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Gino dropped me off for work ten minutes early so I went to the kitchen and said good morning to Donny.

When he saw me he sighed.

"You're lucky they liked you, Lilly. Or it could have been you in the trunk of a car. I'm glad you're okay," he said. I ignored what he said because I didn't want my thoughts to start snowballing. So, I quickly changed the subject to what was simmering since last night.

"Donny, you called Enzo 'boss'. Are you in the mafia too?" I questioned.

He nodded once and put his finger to his lips. I widened my eyes and nodded. I never pictured Donny as a mobster.

"Wait! WAS SAMPSON IN IT TOO?!" I couldn't help but scream out.

"Shhhh! You can't be yelling stuff about the business, Lilly! But, no, he wasn't. He was just friends with the previous owners- aka the previous mob boss- Enzo's father. And before you ask, yes he knew they were mafia."

I gasped at this information. Sampson knew but never told me anything. A head's up would have been appreciated. Gosh! I can't believe he kept that a secret from me.

I thought about it. I thought about all this new information throughout the day while I worked. Donny was the temporary manager until Enzo hired a new one. He was fair though, similar to Sampson. I didn't mind him playing manager.

The week passed quickly enough. It went by fast because Enzo came in every day.

He'd come close during closing time when the restaurant was emptied out, and ask me to sit with him each time. Then he'd order dinner for the both of us, and we'd sit there with the whole palace to ourselves.

It was nice, cozy for sure. We settled into that pattern easily, him coming every day to eat with me. I wasn't sure if he considered it a date. But it felt awfully intimate.

And being alone with him made my insides hot and nervous in the best way.

We'd talk about anything and everything at our little dinners.

He made me feel comfortable and safe when he was there at closing time. I didn't feel like I had to be scared of what was lurking in the dark when Enzo was around me.

I never had to take the train at night anymore, either. He drove me home each night and would walk me to my door.

It was nicer than taking the train all the way to Manhattan so late.

Friday finally rolled around and my shift went by slower than I'd wished it to. It felt like days. But, eventually, 2:30 rolled around and Enzo walked through the restaurant doors, followed by his brothers.

They looked ao intimidating in the small room. Some of the people eating looked down trying to avoid eye contact, while others blatantly stared at them.

I waved happily at them, and they waved back, returning my expression. Enzo walked up to me and kissed my hand, then my cheek too.

I blushed uncontrollably. Alessio, Stefano, and Dante hugged me tightly, lifting me off my feet.

"You guys are early. I don't get off till 3," I said, a little confused.

"Well, if you want to leave early, you can," Alessio suggested.

"I can't just leave, Alessio," I laughed, thinking he was joking.

"Yeah, you can. Who's gonna stop you? Your boss? Tell Donny to talk to Enzo."

"No, I need to finish my shift," I frowned.

Alessio let out a dramatic sigh and I rolled my eyes.

"We will wait in the car, okay, Bella?" Enzo asked.

I nodded.

"I'll come out as soon as I finish."

"Ugh, fine. We'll be right outside," Alessio faked a whine of defeat.

I giggled and went back to work. There were only 20 minutes left of my shift when Donny came out of the kitchen and told me to leave, and he wouldn't dock me the ten minutes. I tried to argue, but he practically kicked me out of the door.

I walked up to the four men waiting outside, with my duffle bag hanging over my shoulder. Stefano reached out and grabbed it, throwing it in the back seat of an SUV. I thanked him and got inside the car. There were no bodyguards this time so I didn't have to sit on Enzo's lap, much to my secret disappointment.

"Do you have any other cars, like fun ones?" I teased Enzo, who was sitting to my left.

"You hear this, guys?" he rolled his eyes.

"Well, do you?" I implored, feeling more curious over his response.

"Yes, we do. All different colors and types. Next time I pick you up, I will come in a flashier car. I can't have you thinking I'm boring," he declared with a chuckle.

I lit up with excitement.

"Really?!" I said, practically bouncing in my seat. "I really like fast cars. Oh, and convertibles," I squeaked, trying hard not to babble on.

"Hmmm, maybe we can go for a race then," Enzo joked but I nodded eagerly.

That would be so exciting. I'd love that. Enzo's eyebrows raised in shock but he looked impressed by my reaction and shrugged an okay.

"Any color requests?" he mused with a lazy smile.

"I don't know... surprise me," I winked at him. He laughed and nodded. Jesus, how many cars did this man have that I could pick a damn color?

Eventually, they started arguing about who has the superior collection, and I stopped listening. I watched out of the window when we got to Manhattan.

The sun wasn't setting yet, but the skyscrapers still looked as glittery as ever. I watched the sun reflect off of the shiny buildings while we drove deeper into Manhattan.

The ride was quick from there, and before I knew it we pulled up in front of some fancy-ass skyscraper. The building was sleek and dark grayish-blue. It was so pretty, of course, Enzo lived here. I wasn't surprised at all.

I could never imagine being able to live in a place like this. His rent was surely more than my entire tuition.

I suddenly felt self-conscious of Enzo seeing my dorm room. That's embarrassing, to say the least.

Holy shit...

Enzo lifted my hand in his, pulling me out of my insecure thoughts. We got out of the car and he led to to the front of the building, through the lobby, and to the elevator. His brothers followed in toe.

The doorman smiled and nodded at all of them, then smiled kindly at me. I smiled back, but the boys all just nodded, barely looking in his direction.

It was kind of rude.

When we got inside the elevator it was a tight squeeze with all five of us.

They all took up so much space.

Enzo pulled a card out of his pocket and pushed it into the slot under all of the elevator buttons.

The top button that said 'PENTHOUSE' lit up yellow and the elevator started moving. I had my duffle bag hanging on my shoulder with my change of clothes, so I could get comfortable.

When the doors opened, my mouth was left hanging open. I think my jaw actually hit the floor.

His apartment- which shouldn't even be called an apartment- was gorgeous.

All light gray walls with dark blue and black furniture. The couch was navy velvet and it was huge with gray pillows on it.

I figured we would watch the movie here. The couch could easily fit 10 people.

The layout of the apartment was very open and overall spacious from what I could see.

Enzo was still holding my hand lightly in his. I looked up at him, "your apartment is so beautiful, Enzo."

He smiled at me and mumbled a thank you.

"Do you want me to give you a tour now or after we watch the movie?"

"After?" I said, not really having a preference. Plus, I didn't want to keep the guys waiting.

He nodded, still not letting go of my hand. It was comforting to feel his warm hand envelop my small one.

"Do you want to go change out of your work clothes? The bathroom is right there," Enzo nods his chin at a door past the kitchen.

"Yeah, um..what are you guys gonna put on? I brought pajamas and sweatpants. I wasn't sure." I said awkwardly.

"I'm gonna throw on my pajama pants, and they probably are too," Enzo suggested. His brothers nodded and walked off down one of the hallways to change, I guessed.

I nodded and went to the door Enzo pointed to.

I quickly changed into my pajamas. It was a sage green cotton set of sleep shorts and a button-down pajama shirt. They definitely weren't sexy, but they were shorter than I remembered.

I sighed and pulled them down as much as I could.

Maybe I dried them by accident and they shrunk. Ugh. I debated putting on my sweatpants but decided to just deal with it instead.

When I came out of the bathroom, I saw all of them lounging on the couch in the living room. They were all wearing pajama pants and t-shirts or hoodies.

Enzo had green plaid pajama pants and a white fitted short sleeve t-shirt. He looked delicious.

His tattoos on his huge muscular arms were on display. I looked away trying not to stare, but he was so sexy.

My face heated up with embarrassment when I looked back up to see him smirking. His brothers got up from the couch when they realized I was out of the bathroom.

None of them said anything about my pajamas or looked at me weirdly like I was worried about.

I was glad they didn't make it weird. Or make me uncomfortable.

"Come on let's go to the movie room," Alessio pushed, clearly excited.

As if my jaw couldn't get any lower to the floor. Who the fuck has a 'movie room' in their house. Now I was really embarrassed by my tiny dorm he saw.

"I thought we were just gonna sit on the couch," I mumbled to no one specifically.

Enzo whispered to me, "they like to watch movies in the theater when they come here. But if you want to watch it on the couch we can. It's up to you."

"No, I really want to see this theater room you have. I'm honestly so jealous," I whispered back with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay, come on. Stop telling each other secrets and making heart eyes at each other. I wanna watch the movie," Stefano complained.

Enzo chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

"I was just saying how big your nose is, Stefano," I laughed. "Wondering you you got that turtleneck on over your head."

His face lit up with humor and he chuckled.

"Touche, Lilly," he laughed.

I winked at him with a smirk.