Don's Only Sin

"That handsome Italian is here again. Oh my gosh! He's looking over here!"

I didn't need to look because I knew who it was. I also didn't want to have to tell Janae that he wasn't Italian but Sicilian, because then she'd know that I lied about not knowing him. He probably would have had Janae's tongue for mistaking him for an Italian. 

He's Alfio Castello, and he is fiercely proud and protective of his heritage. 

He's also a psychopath who would come to the bar once every evening to watch me work. 

"He's looking at you. Girl, are you sure you don't know this man?" She asked over the melodic baritone of Bill Withers singing through the speakers. 

I wish I didn't, I thought to myself while filling out more cups with coffee for the window tables. 

Well, in truth, I didn't really know him. I know his half-brother, Luca Castello, who is now my brother-in-law. I know he's a mafia don. Apart from this, I know nothing else about Mr. Alfio Castello. 

Except, of course, the fact that he is terribly handsome with a face that would make a woman weep before she gives in to sin. 

And he's also a creep. 

It's not the first time Alfio Castello has come here to play creep on me and every time he does that I've been playing this game called 'if I can't see him, he can't see me.'

Yet this time seems different. Something about his piercing stare on my back tells me that. 

He's been here longer than he usually stays, and he hasn't looked away from me once, not even when I had to go around the counter to serve another customer just to avoid him. 

Tonight was sadly not a busy night, so avoiding Alfio's gaze wasn't easy. It was a Monday night and Mondays in Mattie's diner are the slowest days. 

Alfio has never come on a Monday before. He prefers to conceal himself in the corner while he watches me work, probably thinking I won't notice him. 

No, he's smarter than that. He knows I can see him, and he doesn't care. 

Mattie's is a faith - based subsidiary of a bigger charity organization that helps troubled young girls like me. 

What did you think? 

How did I get here in New York with New York's most powerful mafia lord creeping on me? You didn't think it's because I've been a good girl, did you? 

I've caused my fair share of trouble. That's why I'm here; to change my life, to start afresh, not just for myself, but in the hopes that my sister, Francesca Elaise - she goes by Francesca Castello now - would forgive me. 

It's a long story, but let me save you the stress of the gist. I was the reason her ex-boyfriend died. I got her into trouble... I'm the reason she ran to mafia boss Luca Castello in the first place. 

I guess things turned out well though, since they are now married. 

No, she did not invite me to the wedding. 

I'm not delusional. I know I deserve it after everything I've done to her. That's why I'm making things change. I want to make things right and the only way to do that is to show Fran that I am sincere about turning a new leaf. 

Which is why having Alfio Castello here is a big problem. 

His presence here is everything I'm trying to avoid. He's bringing the shadows of the past back to life. 

 I'm done with gangs, done with gang members. I want a normal life as a law-abiding citizen, and I'll do whatever it takes to achieve that. And if that means I have to avoid my half-brother-in-law, because not only is he a don, he's also...well, my body betrays me every time he's near. 

"Oh my God," Harmony sighed wistfully as she came round the counter carrying a tray of empty beer cups and oily plates. She dramatically clutched her chest. "My God Faith, he's here again?"

I rolled my eyes pretending to be busy with the cash register. 

"And he hasn't looked away for a single second. My God, if he looks at me with those eyes I'll melt, I swear."

Like I wasn't already melting inside. It was hard enough pretending that I didn't know he existed. It was even worse now that my friends wouldn't shut up about him. 

"I'll take him over Emilio any day."

"Oh my gosh yes! I mean Emilio is hot as heck, but this guy? He's a hundred degrees hotter. Where do you meet these men, Faith?"

I pushed past Janae, ignoring her question as I grabbed a tray to go attend to a customer who had just walked in. 

Emilio. 

Now that's another man in my life. He's the doctor under Luca Castello's payroll who nursed me back to life after the bloody events in Los Angeles. He's the reason I don't walk with a limp anymore. 

We had a fling after my close brush with death, and he's the reason I'm working to get into med school. But with Alfio in the picture, my conflicting feelings for him and my decision to avoid mob men as much as I can, I had to break things off with him. 

I'm done being that selfish girl who takes advantage of people, who is unappreciative of her sister. This is a new Faith. I'm starting afresh on a clean slate. 

So I avoided Alfio's table, leaving that part of the diner to the other girls, who gladly accepted, doing anything to attend to Alfio even though he didn't order anything. 

My shift was set to end after another hour. When, 30 minutes before 10pm, Alfio rose from his seat in the shadowed corner of the shop and walked away, I heaved a sigh of relief but at the same time, the warning bells in my head went off. 

As I said, something about tonight seems different. He hasn't stayed this long before, and he has never come on a Monday. 

He's on a mission and I fear that I am about to once again be entangled in a world of crime and mobsters. 

I made up my mind even before 10pm finally arrived to use the back door. For all I know, Alfio was in the parking lot waiting for me to emerge from the front door. 

"Are you leaving now?" Janae asked, coming out of the kitchen with another tray of food. She stopped short when she saw me with my backpack on my way back from the changing room. I hadn't even changed out of my uniform; black jeans and white shirt with the name Mattie's written in red across the chest. 

She eyed my appearance with surprise and with concern.. 

"Yeah I am."

"But we were supposed to go home together."

"I know I'm sorry," I reached out to hold her hand. 

Her eyes clouded with suspicion. "Is it because of the Italian? Is he waiting outside for you?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm trying to escape him." And then I had a great idea. "Janae, do me a favor please."

She shook her head. "Why should I do you a favor when you're leaving me? Girl, get your favor done by yourself."

She made to leave, but I stepped in her path, desperate. The last thing I want is Alfio luring me to some corner. The man is dangerous not just in mob circles but to my body. 

I can't promise that I won't give in if he lifts my chin with his finger and kisses me with those sensual full lips of his. 

"Janae, come on please! This is serious. That guy is..." The girls didn't know the details about my troubled past. They didn't have to know some of the terrible things I've done in the past. For a year now they've been my friends, my only family. Janae is no longer just a friend or a roommate, she's my sister now. 

She made a face, cocking her hips to the side. 

"What do you want?"

"Can you help me check if Al...that guy is still here? He went out earlier. I want to make sure he's not in the parking lot."

"Fine. But you owe me."

"And I'll pay you, trust me."

"You had better. Let me deliver this food, okay?"

Before she left, I pulled her back. "If you see a black car or if it's any color at all, as long as it looks expensive, sleek, too good to be in this neighborhood, that's him."

She raised a brow. "You sure you don't know this guy? You never told us if you knew him at all."

"I've never met him before," I lied. "But this is New York, you can't be too careful when a stranger is showing too much interest in you."

"Alright. You're right. I'll check."

"Thank you. Thank you," I gushed. "I owe you big time."

"You had better remember that."

She went to deliver the food to the customers, then made her way to the door, opened it and looked out into the parking lot. 

I paced behind the counter for her and when she returned she shook her head. 

"Looks like he's gone." She gave me a concerned look. "You're sure you want to be going home alone? I don't care how handsome that dude is, if he's scary, you shouldn't be going out alone."

I didn't want to give Alfio the chance to come back and catch me unawares. This was my chance to leave. 

Tomorrow I'll file a report to Mr. Matthew Keegan, the owner of our charity, to get Alfio to stop coming here. 

I know it's a long shot. After all, he does have the right to come and sit in the diner. I'll just have to make Mr. Matthew gets the impression that the girls and I are threatened by Alfio's weekly presence in the diner. 

"I'll be fine," I assured her. 

She came round the counter to give me a hug. "Be safe."

"I will. I'll make dinner by the time you return."

She grinned. "Well, that's great. You still owe me though. See ya."

I made my way to the hot, sweaty kitchen, found the back door, opened it, looked out and stepped out once I was sure it was safe to do so. 

The night outside was blacker than midnight already. It's been that way since fall started and now, at the end of October, the air was getting colder, crispier while trees shed their leaves, but that did not stop New Yorkers from crowding the streets in coats, gloves and scarves. 

I didn't have time to change into my street clothes, but I'd be home in no time if I walked fast enough. 

I stepped on the curb behind the diner and began to make my way home. I looked over my shoulder once to make sure that I wasn't being followed by Alfio. 

There was no sign of him. 

I heaved a sigh of relief. God, I just hope he never comes back to the diner. 

My strides quickened. I squeezed my arms around my body, hugging myself when the chill began to seep into my bones. My fingers were cold, the tip of my nose was cold, and the faster I moved, the more the cold sank into my flesh. 

Ugh, I should have at least taken the time to wear my coat. 

D*mn you Alfio Castello. 

I looked over my shoulder again to convince myself that he hadn't somehow caught up with me. For a man of his size, he moves faster than lightning. Thankfully, there was no sign of him among the faces of the people behind me. 

I started to turn toward the front again when I caught sight of a sleek black car driving slower than the others on the road, almost at the curb. 

My heart fell. 

Oh, God! No!. 

I couldn't see the driver through the tinted glass, but there's no way in hell this isn't Alfio's car; 10 to 1 it's his. 

I quickened my footsteps, nearly losing my balance when I ran into something solid in front of me. 

It wasn't a wall. It was solid muscles. 

"I - I... Sorry," I said quickly and tried to sidestep. 

But the person moved again, blocking my path and even before I looked up, the familiar sound of his voice made my heart quicken in my chest. 

"You're still as sneaky as ever, bedda."

That voice, that baritone, the seductive language that rolled off his tongue as easily as it had that day in LA.

Oh God, all I wanted was to escape this man. Why did I have to run into him? 

I fell back, cranking my neck back to glare at him even though my heart skipped a beat when those smoky gray eyes zeroed in on my face, crinkling at the corners when a smile pulled his s*xy, full lips up. 

"Move!" I said firmly. 

"Get in the car," he countered, no trace of Sicilian in his words. 

I looked around for help. Everyone hunched over themselves in the cold minding their business, not caring that a young 20-year-old woman was about to be abducted. 

The car had come to a stop beside us and the driver came around to open the backdoor. 

For a brief moment, I flirted with the idea of screaming, but behind the amusement in Alfio's eyes was something far more dangerous. Something that warned me not to be stupid. 

I may be reckless, but I'm not an idiot. 

Without a word, I turned around, walked to the car and stepped in, moving as far away to the other side as possible. 

Alfio got in behind me. 

The door shut, shrouding us in darkness and mystery. I fought the urge to swallow down in fear. 

When he raised his hand to knock on the roof of the car, the driver started the engine, guiding the car seamlessly into the night traffic. 

And just like that, I was abducted right in the face of several New Yorkers, all of whom did not to prevent it. 

I turned to him one more time, considered my options, saw that I had no choice, then sighed. 

Fine, he wants me to surrender? I'll surrender, but I won't make this easy for him. 

"Care to explain why I've been abducted? And while we are on that, maybe explain why you've been stalking me for months," I asked after a long uncomfortable silence, one in which I was painfully conscious of the man sitting beside me. 

And how could I not be? He was huge. It's been a year since I last saw him, but I remember that he stood over 6 feet tall. His half-brother, Luca Castello, was 6 feet. Alfio towered over him by several inches, so maybe 6'4 or 6'5. On top of that, his huge frame filled out his wool coat. No need for shoulder pads for Alfio Castello when his broad shoulders filled his coat to perfection. 

He laid gloved hands on his thighs and said nothing throughout. Not a single word of explanation, not an apology for snatching me off the street. 

This is the arrogance of the Castello men. 

Even Gio - when he was still alive - was just as arrogant. And I made the mistake of trusting him. 

I won't make that mistake anymore. Luca Castello m