Page 41 of Secret Mafia Daddy

I nod. “Seems like it. It’s okay, though, as long as she was having fun.”

Mia rubs her eyes. “They had me play treasure hunt like twelve times before bath time, and then that turned out to be diving treasure hunt.” She pauses. “I think Chelsea taught my daughter to breathe underwater because she was down there too long and I freaked out.”

I chuckle. “Chelsea can be a bit of a handful,” I admit.

Mia waves her hand. “Alessia is going to be the same way,” she says easily. “Takes after her father.” She smiles. “And me.”

I cock an eyebrow and help her gather her and Alessia’s things, leading them out to her car, which is parked in the apartment parking garage.

“Tell Dante that I’ll be back once I get this wedding thing over with on the fifteenth,” I say, and Mia chokes.

“It’s the fifteenth? I’ll have to put a fire under Dante’s ass to go.”

“You guys don’t have to come,” I mumble, but part of me really wants them to. I’m only doing this once, so I want all my friends there. They’re like family to me, especially after my father and I became estranged. I’d grown up with Nico and Dante.

Mia frowns. “Of course we do.”

She puts the sleepy baby into the car and gets inside, waving at me,. I wave back, feeling a rush of love for my friends.

They’ll be there for me, even during an arranged marriage, and it means a lot.

I walk back inside, up the stairs where I hope to get a little more sleep while Chelsea’s still out, and I walk past Chelsea’s room.

I poke my head in, and Catarina lies curled up next to her, snoring softly with her hand around Chelsea. Chelsea’s hand is in her hair, a curl twisted around her little thumb.

My heart does that flippy thing again and I frown.

I really need an antacid.

I make it to my bed before lying across it diagonally and going to sleep, ignoring that weird, warm feeling in my chest.

18

CATARINA

I wake up in two hours when Chelsea wakes up, slapping my face not-too-gently to wake me.

“Mama! Mama! Alessia and I found treasure.”

“Treasure?” I ask, my voice slurred with sleep. “What kind of treasure.”

She grins wickedly, her face inches from mine. “Monies,” she says, and bolts off the bed to her toybox and throwing it open.

I yawn and stumble out of bed to go see, expecting it to be some type of kid jewelry or stones, but instead, it’s cash. I gasp and lean down, reaching into it, and there’s probably thousands of dollars in there.

“Chelsea,” I say slowly. “Where did you get that?”

“I found it,” she says defiantly, sticking her little chin up.

“What do you mean, you found it? Did you find it in someone’s purse?” I ask her in a derisive tone, and she huffs.

“No, Mama. Mia told us where to look and we found it. We’re pirate queens. We need pirate booty.” She giggles at the word and I look down at all the cash in shock. There’s also a women’s Rolex watch in there, and some jewelry.

“Mia gave you all this?” I ask, and Chelsea gives me a look as if she thinks I’m stupid.

“No, Mama. I tole you,” she insists. “We found it.”

I swallow hard and walk out into the hallway as Chelsea counts her pirate booty, slapping Angelo on the ass as he’s fallen asleep fully clothed across his bed.

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