Page 42 of Single Mom's Mafia Daddies
“Thank you.” She raised her head to catch the faint breeze. “I needed this.”
“All you have to do is ask.” I ran my fingers up the soft inner flesh of her arm. “I draw the line at foot massages, though. You’ll have to ask Renzo for that.” I pretended to shudder. “Feet. Yuck.”
Lila rolled her eyes, but a tinkling laugh slipped out. “You’re impossible.”
“There’s no such thing. I refuse to let anything be impossible.”
“Except massaging feet.” She bantered back at me with a gentle smile, the light catching her eyes and sending them dancing.
“Right. So maybe there’s one impossible thing. But I might be able to make an exception. For you.” I held up my free hand. “Only for you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She swung our hands back and forth and followed along behind Leo, always keeping him in sight. “I worry what happens when this is over and I have to take him back to the real world.”
“Why would you do that?” Genuine worry shoved aside all the happy go lucky that I used as a front to hide my real self. “I thought you were happy here.”
“Happy?” A tiny head shake, then a sigh. “This place is remarkable. You’re remarkable. But this isn’t real.” She waved at the house almost glowing in the fading light. “This is all a dream. A nightmare.”
“What about Leo?” I pushed despite knowing better. “Isn’t Alessio his father?”
The timing matched up from their time together, and Leo looked too alike to Alessio to deny it. We just needed Lila to admit it, to quit covering obvious truths so we could begin to truly move forward.
She stopped abruptly and released my hand. “That’s none of your business.”
Which meant yes. I’d watched her long enough to know more than she suspected. I’d seen how her eyes went soft when she saw Leo and Alessio together. I knew that look, and if Alessio wasn’t Leo’s father, there was no reason to avoid and deflect from the question.
“I’m here for you, Lila. Whatever you need.” It was the best I had to offer, and I refused to continue pushing and risk pushing her away with questions when the answers changed nothing about my feelings.
Relief crashed over her expression and sent her into my arms. “Thank you.”
I nuzzled her neck and held her as close as I dared. We stood out in the open, but I trusted Renzo’s fences and gates to protect us, for my tech to ensure we’re alone. Rattling from the front gate drew me away from Lila. I faced the sound and eased her behind me. Even from across the yard, I recognized Alessio’s car. Still, something about the way the driver inched up the asphalt and around to the front entrance set my nerves on edge. “Get Leo inside.”
She called the boy to her and rushed to meet him, hurrying toward the side door and into the house with me so close on her heels I nearly tripped us both.
I checked my pockets for the weapons I’d started wearing two months ago and motioned for Lila to stay behind me. Dammit I didn’t have my phone on me to check the security system. “I’m going to see who it is. Stay here.” The need to protect her obliterated everything else. “Promise me.”
“I promise.” She cradled Leo in her arms. “What if it’s bad. How will I know?”
“If you hear shots, get to the panic room.” I considered giving her a gun, but hesitated. She’d gotten a kill shot last time, but I didn’t know if it was beginner’s luck or actual training, and I didn’t want to risk her shooting Leo on accident. “It’s probably Alessio and Renzo, but I want to be sure.” They hadn’t been gone long enough.
“I can watch your back,” Leo piped up. “I did good last time.”
“You were amazing last time.” I chucked him under the chin. “And I appreciate the offer, but I need you to stay here this time.”I pushed through the front door and stopped on the stoop. The stretch of stairs gave me the high ground, but I was exposed while the driver remained safer in the enclosed space with the tinted windows hiding him from view.
The passenger side window rolled down. “Matteo, it’s Lawrence.”
I jumped down the steps at the sight of the familiar face. “What are you doing out? Robert drove Alessio and Renzo.”
“They called me in. Sent me with a message.” The black suit stretched taut over his shoulders, his fingers flexing on the wheel. “The Verducci syndicate has put a bounty on Leo’s life.”
My body turned to ice. I tried to move, but his words locked me in place. Their own attack on us was one thing, but a bounty changed the game.
I had to tell Lila. That thought broke the shackles and forced me into action, sending me crashing up the steps and through the front door where she stood waiting.
“What happened?” Her voice trembled but she stood rigid.
I had to tell her. It was the right thing to do. She needed to know. Alessio would hide the truth, but I couldn’t do that to her. “They’re not just after Alessio. There’s a bounty on Leo.”
“What does that mean?” Every bit of color in her cheeks fled.