He sets his bottle down and crouches in front of me, making me look at him by knocking his knuckles upside my head. “First off, it’s a baby not a thing. And you’re going to be a great dad because you know how not to parent. You’re not alone in this Donatello, it’s not as hard as it seems. Feed them, clothe them, love them. It’s that easy.” He stands and I watch him. “You’re a dumbass and you somehow manage to take care of yourself, you’ll be fine with a baby.”
He smiles at his own joke and I can’t help but smile back. I know he’s right, but I wish he wasn’t. “When Beverly left, you went and got her and she didn’t want to come back.”
He nods, crossing his arms again. “I did. But she left for the wrong reasons. She didn’t specifically ask me to stay away. I just did because I knew she needed the space. Delaney wants to be gone, Donatello. Do you hear me?” He pauses for effect. “She WANTS to be gone. Let her be gone. Maybe she’ll decide she wants you in her life later on. Maybe she won’t. But the best thing for you to do is wait it out. Give her what she needs and maybe she’ll come back.”
I look down at my hands, swallowing past the ache in my chest. “What if she comes back and it’s not me she wants?”
“You move on.”
“Jessie!” Four little arms wrap around my middle, a little body on each side of me and I laugh, pretending to almost fall from their attack.
Carmella giggles at me and steps back to show me a cut on her elbow that she got while climbing rocks while Amalia continues to try and knock me down. I peel her arms from me, lifting her up to throw her over my shoulder.
“That’s it! If you want to fight, we’ll fight!” She’s giggling and hitting my back with her little fists while Carmella follows behind us, chanting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
Marching them out to the backyard, I jog her to the trampoline and toss her into the air to land on the springing surface. She screams in delight, popping up from the mat with a toothy smile.
I spin around and grab Carmella, “You want a piece of me too do ya?” I do the same to her, watching her come up in a fit of giggles. I start walking away before they can get me to play more, yelling over my shoulder to them. “That’ll teach you!”
Coming through the kitchen door, I almost run into Donatello’s son, Gian, as he sprints outside to play with the girls. “Sorry Jessie!”
I watch them out the window for a minute, smiling as I watch the girls teaming up to double bounce Gian. Donatello and Gian are here a lot even though Donatello isn’t an active part of the Famiglia anymore. I see him far more than I’d ever care to, but I like Gian. Donatello surprised the fuck out of me by actually stepping up to be the dad he needed to be. Him and Olivia get along fine, but they aren’t together. I think they tried after Gian was born, but it didn’t work out. I didn’t care enough to ask him why. Despite that, he seems happy. It’s not like I go out of my way to find out about him, but I see him often enough to be able to assume he’s fine with how things are right now. I wish I could say the same.
I hate being here. I hate being anywhere that Delaney used to be. Every wall she’s ever touched, every tile she’s ever walked on is stained with her perfection. I can’t go anywhere without it taunting me, laughing behind my back at what I can never have. I knew something was off the last time we were together, and I let it slide. I let her selfish heart take control once again. I let her use me because I knew she needed it. Fuck, we both needed it.
I knew I’d lost her before I even woke up in that bed alone. My Laney Girl never did like goodbyes. I probably could have found her if I had really tried, but I couldn’t get myself to do it. She wanted to leave for a reason and if she didn’t want me knowing where she was then that was her choice. Even if it was a choice I’d never understand.
Knocking on the doorframe of Capo Famiglia’s office I wait for him to look up from his desk before walking into the room. “You wanted to see me?”
The Boss sits back in his seat, stopping me from closing the door. “Don’t close it, you’re about to leave.”
I frown but keep it open, waiting for him to elaborate.
“You have a new job.” He tosses a plane ticket onto his desk, motioning for me to grab it. “Your flight leaves in forty-five minutes, you’ll be texted the coordinates once you land. I’d hurry up if I were you.”
I slide the ticket off the desk. “Dallas, Texas?”
He looks up from a paper on his desk with a raised brow. “We have operations everywhere Wolf. Now, get the fuck out of here.”
Four hours later and I’m pulling up to a warehouse almost triple the size of the ones we have in Manhattan. I still don’t have a name. Just the number who messaged the coordinates, but I’m assuming I’ll figure that out here.
I park in
