Page 84 of Sin and Redemption

Flavio shrugged. “That’s what I said, but she didn’t believe me.”

“I can take a shower.”

“Please,” I said.

Maximus stepped up to Flavio, and they exchanged a few quiet words before my brother left. Maximus moved toward our bathroom, and I followed him from a safe distance. He undressed and tossed his stained clothes on the floor. “I’ll throw them away later, don’t worry,” he said as he stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

When most of the blood on his face and hands was gone, I moved a bit closer despite the stench coming from his clothes. “What happened?”

Maximus stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. He regarded me with a gauging expression.

“You killed someone in front of our home.”

He tossed the towel over the edge of the bathtub and came toward me completely naked. A bruise bloomed under his rib cage on his right side. “He’s dead now.”

“Should I be worried?

“I don’t want you to worry.”

“That wasn’t my question. I know you’re keeping something from me.”

“The life we’re living is full of dangers. I don’t want you to constantly worry. That’s my job and so is your protection, and I’m taking both seriously.” He cupped my face. “You have enough on your plate, growing a baby and taking care of the two of you.”

I nodded, even if I wasn’t happy with his reply. “Will you be able to come to my appointment tomorrow? There’s a big chance that we’ll find out the gender of our baby.”

“Nothing will stop me. I won’t miss any milestones of this pregnancy. The danger is over.”

We went to bed, and I snuggled up to Maximus. I ran my hands over his chest and stomach, needing to assure myself that he was okay. Of course, I knew how dangerous Maximus’s life as a Made Man was, especially as an Enforcer, but being witness to it added a different dimension to it.

I didn’t want to imagine losing Maximus. I couldn’t imagine being without him anymore. I wanted to see him become a dad to our baby. Despite the darkness that he undoubtedly harbored, he was a wonderful husband, and I knew he’d be a wonderful dad too.

I watched Sara fall asleep in my arms, her cheek pressed against my chest. My adrenaline kept me from sleeping. If I was lucky, I’d catch a few hours in the early morning.

My phone lit up with a call from Romero. I had it on mute so as not to wake Sara. I didn’t want her to find out more about my current worries. She should have never seen me covered in blood either.

“Romero, how’s it?”

“Everything’s cleaned up. The neighbor is handled. She’s in need of a vacation. We donated her the necessary funds.”

I smirked. I hated beating around the bush, but if law enforcement kept an eye on you, there really wasn’t another option. Romero’s cryptic words meant the murder scene had been cleaned of evidence and that my neighbor who’d unfortunately witnessed the crime had been threatened and bribed into silence, and would be moving out of the state with the money the Famiglia had given her.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t talk to our visitor before you sent him off.”

“Trust me, I wish he were still around to talk,” I muttered. I hadn’t meant to kill him—yet. But when I’d seen a figure watching Sara’s and my apartment, I’d been determined to catch him. I had caught him, but in the resulting brawl, my knife had cut through the artery in his thigh, and he’d bled out within a minute. No time to torture any information out of him. But I knew Jabba’s father had sent him.

“We’ll find him,” Romero said. “But maybe Sara and you should consider making a trip out of the city.”

“I’ll talk to her,” I said, then hung up. I’d tried to talk Sara into moving in with my parents before, but she wanted to stay in the city, close to her parents. After this close call, I’d have to convince her.

I turned off the lights and listened to Sara’s rhythmic breathing. She trusted me enough to fall asleep even after what she’d seen today. I gently pressed my palm against her belly. “I’ll keep you and your mom safe, I swear.”

When Sara’s alarm rang at 5:30, I had just fallen asleep. Groaning, I pulled Sara against me and buried my face in her hair.

“We have to get up,” Sara said sleepily.

I grunted. Sara twisted in my arm but I didn’t release her. The click of the lamp told me she’d turned the lamp on. Even with closed eyes, the brightness hurt my tired brain.

“Maximus, we really have to get up. I have to take a shower before the appointment.”