of my mouth, “Sure, please come in.”

She eyed me cautiously as she walked past me into the foyer, giving me the perfect view of her behind, and that was just as fuckable as the rest of her. This dinner could not go fast enough. My c**k was straining painfully in my pants, as anxious for dessert as I was.

I gave Zoe a quick tour of the apartment before ending up back in the kitchen, moving towards the fridge to grab out a bottle of wine and holding it up for her to see. “Can I offer you a drink? I have white or red?”

She pulled out a kitchen stool, sliding on it and crossing her legs, the bottom of her dress riding up higher. “White, please. It smells amazing in here.”

I placed the bottle on the counter, pulling a corkscrew out of the top draw and placing it beside the bottle before moving over to the table to grab the glasses. “I wish I could take the credit, but I’m hopeless in the kitchen.”

By the time I made it back to her, she was already uncorking the bottle. When she caught me staring and smirking at her, she threw me a glare, “What? I’m a bartender. It’s what I do.”

Once the cork was out, I took the bottle out of her hand, my fingers brushing against hers. “How about you let someone serve you for once.”

I poured two generous glasses, handing one to her before taking a sip of mine. “So, what made you change your mind about calling me?”

She took a small sip from her glass, leaving behind an imprint of her red lips on the glass, “Let’s just enjoy the meal first. What can I do to help?”

I walked over to the bread box, grabbing out a loaf of bread Agnes had made today before grabbing a knife out of the block and getting a chopping board, placing it on the counter in front of her. “Do you want to slice some bread while I serve up the first course?”

While she got busy, I grabbed two bowls, ladling two serves of soup into them and carrying them over to the table before returning for the wine glasses. Zoe slid off the stool and followed, placing some slices of bread in the basket in the middle of the table. I decided to be a gentleman and pulled her chair out for her and then not so gentlemanly as I used the opportunity to get a look at her cleavage while I was pushing her chair back in.

I picked up the spoon and looked at her, “Make sure you leave some room for the next course. My housekeeper makes an amazing lemon and rosemary chicken.”

I watched as her face fell, “I’m sorry, did I forget to tell you I’m a vegetarian.”

“I…Ummm..” I stammered, trying to decide what to serve her instead, when she burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry.” She giggled, “You are just so confident. I thought I would take you down a peg. Whatever is cooking smells incredible.”

“Why, you little….” I couldn’t finish the sentence. I didn’t have the words. She was definitely going to give me a run for my money.

We had a great meal, full of small talk and general flirting. By the time we moved over to the sofa for dessert and coffee, I was wound up tighter than a snare drum. Agnes had made an amazing devils food cake for dessert, I wasn’t much of a sweet tooth, but chocolate was my one weakness. Looking at Zoe, placing a forkful into her mouth was almost too much to watch. During dinner, I caught sight of Zoe’s tongue piercing, and now all I could think about was how it would feel when her mouth was wrapped around my hard c**k.

She caught me staring, blushing slightly as she took a sip of her coffee as she tried to regain her composure. “So, I called you for a specific reason.”

I smirked, placing my hand on her thigh stroking it softly with my thumb, “I’m all ears.”

“When I grabbed your phone the other day to put it behind the bar, I couldn’t help but see what you were looking up.” Zoe confessed, biting her lip, “I was wanting to see if you were seriously considering it because I wanted to offer my services.”

When she called me to catch up today, I was expecting to have her naked in my bed by the end of the night, moaning my name over and over again, not offering to rent out her womb.

I eyed her carefully, “And why would you do a thing like that?”

“Money.” She responded quickly.

“And why would I pick someone I barely know over working with an agency?” I quizzed her.

“Because you can cut through all the red tape associated with an agency.” She explained, “no interviews, no meetings, and it’s quicker. I’m young, healthy, a nonsmoker, no history of medical conditions, no interest in being a mother right now.”

“Why do you need money?” I asked curiously. No woman would offer to be a human incubator for cash unless they were desperate, and part of me wanted to protect her from whatever trouble she was in.

Zoe stood up, “That’s private. Look, I know you expected that I was coming for another reason and I’m sorry for deceiving you so I will go now. But think about what I said, the offer is on the table, and you have my number.”

Without another word, she turned, walking away from me before I could find my voice again. What she had offered had floored me, not to mention the fact that a woman left my apartment before I had a chance to see what was beneath her dress. Damn, I was losing my touch.

As I heard the elevator doors open, every part of my brain was screaming at me to go after her, but I just couldn’t do it. Not before I wrapped my head around what she said.