“Feared for your fighting skills? That sounds very braggy of you.” He chuckles and I smile, entwining our fingers. “Why did you fight Jessie? The night at the bar when you knew he was in the Famiglia.”
“In Alabama?”
I nod and he presses a kiss to my skin. “Because he didn’t want to break up with you.”
My gut sinks with his words. “What do you mean, Donatello?”
“I made Jessie break up with you.” I start to get up but he doesn’t let me, pinning me in place. “And before you start up with your shit, just remember this doesn’t even matter anymore. It already happened and you can’t change it. Dwelling on what could have happened isn’t going to change things now.”
“I would have stayed with Jessie.”
He lets out a long sigh, moving his face to rest his forehead on my shoulder. “I know. That’s why I did it.”
“I wish I hated you.” I turn my face and he pulls from my shoulder so I can look at his eyes. “I wish I hated everything about you. I wish I hated you for making Jessie break up with me. I wish I hated you for almost killing him. I wish I hated you for getting your secretary pregnant.” He looks down with my last wish, resting his lips on my shoulder. “But I don’t hate you and that... I do hate.”
“What am I going to do, Vita Mia?”
“I don’t know. Apologize to Olivia for treating her like garbage. Figure out how to be a dad and how you’re going to deal with your secretary in the process.”
His arms tighten around me, his russet reds falling from my eyes, to my lips. “I don’t want to do any of that. I don’t care how Olivia feels.”
“You should. It’s not fair to her to treat her like that. I doubt she wanted this either and she wasn’t the only one who caused this. She’s having your baby, you need to treat her like it.”
“You don’t know that for sure, Vita Mia.”
Yes, I do. Why would she go out of her way to lie and the timing adds up. I’d rather think the worst and be wrong than allow myself to think it’s not true. “Are you getting a test done?”
“I went and got blood drawn yesterday after you left. One of our doctors will be doing it and I should get the tests back soon.” This conversation makes me sick. Each beat of my heart an echo of pain.
Both of our phones start ringing. Donatello shifts me off his lap to pull his from his pocket while I grab mine off the desk where I left it. It’s an unknown number and I look at Donatello as I answer. “Hello?”
“You have a scheduled appointment for seven P.M. at the east warehouse. Payment will be collected on your behalf if you miss your appointment time.”
It’s an automated message. A menu asking if I’d like to repeat the message playing at the end. I hang up confused as Donatello stares at the phone in his hands.
“I just got a really weird automated call for an appointment I don’t have. Who called you?”
“We have the same appointment.” He roughly scrubs his face, and it’s not until he makes eye contact I see the fear hidden behind his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“We have an appointment with your brother, Vita Mia.” The way he says it makes the breath catch in my lungs, an anxious energy running along my spine.
“That doesn’t even make sense. I’ll just call him.” I bring my phone to do just that, but Donatello stands, pulling the phone from my fingers.
“That’s not how the Famiglia works, baby. We have an appointment and we have to show up or they’ll punish us.”
I shake my head against his words, willing them to be wrong. “Why would I have an appointment? What does this even mean? What payment?”
“Baby, I want you to listen to me and really listen to me, okay?” I nod, tasting a hint of blood from biting my lip too hard. “We made a deal with your brother didn’t we? I don’t know what deal you made, but we each made one and they’ve been broken.”
“I don’t understand. I didn’t make a deal.”
His tongue runs over his lip, eyes blinking as he tries to explain this to me. He palms my cheeks making me focus on him. “I told your brother he could trust me with your heart, that I wouldn’t break it ever again. And I was wrong. I broke our deal. So Remy is collecting payment. Every action has a consequence.”
The tightness in his face and shoulders tells me he’s being serious and I don’t know how to respond, shaking my face no in his hands as he tries to make me understand. “Your brother won’t hurt you Delaney, at least not physically. You don’t need to be scared, baby. You have to go though, you can’t miss it. Do you understand me?”
No, I have no idea what any of this means. “What about you?”
His eyes go dark at my question, shoulders hunching so he can press a kiss to my lips. A feather light touch that does nothing to help my nerves. “Will you do something for me, Vita Mia?”
“What?” It’s whispered because I’m afraid to hear the answer.
He kisses me again, his lips lingering as he reaches behind his back. I feel the cold metal on my palm and try to yank my hand away, but he closes my hand around it pulling from my lips. “Hold it, Delaney.” He forces my fingers around it, pressing his lips to mine once more.
He steps back and I stare at the gun in my hand, fighting the tears trying to crawl out
