Page 106 of Vows of a Mobster

I stepped into the bathroom and lowered myself onto my knee. “Brianna,” I barely whispered but her gaze snapped open. Her lip trembled while she tried to force a smile. I brushed my thumb across her lower lip.

“Can I stay with you here?” If she told me to get lost, I would. But fuck, I didn’t want to. She was hurting, her daughter was hurting; I wanted to help.

Her hand reached out and took mine, bringing it to her lips. My heart swelled and I knew there was no going back. I was hers and she was mine. There would never be another one for me. I lowered myself down and sat down onto the cold tiled floor next to her. I gently pulled Brianna closer to me, wrapping her and her daughter into my arms.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, swallowing hard. Her deep, brown eyes shone with tears she was desperate to hold back.

“Shhh,” I murmured into her hair as she laid her head onto my chest. “I got you.”

I will make it better, I promise.

Thirty-Five

Declan

“And she asked for my mother?” I questioned again the neighbor that lived next to my cousin. The house sat empty for years, and nobody ever came looking.

“Yes, she asked if I knew Mr. or Mrs. Sullivan’s sister. She called her by her name, Aoife. When I told her I don’t, she asked if I knew Mrs. Sullivan’s maiden name.”

None of this made any sense. Why would a stranger be looking for my mother? Or ask for Kyle’s mother’s maiden name?

“What did this woman look like?” I continued asking. Being here brought memories, and not all of them were good. I loved my cousin but he was a fuck up from an early age. He always tended to get into trouble, and all of us would get the beating for it. He was the one that cost me Marissa.

I knew it made no sense to blame him. Eventually she would have found out who I was, but I wanted to be the one to tell her. Instead, he had to play and slip her a note revealing my true identity. One week of bliss and it all extinguished into flames.

“She was young,” she replied. “Pretty little thing. Dark eyes and mahogany hair.” Mateo’s woman flashed in my mind. There was no way it could be her. That woman didn’t belong in our world, there would be no reason she’d seek out my mother. “She seemed upset not to find your mother. I didn’t think to ask for her name.”

Yeah, a name would be useful.She just described a half of the women's population.

“Anything unique about her that I could identify her by,” I asked, although why I bothered, I didn’t know. If she didn’t think to ask for a name, how would she think to look for something unique about her.

“I wrote down the tags to her Jeep,” she answered, surprising me.

I smiled wide and saw her flush. The woman was at least ten years older than me but I still had an impact on her.

“That was smart thinking,” I commended her.

She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it over to me. Whoever this woman was, I would be seeing her soon.

Thirty-Six

Brianna

We’ve sat in Emma’s bathroom for the past three hours. I should have been worried Mateo was here but I was either too tired or too stupid. Instead, I was happy he was here. I soaked in his strength as he held Emma and me in his arms. That was the only place I wanted to be. With his arms around me, I could bear anything. He was still in his suit, his jacket discarded on the floor. He also took his gun holster off, and strategically placed it next to him, on his right. My bare, slim legs next to his long, strong legs in dark suit pants that probably cost more than all my clothes combined.

I raised my head and met his green gaze. There was such calmness in his eyes, it kept me grounded.

“Thank you for being here,” I told him softly. I meant it too. This meant more than anything.

“Always,” he murmured, kissing my forehead. I craned my neck and reached for his lips. He met me halfway, and this kiss was unlike any before. It was soft, gentle, consuming and comforting. “Tell me what I can do to help Emma,” he murmured against my lips.

I rested my forehead against his, closing my eyes. One heartbeat. Two heartbeats.

“She has leukemia,” I finally told him. “The treatments are hard on her.”

“Is this her first one?” I shifted just an inch from him but he wouldn’t let me retreat. “Don’t put your walls up, Brianna. I want to help.”

I closed my eyes for a second. I heard stories of the ruthless Italian mobster but I couldn’t see it in this man right now. All I saw in Mateo was comfort and the man I wanted.