Page 30 of Knocked up by the Mafia

I open my eyes slowly, and my hand goes straight to my belly. I don’t know how I know, but I can tell the baby is fine. Whatever happened, I was lucky. I open my eyes.

I’m in a padded room cell. I’m so confused. What happened?

I try to recall where I was last and remember being in a cab, and someone drove into us. Then I was dragged away toward someone. I touch my face; it’s sore and will probably swell and bruise. I slowly get to my feet, and although I’m still a little dizzy, I look around. There’s nothing in here. Not even a window. There’s a door with a little opening at the top. I stand there and shout.

“Hello? Guards? I want to speak to whoever is in charge. Hello?” I keep shouting for a few minutes, but no one comes, and I hear no sounds.

Fuck.

Chapter 18 - Daniel

My old bed isn’t built for comfort. It wasn’t when I first got it, and it isn’t now. I can’t sleep anyway, so whether I’m comfortable or not makes no difference. I think about Natalia. I think about the curve of her breasts and how she tips her head back, whether on top of or underneath me. I think about holding her in my arms when we sleep. I want to protect her at all costs. I want her to know that. But the first step to doing that is dealing with the Dons.

Ronan has a lot of connections, more than my father ever had, even more than myself. He has quietly weaved a web of allies, and I don’t think anyone knows how far his reach is. But he isn’t power hungry; he isn’t like other families. He is content with what he has, and as long as no one is stepping on the family's toes, he’s happy to run things behind the scenes.

I go downstairs early. I’m in a booth by seven, and the waitress, Molly, brings me a hearty breakfast. She smiles. “Ronan will be back in a couple of hours. He has business to attend to.”

“He’s always liked to get things done first thing in the morning,” I comment, smiling at her. She bounces off, and I start on my breakfast before I visit Jarryd’s record shop.

“Big brother,” he greets me loudly as I walk in. I give him a hug and smile. “So this is the shop?”

“This is my life’s work. Including special limited edition records that cannot be sourced anywhere. I have a copy of Bon Jovi’s record from Rhodesia.” He leads me to a section locked in a cage.

I smirk. “I know. I sent it to you.”

“Did you now?” He feigns surprise and chuckles. There’s a moment of silence before Jarryd gives me a look. “Seriously, I’ve never seen you go after a girl before. I thought you said you’d never work for the family again?”

“She’s worth it, Jarryd,” I comment, looking at the displayed records. “And she’s having my kid.”

“You’re going to be a father? Does Ronan know?”

I nod. “Ronan knows everything. I don’t have to tell him.” I shrug. “Even if she weren’t, I have a connection with her I’ve never had with anyone else.”

“Sounds nice. Don’t think I’m designed to be with someone, not with our family.”

“If I can, you can, if it’s what you want,” I point out.

There’s an awkward silence, and then Jarryd’s phone rings. He looks at the screen. “It’s Ronan.”

He answers, “Hey, Ronan. Yes, Dan is with me. Why? No? Oh, okay, I’ll send him back to the pub.”

He looks at me. “Ronan says, get back to the pub quickly. You’re in danger and in shit.”

I frown. “Duly noted.” I hurry out of the shop and down the street toward the pub. I’m immediately on alert as my brother's men strategically stand guard up and down the road. Something is going on. I walk in, and Ronan shuts the door, locking it.

“What’s happened?”

“Ivan Volkov wants you dead for kidnapping your Bratva girl,” Ronan says in a huff. “I thought we were negotiating the hit on her, not bringing the Russians down on us for no reason.”

“It is for no reason.” My heart races. “I didn’t take Natalia. I haven’t left the street. Fuck, the Dons must have got to her.”

“Daniel, calm down,” Ronan says, reaching out for me.

I smack his hand away, and we share a look. “Don’t tell me to calm down. They’ll kill her and my child without another look.”

“They’ll want to make her suffer. You have time.” Ronan runs a hand over his hair. “I’ll see where they’ve taken her.”

“I can do it faster,” I say. I hurry upstairs, Ronan on my heels, and enter my room. I set up my laptop and turn on the tracker. “She is chipped.”

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