Page 25 of Secret Mafia Daddy

My eyes widen as I stare at her. “What?”

She lowers her voice. “He had plans to kill my father, and possibly me if I kicked up a fuss. Thought that my father had something to do with his parents’ death.”

I blink at her. Does everyone in the mafia have crazy getting-together stories?

“And you...you’re okay with that?”

Mia shrugs. “It worked itself out. Besides, Dante changed when Alessia was born.”

Until very recently, I couldn’t imagine a man changing that much, but seeing how Angelo is with Chelsea, I guess it’s not impossible... but Dante and Mia must have had some kind of connection before all of this.

All Angelo and I have is a one-night-stand.

“It’s temporary,” I say quickly, and Mia smiles at me.

“Of course,” she says, like she doesn’t at all believe me. Mia seems like a lovely woman, so I can’t really get mad at her. She just leads a much crazier life than I want to.

Angelo comes down the stairs after a while, holding a briefcase.

“Let’s go do this thing,” he says with a grin, and I stand up, taking in a deep breath.

“Thank you so much for watching Chelsea,” I say. “I won’t say goodbye to her because she’s a bit of a clinger and she might start crying.”

Angelo frowns. “Of course we’re saying goodbye to her.”

“I’m telling you, it’s a bad idea,” I say.

Angelo walks into the playroom and then returns with his eyes wide and Chelsea screaming and holding onto his leg.

“I told you,” I chuckle, and Mia snaps into action, grabbing Chelsea.

“You want to see my library?” Mia asks, and Chelsea sniffles and looks at Angelo and me, but then back at Mia and nods.

She’s still crying a little when Mia takes her up the stairs.

“See?” I ask, and Angelo’s looking after her, looking almost traumatized. I can’t help but laugh, loud and open, and he looks at me, something flashing across his face before he frowns.

“I don’t like leaving her, so let’s go and get back quickly.”

“All right,” I respond, and Angelo walks out to the car.

I follow and we ride mostly in silence to the courthouse. I’ve got my documents in my purse, and hopefully, Angelo has his. I still feel almost panicked about this, like it’s somehow the wrong move, but I don’t have a choice.

Angelo said he wouldn’t actually kill me now that he knew I was the mother of his child, but I don’t know if I can believe him. He certainly doesn’t trust me enough not to testify, even though I wouldn’t, even if everything fell through.

I’ve seen more than my fair share of crime, and I know that the guy probably deserved it.

We arrive at the courthouse and walk inside. Angelo takes my hand, and his skin feels warm against my palm.

11

ANGELO

The courthouse wedding is the important one, really, because it’s the legal one and it’ll be my protection from Catarina testifying against me in court.

Although, honestly, I don’t think she would. But if I tell her that the marriage isn’t necessary, she won’t do it and then who knows what happens? Maybe she takes Chelsea on a new adventure, one I’m not part of, with some guy with bigger biceps.

The thought of it makes my blood boil, mostly because Catarina has a special place in my head now, if not my heart. She’s the mother of my child, and Chelsea’s pretty goddamned perfect, so Catarina must be an amazing mother.

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