Page 116 of Ruthless Mafia Daddy

“I’m here.”

“I bumped into Xander on the way to your room. Thankfully he seems oblivious to the fact that you’re not here.”

“Oh, thank god.” She sighs. “I hope he doesn’t get into trouble for this.”

“We’ll deal with that later. Right now we need to focus on getting me to Vision before Xander decides to do a midnight check-in.”

Rosa informs me of a fake book on her shelf where she’s hidden a stash of hundreds, in case of emergencies. I grab a handful, along with a bum bag that is hanging on the back of Rosa’s door.

“Why do I need this?”

“To get into the club, and to keep anyone quiet if it comes to it.”

“Great…” I mutter. “Ok, I’ve got the money. Now what?”

“Now you’re going to have to climb out the window.”

“Fuck.”

“It’s not that high. I climbed down the trellis that the climbing rose is attached to, and jumped the last ten feet.”

My stomach churns as I realize how reckless this is.

I’m pregnant, I shouldn’t be climbing out of windows where I could quite easily fall and land badly.

But I have to help Rosa. I can’t leave her to fend for herself when she’s surrounded by drunk men who won’t stop until they’ve taken what they’ve come for.

“Ok, I’ll call you back.”

“Good luck.”

I hang up the phone and tuck it into my bag before hurrying over to the large window. It’s pitch black outside, which only adds to my nerves. If Andre were to ever find out I did something this stupid, he would lock me in my room until I gave birth to this baby.

But I can’t think about that right now. The longer I hesitate, the longer Rosa is in danger.

So, I take a deep breath and pry open the window.

Without looking down, I climb onto the ledge and reach out for the wooden trellis structure to the right of the window.

My heartbeat is pounding in my ears as every possible scenario plays out in my head of how I could fall to my death.

“Come on, Lila.” I mutter under my breath as I swing one leg over the ledge and blindly start to find my footing.

The thorns from the roses cut into my hands as I cling to the trellis, bringing my other leg over until my entire body is out, and I begin scaling down the wall.

I force myself not to look down, focusing on taking my time as I find my footing.

The trellis groans under my weight as I descend it, fighting the climbing rose the entire way.

My foot slips, causing my stomach to churn as I scramble to keep my hold on the trellis. “Shit! Come on, Lila. If Rosa could do it…”

I take another deep breath and move my foot lower, testing each ledge until I feel secure enough to move my hands.

When the window to the living room below becomes level with my feet, I glance down. The trellis has run out which means I have to jump the rest of the way just as Rosa told me.

“Here goes nothing.” Lifting one foot off the trellis and turning my body so I’m facing the grounds, I push away from the wall, trying to hold in my scream as the ground comes barreling toward me.

I grunt as my feet hit the ground, and I go toppling over.

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