When The Sun Goes Down - A Midnight Mafia Novel

Chapter Thirty-Eight

                When I woke up the next morning I was alone again. I sat up and pulled Alessio's shirt around my body. I had wanted to do so last night but after I was already laying down it seemed like it would be weird. I had hardly gotten any sleep. My power nap had hardly helped that effort either. As I laid there in the darkness of the room I could focus on nothing but the way Alessio's chest rose and fell. I kept my hands on his chest and felt his heart beating beneath my hand.

I closed my eyes and matched my breathing to his, knowing that this would be the closest to a real connection we would ever get.

How damn pathetic was I?

I eventually did fall asleep and now he was gone. How he always did that, I had no clue. I used to be an extremely light sleeper. I thought I still was but Alessio seemed to be determined to prove me wrong at every able possibility.

I buttoned a few of the buttons in the middle of his shirt before trudging across the marble floor of his room and into the hallway. I had never actually been alone here before. If Alessio wasn't there with me Pietro had always showed me out or in. "Alessio?" I called lightly at first, when I got no answer I gathered the courage to say it a little louder. "Hello? Alessio?"

"Kate."

I jumped at the sound of Pietro's voice and whirled around. He had come out of a room I had already passed. "You scared me half to death!" I hissed.

"You should be grateful it was only halfway to death and not completely." He shrugged. "He's in his office."

I waited for more but he said nothing else. Just watched me expectantly. "And his office is?" I probed fighting the urge to roll my eyes.

"Three doors down on the left."

"How many rooms are in this place?" I muttered to myself as I followed Pietro's directions. I could feel his eyes still on me as I walked and I suddenly wished I would have put my skirt back on or maybe dug around Alessio's clothes to see if I could find something that would actually sort of fit me. Walking down the hall in just Alessio's shirt I felt exposed, but come to think of it, Pietro was underground with Alessio all the time. Many moons ago he had seen more of me than this.

I hesitated at a door, glanced back to Pietro who nodded to me. I knocked lightly and after a few silent moments later cracked the door open. "Alessio?" I stuck my head through the opening in the door and looked in. He was standing in front of a window behind his desk. He didn't turn around to look at me as I entered. I shut the door slowly behind me.

He knew I was here. I knew he did. He was holding a glass in his hands and he took a drink from it still ignoring me and watching the lawn.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I said softly.

He turned around to face me as if he had just now noticed me. "Katherine." He motioned towards a seat in front of his desk. I sat and felt like I was at the principal's office.

Alessio sat down across from me at his desk and I recognized his drink as scotch.

"A bit early, don't you think?" I tried to tease but he didn't look amused.

"Katherine." He had that tone. That kind of tone that usually bought along terrible news.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want you to write about anything to do with the mafia anymore."

"Is that it?" I let out a sigh of relief. "Well that's not going to happen but geez, your tone scared me! I thought you were going to say something serious."