Page 49 of Mr. Kelly

We’re silent as he drives me into the city. I toy with the bracelet Teddy gave me as I debate bothering him on his trip. It's only a day trip so I'm sure his schedule is packed. I’m going out to arrange things for his birthday party, but he doesn’t need to know that. After minutes of weighing the pros and cons, I opt to tell them since it’s what Teddy would want me to do.

I open the group chat and start typing just as he passes the mall.

“I wanted to go to the mall first,” I say as I stare at the back of his head.

“Oh, sorry,” he responds, his dark eyes not looking apologetic. “I’ll turn around.”

Me: I don’t want to go anywhere with Luciano again. He makes me uncomfortable. He’s acting weird today.

Once my text is sent, I notice that he passed up several opportunities to turn around. I curse myself because I should have followed my first instinct and stayed home. My mild discomfort morphs into full-blown fear. I accidentally delete the message I already sent, but my hands are shaking too much to send another. The car is slowing down in front of a place I’ve never been.

I try to hit dial, not caring who else answers, over trying to preserve Luciano’s life. A clicking noise gets my attention. A gun is inches from my face as Luciano sneers at me.

“Hang it up, bitch.”

I press end after the first ring, but see the text that must have come in just before I tried to call.

Andrea: Do you mean Luca? I got rid of Luciano weeks ago.

Chapter Twenty-Four

RIVER

Luciano throwsmy ringing phone into the lake and moves around the car. I hold on to my door, hoping I can keep him from opening it. He spews insults at me as she tugs on the other side and my fingers and arms burn from the effort. Eventually, he growls and steps back and shoots at the ground. The loud shot startles me enough to lose my grip and the door flies open.

“I should kill you,” he yells in my face as his big hand tugs at my hair.

The sharp pain burns my scalp and brings tears to my eyes. On instinct, I claw at his hand, but the warm end of his gun makes itself known on my temple.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask between soft sobs.

His dark eyes dance with mirth, although his intentions are cold. “Nothing personal. I’m just going with the highest bidder.”

Highest bidder?

I can’t imagine a reason why someone would do this to me. I don’t know if people really believe that I’m Andrea’s woman and are trying to get to him, or if they want to hurt Teddy. I’m not high profile enough for someone to spend money to hurt me. My heart is beating so fast, I fear I’ll puke or pass out. I don’t have time for either; my son needs me.

“I don’t care what happens to her, but don’t hurt my child. Let her go,” Mario snarls from behind me.

My child?

I clamp my mouth shut with the instinct to correct him because his disillusion will keep my child and me alive longer. Standing to my full height, I lean against the car as Mario approaches me. He’s dressed differently than when I used to see him. The casual jeans and t-shirts from a guy who worked as a mechanic are replaced with a slack and button-down combo. He looks like a cheap version of Teddy and Andrea. He’s a little wrinkled and the dark clothes don’t look tailored to fit.

The smile I used to find charming is sickening. I never realized the lack of emotion in his eyes before. Maybe now I can tell the difference because Teddy looks at me like I contribute to the air that he breathes. Mario never cared about me. I fight the urge to recoil when he places his hand on my belly. His hazel eyes light up with the false hope he’s given himself. We had sex two days before he left, and Teddy got me pregnant three weeks later. I understand how he could make such a mistake, but I still feel like he’s an idiot.

“Mario, if you wanted to see the baby, you didn’t have to go through all of this.”

He bares his perfect teeth and his hand swipes before I can react. The impact of his slap has my ears ringing. It’s momentarily disorienting, taking me a moment to understand what he is saying.

“You talked a lot of shit over the phone. Beat my ass, River.”

He goads me as he raises his hand to hit me again. All the anger I feel towards him still burns deep inside, but I’m out manned. If I weren’t pregnant, I’d take my chances. Closing my eyes, I brace for impact, but I hear a pained whimper instead.

“Don’t abuse my merchandise, idiot.”

Surly has Mario’s hand twisted as he glares at him. He looks my way and drops a sly smile on his face.

“Excellent job,” he tells Luciano, although he’s staring at me. “Hey, beautiful,” he greets me. "We meet again.” He pushes Mario out of the way and grips my chin. “You’ve cost me a lot of trouble and money.”

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