Page 28 of Secret Mafia Daddy

He definitely is holding a grudge, and I guess I can understand. Will he ever forgive me for not trying harder to find him?

“Where are we going now?” I ask.

“That’s up to Chelsea,” he says, glancing back at her. “What do you think about a trampoline park, sweetheart?”

She perks up immediately, having been pouting at leaving the baby she wanted to keep playing with.

“Jumping!” she yells, bouncing up and down. “Let’s go jumping, Papa!”

Angelo grins and even though he and I are certainly not dressed for a trampoline park, it doesn’t seem to stop him.

When we arrive, he takes Chelsea and leaves me running along behind, trying to keep up with his long legs. He has Chelsea on his shoulders and she’s giggling wildly.

These two are certainly a pair.

I hate how much she’s like him, how impulsive and wild she can be, and he just makes it worse. I’m going to really have to worry about her during her teenage years, I can already see it.

I sit on the sidelines since I’m wearing a dress, and Angelo and Chelsea play for hours as I sit there. He left his jacket in the car and has rolled up the sleeves to expose his tanned forearms, the buttons on his shirt bulge as he jumps, as if they might pop open.

I keep my gaze averted, not wanting to be this attracted to him even though I am.

This morning, waking up wrapped around him, I’d felt heat course all the way through my body. It’s been too long since a man has touched me, and that man happens to be him.

Chelsea’s tuckered out by the time they’re finished, and when we arrive back at the apartment, she’s snoozing in her car seat.

She wakes up as Angelo takes her out, grabbing at his neck.

“Love you, Papa,” she slurs, and Angelo’s eyes well with tears.

“Love you too, sweetpea,” he tells her in a low, crooning voice, and when he lays her down on her bed, he looks down at her for the longest time.

My heart aches. He does love her, no matter what other kind of man he is, and she loves him just as much. One thing is very clear to me. I can’t take her from him, as much as I might want to get out of the city and out of his life.

No matter how far I get away, I’ll always have this man in my life, and I guess that I have to get used to it.

So far, everything has been crazy but today was almost...domestic, him playing with Chelsea at the trampoline park. I guess maybe every day wouldn’t be as crazy as New York us.

13

ANGELO

Dante gave me another job when I met him at his mansion, and when we arrive home, I’m glad that Chelsea is sleeping. It’ll take me a few hours to do this, and then I can get back to her.

All I want to do is spend time with her, watch her every move, see her every smile. I can’t wait to spend the rest of her life making up for those first few years. But this hundred grand isn’t going to last forever, and Dante’s offered me another hundred grand to interrogate Alexei Romanov, a local Bratva boss.

He’s got some information on a business we’re trying to get into, specifically a strip club out at the outskirts of town.

Catarina lies down with Chelsea, complaining of a headache, and that’s well enough, too. She won’t be asking me about where I’m going.

That’s the one thing I don’t look forward to – having someone to nag me when I’m late or worry about me when I’m gone for too long. On the other hand, the thought of having someone worried about me and waiting for me as I get home does something to me I don’t care to look at too carefully.

Not that she’ll worry. Why would she? It’s not like she cares about me.

It’s kind of a bummer, actually, that she’s not more interested in me. I like the attention of a woman, and while Chelsea’s around, it’s not like I can entertain other women. Honestly, since crossing paths with Catarina, the thought of other women doesn’t appeal to me anymore anyway. And that is confusing and frustrating. What is it about her that has me feeling like this?

Maybe time will tell. In the meantime, I have to get Catarina a ring. Without feelings from either side, the act seems almost hollow. So, I’ll do this job first and get some more money.

I leave the girls and head out to a local Italian restaurant called The Spoon.

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