Page 2 of Absinthe Minded

Shocking to most, but I’d grown up in it. Yep, my surprise baby was a mafia princess.

“You okay back there?” I glanced in the rearview to make sure the car seat/carrier hadn’t fallen over.Not for nothing, but rear-facing car seats suck. How am I supposed to know if she turns blue or something if I can’t see her?

With the French Quarter behind me, I turned on St. Charles Street and headed for the Garden District. Driving up Chestnut Street gave me the same sinking feeling as climbing the first hill on a roller coaster. Once I turned into Casa de Marchionni, my stomach would be in my throat until the ride ended—only this would last the rest of my freaking life.

How in the hell did I knock her up?I replayed mine and Chantal’s sexcapades. The woman was wild, too wild for me to have risked going in bare. Nope. I was sure I’d suited up, but then how had I won theless-than-one-percent-condom-failurelottery?

I parked and hurried to the passenger’s side of the Porsche. With the front seat moved as far forward as it would go, I squeezed my upper body into the tight space, but couldn’t quite reach the release button. I lifted to the balls of my feet and attempted to close the distance.

My foot slipped and all hell broke loose. I fell. The hard-plastic handle on the car seat hit me in the solar plexus. The baby wailed. And for some ungodly reason the antitheft alarm went off.

Ella’s carrier laced over one arm and the diaper bag on my shoulder, I limped through the front door into the pristine white marble of my childhood. “Ma?” I called from the foyer. “Pops? Anyone home?”

Footsteps approached from the direction of the kitchen, too quick to be my mother.

I turned and smiled at Hildie, the woman who had raised me and my five brothers.

“Miss Hildie.” I drew her frail body into a half embrace. “Still as pretty as ever.”

She arched a brow at the screaming infant. “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d be looking after a baby, and a loud one at that. Where are her parents?”

“She’s mine.”

White showed all the way around her eyes. “Lord have mercy, your mama didn’t tell me you had a daughter.”

I leaned closer to keep my voice down. “She doesn’t know.”

“I’ll go get her for you. Go into the parlor and wait.” The woman gave the baby one last longing look and hurried out of the room. I knew self-preservation when I saw it. Miss Hildie would keep her distance until the fireworks ended.

I crouched and attempted to free Ella from the straps and buckles of her carrier. Tried and failed.Seriously, who the hell makes these things? Houdini?

Evelyn Marchionni stood in the entryway of the parlor dressed in white capris and a matching sweater. She looked as magazine-perfect as the rest of the house.

I forced a smile, but she stared at the baby and made the sign of the cross—a hell of a thing to do after laying eyes on her granddaughter for the first time.

“Hi, Ma. This is Gabriella Antoinette.” I stood and motioned to the baby. “Ella, this is your grandmother.”

Evelyn took a quick step back, as if trying to keep herself from toppling over.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. No need to add more fuel to the fire. Instead, I grinned and waited for her to finish with the dramatics.

“Give me that baby.” She held her arms out and tapped her foot.

“I would, but I can’t get her out of this thing.”

Evelyn sighed the sigh mothers have used to condemn their children since Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel. She shook her head, knelt beside the carrier, and extracted my daughter. The baby on her shoulder, she smacked the back of my head.

“Ow. Jesus.”

“And he takes the Lord’s name in vain!” Evelyn’s Italian accent thickened her words and ruined the illusion of a dainty southern belle. “She’s at least a month old and you just now bring her to me? Are you nuts? Is she yours?”

“Yeah, she’s mine. I only found out about her an hour ago.”

“Of course, she’s yours. Look at those eyes. She looks like you.” Cooing over the baby, she reached over and smacked me again. “Where’s her mother?”

“She’s gone. Left Ella with me and took off.” I sighed and sat on one of the stiff loveseats.

Evelyn glared until I squirmed. “I take it you two aren’t close?”

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