Page 22 of Sin and Redemption

Could I ever look at him and the child and not think about the past?

The options in Greenwich Village, close to Sara’s parents, were limited. There was one place a few blocks from their house, but it was tiny, only 550 square feet with one bedroom. How were we supposed to live there as a family? And even Sara and I alone probably needed more room and another bedroom. It wasn’t as if being close to each other would be easy.

“This place looks good,” Amo said, pointing at another place, but it was too far away. Sara wanted to be able to walk over to her parents’, though I’d obviously never allow her to walk alone.

“Sara wants to be close to her family. I want to give her this sense of safety. She has enough to deal with.”

Amo leaned back. “It’s not Famiglia-owned, but there’s a place on the same block, even the same street. Here.” He turned his laptop around to me.

“Three bedroom, en suite, extra bathroom.” I fell silent when I saw the price. “It’s 2.7 million.”

That was a bit more than I wanted to pay, more than I could afford without borrowing money. I couldn’t just walk to the bank. That wasn’t how we did it. I’d have to ask Amo or Luca. It felt really icky to ask my best friend. Even if I sold my Rolex, I’d get fifteen thousand tops. That wouldn’t help much.

“How much do you need?” Amo asked without missing a beat.

I grimaced and began shaking my head.

“Don’t be stubborn. I have the money, and it’s not a gift. Maybe one day you’ll have to figure out a way to kill my wife in a very inconspicuous way. That’ll be worth many millions.”

I cocked an eyebrow. He’d said it in jest, but I wasn’t sure that there wasn’t a bit of truth in his statement. He loathed Cressida and despised her for having to give up the woman he really wanted. Not that I doubted Amo’s ability to kill Cressida himself, but it would probably get more messy if he didn’t use me.

“I have about a million.” That left me with two hundred thousand dollars for Sara and me to buy furniture and live a little.

“Maybe we can convince the owners to go down on the price,” Amo said with a smirk.

I grinned. “We should give it a try.”

The owners eventually sold it to us for two million.

Now, I only had to hope that Sara liked the place. It even had a small rooftop garden. It was on the fourth floor of a classic brownstone townhouse. The place was actually furnished, but I wasn’t sure if Sara would like the style. The neighborhood wasn’t one I would have usually picked. I felt like an alien compared to everyone else, and the fearful glances I got told me people considered me one too, and a dangerous one at that. The people who lived here worked on Wall Street or in a posh law firm. They had PhDs and went to Ivy League colleges. Those people transplanted hearts to save lives; I ripped them out to kill enemies.

Sara’s parents too lived in a townhouse, but they owned the whole place. Not to mention that Romero and Flavio had the ability to look as if they didn’t have a long kill list.

The moment I bought the place, I called Sara. I hadn’t sent her any information before. Since this wasn’t a Famiglia place, I didn’t want her to like it when there was a—albeit slim—chance of me not getting the place. And I definitely didn’t want to admit that I wasn’t as rich as Paolo’s family. His family was swimming in money. I was working hard and would definitely one day make more than enough money to buy a whole townhouse without threatening the owner, but I was still young and hadn’t planned for marriage yet.

“You got a place?” Surprise swung in her voice.

“It’s on the same street as your parents’ house. It wasn’t Famiglia-owned, so I had to be quick.”

“The same street?” The joy in her voice told me I’d made the right decision.

“Would you like to see it?”

“I’m not feeling so well right now. Maybe you can send me photos? I’m sure it’s great.”

“Sure. I’ll send them right away. Are we still going ring shopping tomorrow?”

“No, I’m sorry. My morning sickness is too bad, and it’s making me feel sick all day. My mother will join you.”

“Alright. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

I hung up, trying not to be disappointed. I had absolutely no reason to be. So far, things were still going much better than I’d ever anticipated. Maybe Sara was really sick, or perhaps she simply didn’t want to spend so much time with me yet, and both were fucking fine. Fuck, she had to grow a baby inside her despite what she’d gone through. I already had trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that I would be a father soon.

I sent her the two dozen photos I’d taken today.

A few minutes later, she wrote me a text:It looks great. Let’s keep the furniture. We don’t need to spend more money.

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