Page 59 of Savage Vow (Mafia Marriages 3)

“Well, I didn’t.”

“What?” she squeals. “You told me that he told you to take care of it, and he wanted nothing to do with you.”

I grimace. “I said that?” I never thought my little white lie would slap me in the face.

“Yeah, pretty sure you did,” Ivy says. “Anyway, he knows he’s the father.”

Great. I exhale a sharp sigh. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s get you home.” I pull Ashton in for a squeeze hug. It’s a ritual I enjoy partaking in every time I get off work and see my boy.

He has no idea how lucky he is to be healthy. The kids I see on the unit and what they endure break my heart nearly every day.

“Mom, you’re squeezing me to death,” Ashton groans.

Gosh, he sounds like a teenager already.

Jocelyn says goodbye and heads out the main door. Ivy joins her, heading out to the parking garage.

“How about the three of us take a drive together,” Aurielo suggests.

I glance at Francesco.

Is that allowed?

“If you don’t require my services, I’ll return to the complex,” Francesco says.

Aurielo and Francesco exchange a few words in Italian that I don’t understand. Maybe I’ll start taking Italian lessons in secret. That way I know what they’re saying if they’re talking about me.

Although that’s a lot of work and requires time. Something I don’t have a lot of between work and a kid.

I reach for Ashton’s backpack seated on the lobby chair. It’s light, but he’s also in kindergarten. He’s taken a few assignments and homework home, but never textbooks.

“Come on,” Aurielo says, gesturing for us to follow him outside. “Let me carry that,” he offers, holding out his hand.

I hand over the bag, and I take Ashton’s hand as Aurielo walks beside me. Every so often, he glances at Ashton.

“Are we still fighting?” Aurielo asks.

“You tell me.” I glance at him. He knows how I feel. I made it clear earlier. I don’t want my son to grow up to become a monster.

It scares me what he’ll see and experience inside the house where we now live.

The exterior is beautiful, a mansion, but behind the beautiful four walls, there are more sinister dealings and business transactions.

I just hope Aurielo doesn’t do his interrogations at the house.

The other day he’d been at a hotel torturing a gentleman that had been tied up. That seemed like a terrible place to do business. Don’t they worry about housekeeping stumbling into their room?

Is that how they manage to get their dangerous mafia men married?

No.

I’m an exception.

Aurielo suggested that we marry. He was trying to protect me.

“I don’t want to fight with you, but we have a lot to discuss. In private.”

He escorts me out to his vehicle, and I glance in the backseat, relieved that he’s already thought this through. There’s a booster seat for Ashton.

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