Page 36 of Secret Baby for the Mafia Boss

“Are you okay?”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Damien on the porch, leaning onto the rails as he shouted over the roaring waves and breeze. His voice was faint, despite being relatively close.

I couldn’t bring myself to reply as I gave a halfhearted shrug that he likely didn’t see.

I couldn’t hear him approach, but I felt small grains of sand pelting my exposed lower back, and I knew he stood behind me. I didn’t bother looking at him, knowing that whatever he had to say wouldn’t be kind. If he tested me right now, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold back. I wouldn’t stay calm and allow him to condescend to me.

“You don’t look okay,” he said from above me.

“Damien, I’m not in the mood to talk right now.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, but I could still feel him behind me. I felt as he stood still, blocking some of the wind from pelting my skin as fiercely as it had before. “It’s going to start storming soon.”

“Good.”

Maybe rain and thunder could help me find my purpose. Because right now, I needed to figure out where to go from here. Sean knew that Viktor was his father, and he looked up to the man in a way I’d thought was wonderful. Even if I decided to leave, I couldn’t take Sean from Viktor.

That thought stopped me in my tracks. Would Viktorallowme to leave? He’d been insistent that we weren’t going anywhere, but I couldn’t stay here seeing Nadia every day. I couldn’t relive what I’d just seen in Viktor’s office, and he couldn’t make me.

Damien dropped to the ground beside me and leaned back. I glanced over at him with raised brows. “What are you doing?”

“You said you didn’t want to talk.”

“I don’t,” I said, clapping my lips together and tilting my head.

“I’m not going to let you sit out here alone when you’re struggling with whatever is on your mind. You’re not paying attention to your surroundings, and that’s dangerous given your situation.”

I realized how right he was, but I didn’t want to admit it.

“I’m going to sit out here with you until you’re in a good enough headspace to either go back inside or be safe out here.”

“I thought you hated me,” I finally said, glancing over at him.

He looked at the stars over the ocean, not responding for a long moment. When he did, he didn’t look at me. “I have a problem with your people, not you, sometimes it’s hard for me to differentiate that. If you and Viktor wouldn’t have called me on my shit, I might not have realized it. You’re here because your people are after you. They’re after you because you’re not one of them anymore.” He shrugged. “If they hate you, I’m obligated to like you.”

“None of that makes any sense,” I admitted.

“The Irish mob killed my parents, and that’s what started the feud between Viktor and your father.” I gasped at the revelation, unable to stop the noise that came from me. “It’s hard not to hate everyone affiliated with them, but you’re not. I know you’re not. Believe it or not, I’ve never wanted you dead. Even when I didn’t particularly like you, I didn’t want to see anything happen to you. I was an asshole, and I’m sorry for that.”

“You were,” I admitted, not fully accepting his apology.

“Viktor called me here tonight, and I thought it would be best to talk to you before I go and talk to him. Clear the air, I guess.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to leave you alone out here when you’re going through something, though. Viktor won’t mind waiting if it means I’m keeping you safe.”

He didn’t seem to know his friend very well at all. I wondered if he was called here to be disciplined for what I’d told Viktor. Hearing what Damien said now, I had half a mind to go inside with him and make sure Viktor didn’t act irrationally.

But facing him right now… I couldn’t do that.

“It means a lot,” I told him, nodding. “But I promise, I’ll be okay out here. I’m heading back inside soon.”

It was a lie, and I had a feeling he knew it. But he didn’t contradict me as he nodded and stood. “I’ll do my best not to be an asshole from here on out.”

I nodded, listening as he turned and returned to the house. I didn’t watch him go as I leaned back and looked up to the sky, hoping that the faint stars might give me some answers that I couldn’t find within myself. Thinking that the sky would answer some of my questions was irrational and ridiculous, but I had nowhere else to go. Outside of Viktor’s house, I knew I wouldn’t stand a chance against everyone after me. Inside, I didn’t think I could handle seeing Viktor and knowing what he’d done.

It was a fake marriage from the start.

I should have known that it wouldn’t be anything more than that, despite all the pretty words he’d offered me. I didn’t doubt that Viktor was attracted to me. I knew that he wanted me.

But he had never agreed to be exclusive with me.

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