Page 4 of The Mafia Man's Baby Deal
“And you want to have those children with me?”
“Yes,” he said.
She smiled and pressed her lips together, wondering if this was some kind of prank.“You’re kidding?”
“No.I am not kidding.I’m serious, Ella.I want to have kids and a family, and I want to have it with you.”
“What, uh, what exactly would that entail?”
“We’ll get married.I have already made the arrangements.We can be at a church in less than twenty minutes.Everything would be legal.I promise I will take care of you, and in return, you’ll take care of me.Provide me with everything a loving wife can offer.I will give you the kids.”
“How would we ...make those kids?”Ella asked.She felt like she was in a dream, but each time she kept pinching her arm, she wouldn’t wake up.
“The old-fashioned way.We can come to a deal with this arrangement, but after that, everything would be real.You will be my wife, I will be your husband, we will have children and a family.Together, we can give each other what we want.”
“And this is not a joke?”
“I wouldn’t joke around about something as serious as this.”
She couldn’t recall ever seeing him joke around about anything.She ran fingers through her hair.Trying to get to work on time in the busy traffic, she had forgotten to pin back her hair.
“This is a lot to take in.”
“I can give you a week.The priest will hold everything until then, but as soon as you make the decision, I can make this happen.”
Ella nodded.“I’m going to get to work.”
“I won’t hurt you, if that is what you’re worried about,” Mateo said.
She turned to look at him, and the truth was, she didn’t have any words.Moving on autopilot, she went to her locker, put her bag and jacket inside, and then grabbed her apron.Her hair was getting in the way, and she kept pushing it back over her shoulder.
Thankfully, it was Friday night at Cole’s, so that meant she was not going to have a chance to think about the proposition.She didn’t know if she was happy about that.Becoming Mateo Cole’s wife was a crazy idea.She knew he was a dangerous man.He was the head of the freaking mafia.
He tended to spend a lot of time at this very bar, but she heard the rumors.He ran a tight ship.He ran things differently compared to his father and the original capos.He was also feared and respected.Men were terrified of him.Women loved him.And he was willing to create a family with her.A nobody—someone who didn’t have any mafia genetics in her veins.Someone who had spent her whole life not being good enough.
Had she woken up in an alternative universe?
****
One Week Later
Mateo loved that Ella continued to come to work while also not giving him a response.She took the whole week, and the next Friday night, after work, he stepped out of his office just as she finished cleaning up the main floor, and everyone was gone.
She turned to look at him, and he didn’t say a word.She pushed some of her hair off her forehead, and she nodded.
“I have some conditions,” she said.
He folded his arms across his chest.This, he was not expecting.Most women liked having his attention and would fall all over themselves just to get to him.He looked at her and waited.
She took a deep breath.
“I don’t want you to cheat on me, or have a mistress.If you want to be with another woman, then you have to tell me about it, and we’ll come to some amicable arrangement after that.”
“Fine,” he said.He had no interest in cheating on her.
Ella’s mouth dropped open and then she quickly closed it.“Holidays are important and I want you to be part of them.”
“Done,” he said.
