Chapter 8 Green Card

• Mia POV
• A beat of silence hung in the air, and then Albert cleared his throat, the stiffness in his posture momentarily forgotten.
• "I had some… visa issues in the past. Overstayed my welcome, shall we say. Makes it difficult to get the proper channels to help me again. Marriage seemed like a faster, more efficient solution."
• It sounded reasonable enough, especially considering the world he navigated. That probably also explained why he needed me to pretend to be his wife in public. I guess getting married for a green card would look bad for someone with wealthy and criminal clients.
• The following hours were a whirlwind of unpacking and settling in. One thing that surprised me was the lack of a staff presence. Albert told me he preferred fewer people in the house. A regular cleaning lady came in once a week, but that was it. The vast, opulent space felt oddly empty at times, the silence broken only by the soft hum of the air conditioning.
• Albert helped me organize my new room. There wasn't much to organize, but he seemed delighted to look at the few pictures I had. Seeing him like that ignited a spark of… something unexpected. He was surprisingly down-to-earth despite operating in the mafia world.
• He picked up a faded photograph. It was me, much younger and beaming next to my mother.
• "Your mother?" he asked, his voice soft.
• The question triggered a bittersweet pang in my chest.
• "Yes," I replied, a small smile playing on my lips.
• "Do you mind telling me about her? How'd you get into such a state?"
• My lips twitched. "We always struggled. She was a single mother in this city. Not many options for work... " I hesitated, then continued, a torrent of words spilling out. "Raising me was a huge financial burden. Then, I started school, and then she had kidney issues. The treatment, the medication, the dialysis, and all made it hard for her to work. The bills piled up no matter how much I worked."
• I hadn't planned on sharing this much, but something about Albert's presence, his unexpected empathy, drew me in.
• He listened intently; his expression was unreadable. When I finished, there was a long silence, a silence that held a strange understanding.
• "Sounds like you had a rough childhood," he finally said, his voice low and unexpectedly gentle. There was a hint of something in his eyes that I couldn't quite decipher – maybe a flicker of shared experience, a shadow of his own past.
• I shrugged, forcing a smile. "It's all in the past now. Things are looking up."
• It wasn't entirely a lie. Between Albert's money and his protection, since we met, I had never felt safer. Even though he had his hands in the criminal underground, he was nothing like the men he worked with.
• "Well, yes. Since we have been married legally, your mother's bills will be paid sooner rather than later. It'll be something less to worry about."
• Relief washed over me, warm and unexpected. Albert's reassurance about following through on my mother's bills felt like a lifeline. I'd known it was there, but just hearing it felt like the weight that had been a constant presence on my shoulders lightened. I could almost breathe. Tears welled up in my eyes, threatening to spill over.
• I found one of her bills and shuddered, handing it silently to him.
• "Thank you, Albert," I choked out, my voice thick with emotion.
• He reached out, taking the page from my hand.
• "Don't," he said simply. "It's what I owe you."
• Albert POV
• I'd never been drowned in debt, but I knew what it felt like to be powerless to help your mother. It was nice that we had common ground.
• Her life had been hard, but I was glad that money was really her only worry. Unlike me, her mother was still alive. She could save her, and she didn't have a father like mine who would just as soon shoot me in the back as smile in my face.
• The guilt returned. She may have needed the money, and there was no guarantee that whoever Ivan found would have been willing to pay her all of what she needed, but at least she wouldn't be involved with this mess.
• All I could do was protect her for the next two years and beyond that if I hadn't managed to get rid of Dimitri by then.
• "How about a tour?"
• She nodded.
• I gave her a casual tour of the penthouse, pointing out the various amenities, like the hot tub on the heated section of the balcony with the breathtaking view of the city. She followed me, and as we came up the second to last room, I winced.
• I'd forgotten the gun room.
• Mia POV
• "What's in there?" I asked, leaning around Albert to look at the heavy oak door with a gleaming brass lock. I looked up at me.
• "Oh, just some… old things," he said. "Personal items, you know, stuff I don't use anymore."
• My lips twitched, a hint of a smile playing on them. "Like what? A collection of antique taxidermy?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "Or maybe a secret room full of first-edition Jane Austen novels?"
• He chuckled and shook his head. "You'll have to try a bit harder, be a little bit more creative."
• "A shrine to... bubble gum?" He snorted. "Or perhaps…"
• I trailed off, wiggling my eyebrows. "A secret playroom?"
• He smirked and leaned close, dropping his voice as our gazes met. The amusement in his eyes vanished, replaced with something I couldn't name. My face heated. The air crackled with a sudden awareness, an unspoken tension that surprised me. Leaning in even closer, he brushed a stray strand of hair from my cheek. His voice was a low rumble.
• "What if it is?" He murmured. "Would you want to take a look, or would you be scared?"