Page 88 of Vows of a Mobster

They shared a look and reluctantly agreed. “Okay, then sex without a condom it is,” I muttered with a heavy knot in my stomach.

The rest of the afternoon, we played with Emma and left all the heavy, dark clouds behind us. For now. We played music and jumped around, then lounged by the pool while Emma played in the fancy pool that was for children only. It was only two feet deep but perfect for Emma since she couldn't swim. It was like a large, inground bathtub.

Twenty-Seven

Mateo

It was only four in the afternoon, but it was like I hadn’t seen Brianna in days. I wanted to hear her soft voice and smell her scent around me. I had a few messages back and forth with Antonio and knew her daughter came to visit along with Marissa and Daphne. I hoped that meant Brianna was slowly accepting the idea of us possibly having a long-term relationship.

In the meantime, tensions with the Irish were back to its height. The fucking skull of Declan’s younger cousin was found with the fucking bullet wedged in it and he blamed us. Everybody was on the high alert. Declan was known for his short fuse, just like his father. I really wasn’t in the mood for the Irish or any of the bullshit right now. Instead, I wanted to spend my days with Brianna, get to know her and maybe she’d let me get to know her daughter too. I was unwilling to question this need to be part of her life, but it gnawed at me. From the moment I took leadership of the famiglia, the idea of having my own family was dead to me. Not that I had much of the desire for it before. But around Brianna, that need flared and consumed me. I had never wanted anything more in my life.

I called up Antonio on the phone. “Are you on your way?” I asked him, without a greeting.

“The girls are helping Brianna get ready,” he responded and I heard him shut the door. “I gave them another thirty minutes.”

“Excellent,” I couldn’t wait to see her. “Did she have a good time today?”

Silence followed, and tension crept into me. “Antonio?”

“I’m here, Mateo,” he responded and there was strain in his voice. “The girls had a good time for the most part. Something upset Brianna. Not sure what it was.”

I frowned at those words. Antonio wasn’t usually worried about a woman’s distress. He never wanted to see them upset but it wasn’t a topic of his regular conversation or concern.

“Yes?” I urged him on.

“I don’t know, something is not right. All three of the girls looked like they saw a ghost.”

“Were you able to dig up anything on Brianna’s ex?”

“No, nothing,” he replied. “I couldn’t find a single relationship she’s ever had. But I was able to find out she changed her last name legally from Williams to her current one.”

“That’s a pretty generic last name,” I told him.

“Yes, but I found her records at Columbia. Her father was John Williams, the California senator.”

“What?” I didn’t expect that. She was a senator’s daughter and he kicked her to the curb. I was surprised reporters in California weren’t all over it. “Are you sure?’

“Yes. According to the records, he paid her tuition at Columbia and all her bills. Until her last year. That year, he paid her tuition but not her living expenses.”

Her words from the party echoed in my head. “Any reason for changing her last name? Did she get married?”

“No, she didn’t get married. The paperwork stated personal reasons for the name change. It went through because of her father’s connections. She changed her name right before giving birth. It was before the senator’s death.”

It infuriated me to know her parents abandoned her when she needed them most. But changing the last name seemed extravagant, unnecessary. Unless there was a different reason for it.

“Anything else?” I asked him.

“No, I’ll keep digging,” he replied.

“I want to know the name of her daughter’s father,” I told him in a hard voice. “That shouldn’t be too hard. Get the child’s birth certificate.”

“I already put in for our contact to obtain it,” he retorted.

“What is it?” I knew Antonio well enough to pick up on his signs.

“I don’t know,” he muttered agitated. “There is something that I can’t quite pinpoint.”

“You’ll get it,” I told him without a doubt.