Page 21 of Single Mom’s Mafia Daddies (The Forbidden Reverse Harem Collection #22)
LILA
T he walls closed in as another Monday bled into Tuesday.
Weeks had passed since Alessio walked back into my life, and I had nothing to show for it except getting shot at, killing a man, and waking up this morning to realize I was three weeks late for my period.
A sense of foreboding clamped down on my body, tensing every muscle.
I brushed it off as stress, but when I tried to sit up and nausea sent me running to the bathroom, I had to face facts.
It took longer than usual to shower and dress because I kept having to stop and lean over the toilet to empty my cramping stomach. By the time I left my room, Leo waited for me in the hallway, his eyes bright and shining with the new adventures he’d found impossible to resist in the massive house.
Renzo and Matteo stood at the far end of the hallway, their contrasting frames begging for my attention.
I’d barely spoken to them since our night in the bunker.
What was I supposed to say? I didn’t regret anything, but I couldn’t let it change the truth.
Once this was over, I had every intention of returning to my life and taking Leo with me.
Leo bounded down the hallway, his dark hair flopping with glide on his new skates.
“Can we go outside now? I want to try them!” He pointed at his skates and tried to roll onto the carpet.
He lurched and staggered, his laughter happy as he toppled sideways onto the nearest padded chair.
“Matteo, help.” He held out his arms and waited for Matteo to walk over and take his hands.
The easy grin never left Matteo’s face as he pulled Leo up and guided him down the hallway. “Why don’t I carry you down the stairs. Don’t want you taking a tumble.” He swept Leo up and broke into a loping jog. “You coming, Lila?”
“Be right there.” I stopped alongside Renzo, stuffing the suffocation down where he wouldn’t be able to see it. How was I supposed to keep Leo entertained without falling apart? The uncertainty was too much. Knowing for sure had to be better than this.
Matteo’s laughter matched Leo’s. The two of them raced each other across the foyer, with Leo skating on the white tile and Matteo running behind, letting Leo win every time.
“Something wrong?” Renzo remained as stiff and unyielding as ever, the soldier in him refusing to relent. A part of me wished he would return to the softer, devoted man during that night as he made love to me, but I didn’t want to bring up those feelings between us again.
I’d come to respect his rough exterior and trust his abilities, and now I needed his help. Though I knew what Alessio would say about me leaving the house, this was something I had to take care of myself. “I need to go out. To the pharmacy.”
“Oh?” Nothing moved except his lips and a single tick of his eyebrow. “Why?”
I gave him a point-blank stare. “You really want me to explain?” I forced out a wry chuckle when he refused to answer. “I need women stuff, Renzo. You got a problem with that?”
Silence met my statement.
I gave him time to process what I’d said. Knowing him, he was working out the complications of letting me leave the house versus getting one of his men to go out and buy me tampons. I had to convince him to let me leave, and to let me go into the pharmacy alone.
“I refuse to be a prisoner in this house, and I’m not sending a man to buy my tampons. They’ll probably get the wrong ones.” I turned on my heel. “Make it happen, Renzo.”
I left it there without voicing my full threat. Make it happen or I’d find my own way…without him.
“Are you ready now?” He caught up to me at the top of the stairs. “I can have a car meet us around front.”
“Let’s go.” I took my time on the stairs and called down to Leo and Matteo. “Can you watch Leo for me? I’ll be back soon.”
Questions crossed Matteo’s face, but he nodded. “Sure.”
“Thank you.” I hugged and kissed Leo, much to his dismay. He’d become less accepting of affection since spending time with Matteo, Renzo, and Alessio. It broke my heart to see him trying so hard to be tough.
“Can I get one of those?” Matteo held out his arms and hugged me before I had a chance to protest. While Leo stood with his mouth hanging open, Matteo kissed my cheek. “Be careful.”
My heart soared as Leo snapped his mouth shut and ran to throw his arms around my waist. “Love you, Mama. Be careful.”
“I love you too.” I patted his head and knelt to give him a real hug then tickled his belly until he wiggled and laughed.
Renzo waited for me at the front door, his silent presence pushing down the chaos taking over my mind. His piercing gaze took in everything on our way out the door, down the steps, and into the car. Neither of us spoke during the twenty-minute drive.
I purchased tampons, chocolate, and a pregnancy test, hoping that more than one purchase would hide my prize. Renzo shadowed me through the pharmacy, giving me space but staying close enough to knock me to the ground during another gun fight.
If Renzo suspected anything, he kept quiet about it during the drive back. I rushed into my room, closed and locked the door, and sprinted to the bathroom, unwilling to wait until tomorrow morning even though I should if I wanted a true result.
Ten minutes later, I sat on the edge of the bed with the test in both hands and my lungs refusing to work.
A faint positive showed on the test, the tiny line shooting daggers of fear that mingled with an impossible feeling of hope.
Fear overruled in the end, and I wrapped the test up in layers of toilet paper, then a pad, until I’d made a mess that I was sure no one would bother to find.
I stuffed the whole thing down into the middle of the trash can and washed my hands.
If Renzo thought I was up to something, I wouldn’t put it past him to inform Alessio.
Would they bother to pilfer my trash in search of the truth?
I remembered the way Alessio looked at Leo and I had my answer.
Nothing stopped him once he made up his mind.
I had no choice but to keep my pregnancy a secret.
We’d been shot at and almost killed. The new life growing inside me brought too many complications to an already tense situation. Once I knew the truth about the danger closing in, I’d come clean.
“Lila.” Renzo called my name in that low rasp of his that brought images of his body over mine to mind and sent a rush of heat to my core.
I stopped in the middle of the foyer and turned to face him. “What?”
He touched my elbow using nothing but the tips of his fingers and guided me closer to the closed door leading to the study. “You need to be careful.”
“Excuse me?” When was I not careful? The question rested on the tip of my tongue, ready to jump out at a moment’s notice.
Renzo shifted his weight from his wounded leg to his good one, the subtle movement making me swallow the question. “The house isn’t as secure as Alessio wants you to believe.”
My jaw unhinged so fast it popped. “What do you mean?” I’d been on edge since the assault, but this threatened to push me over. “You think they’ll get in again?”
“I can’t say for sure.” Renzo almost never touched me, but he rested his hands on my shoulders and squeezed.
“Keep Leo close. If Alessio gives you an order, follow it. Do not hesitate.” He leaned closer to look deep into my eyes.
“If you don’t trust anything else I ever tell you, trust that Alessio will put yours and Leo’s safety first no matter what. ”
“You’re scaring me.” To prove my point, a ripple of fear twisted my body beneath his hands.
“Good.” He didn’t smile, didn’t move at all, but I felt the threat building in him, the dangerous side that I’d seen when he threw himself into the line of fire and came out mostly unscathed.
“Fear is a motivator. Use it to keep you and Leo safe, but don’t let it convince you that we are your enemies. ”
His quiet intensity unnerved me, but it also cemented my tentative trust in him. He’d given me the truth. Harsh though it sounded, he’d warned me when Alessio preferred to keep me in the dark with his constant reassurances that no one was getting into the house a second time.
I’d never believed we were truly safe here, and I respected Renzo for admitting it to me.
Voices trickled out from the study, and I leaned into Renzo to hear better.
“You found them? You’re sure?” Alessio asked.
“As sure as I can be without laying eyes on them myself.” I didn’t recognize the voice.
“Who’s that?” I whispered into Renzo’s ear.
His lips brushed my cheek, his breath shivering through me. “Colton. One of Matteo’s men. He’s in charge of cyber recon when Matteo is busy.”
“The Verduccis have been known to hole up in a small mansion on the other side of town. I started there and tracked visual movement to an abandoned church five miles away. If you dig deep enough, records show Vincenzo bought the church ten years ago. Nothing has been mentioned since, but I found a shell corporation funding renovations though there’s been no visible work on the church itself.
” Colton’s voice had that low, quick quality of a man reciting from a list.
My mouth dried up at the mention of the Verduccis. I’d heard Alessio mention them as the ones responsible for the attack. They were the ones who wanted Leo.
“I’ll take Renzo and investigate.” Alessio’s familiar steps moved back and forth in front of the door. “Matteo will be in charge here. Check in with him on your way out.”
“Yes, sir.” The tone changed to one of subservience. “Anything else you need?”
“Not yet.”
Renzo dragged me away from the door and into the kitchen where Matteo and Leo were busy baking cookies. The sight of Matteo in an apron, flour on his cheek, and his hands deep in a bowl of cookie dough, shocked me into stillness.
Alessio walked in behind me and strode straight to Matteo. With a grin at Leo, he pulled Renzo to the side, his voice barely reaching me. “Keep an eye on the house. If anything happens, you answer to me.”
The easy-going version of Matteo dropped faster than a bowling ball over a bridge. “Yes, sir.”
Leo scooped cookie dough onto a pan, oblivious to the danger closing in around us. I loved that for him and swore to do everything in my power to make sure he continued to live that happy, carefree life. Same for the new baby I hid behind secrets and lies.
Alessio approached with a warm smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I need to borrow Renzo for a while.”
“Anything wrong?” I asked.
“Just checking something out.” It was the truth but not all of it.
He deliberately kept me in the dark, probably to keep me from worrying, but how was I supposed to protect myself and Leo if he never told me the gritty reality of the threats?
It only strengthened my decision to keep the baby a secret.
I trusted them to protect us, but his reluctance proved that he didn’t think I was capable.
A sinking feeling tugged on my chest. Why did I feel like this was just the beginning?