Page 46 of Menace

I didn’t want him to be caught unprepared so I shared.

“My fucked up family are involved with the Italian mafia and sold me to one of their associates as a wife.” I waved at Ry. “They have no idea about this, and they can’t find out. If they do…they’ll kill him if they get their hands on us. I’m not worth anything if I have a baby so they’ll make sure I don’t by the time they’re done with me.”

Ink was silent for a beat. “The Italians are your family.”

It was a statement more than a question and I nodded.

He dragged long fingers over his short scruff, his eyes narrowed, then he gave a soft grunt.

“Right. I assume you look nothin’ like you usually do but, to be safe we’ll be keepin’ you under wraps with the local Italian boys. They aren’t a force in the city but the club will keep an eye anyway. We’re not takin’ any chances with you and Junior.”

“It’s not Junior it’s SP.” Killian said with a grin.

“SP?”

“Surprise Package.”

Ink snorted as he tried to not laugh. It was hopeless, he, Killian and Bren whooped it up as if it was the most hilarious thing ever.

“So that’s why she’s got SP on her ti…uhm, breasts. Can you imagine her handin’ the kid to the baby daddy sayin’ ‘this is SP’ and the fucker goes, ‘SP?’ and she goes, ‘Yeah, your Surprise Package’.”

The three of them thought they were being so damned funny.

Turning around I sniffed as if offended and bent to open one of the crates. I was grabbed from behind and gently pushed into the chair.

“You do not bend over like that, remember you’ve had major fucking surgery.” Bren growled as he carried on opening the crate.

With my elbows on my thighs I slapped both hands to my face and groaned. “Oh God, deliver me from over protective males. I’ve healed, Bren. It’s been two months since my surgery.”

“Oh baby doll, these two are goin’ to go all Neanderthal on your ass no matter what you say.”

A chirpy voice said and I twisted to look at the vision standing outside my station. A gorgeous male smiled down at me, his dark eyes twinkling with mirth. He was dressed in black knee high boots, tight black skinny jeans, a white almost sheer pirate shirt with several silver chains around his neck falling on a tanned and muscled chest. He continued talking as I stared at him, mouth hanging slightly open. It was like a modern day pirate had walked into the studio. A much cleaner, taller and much more put together version of Jack Sparrow. He wasn’t wearing Jack’s hat or his coat but I could see him in them. He would look fabulous. Not that he didn’t already look fabulous, he totally did.

“Give it up and let them take care of the boring shit. You and I are going to take your little man back to the break room to have healthy smoothies and get acquainted. I want to know all about you and your little person. I need to know what you need me to set up to make him comfortable while you’re working.”

“Before you spirit her away let’s do some introductions. Harper, this is Mark “Pretty Boy” Hansen, he handles the reception and all of us. And just a warnin’ baby, he’s known to nag until you tell him what he wants to know.” Ink warned with a grin.

I rolled my eyes as Bren gently pulled me up and pushed me out of the way and towards the break room. Killian handed Ry over and I followed the cleaner version of Captain Jack. And Ink was right about him being a nag. Mark didn’t stop until he knew all about me, every little thing. The only thing he didn’t get out of me was the name of my baby daddy. There was no way I could share that with anyone. Not yet anyway.

I settled into work almost effortlessly.

Within days my work colleagues became friends.

We were a tight group who spent a lot of hours together, at work but also after work. They not only came to dinner regularly, they showed me Savannah. I loved the city and I had so much fun with my new friends that there were times I forgot. Forgot that I was being hunted. Forgot that my son’s father lived in this city.

It pissed Bren and Viper off that I went out because they would rather have locked me in our house than have me traipsing across the city. And forget about getting a baby sitter, they took over that duty, refusing to have a stranger in our house. One watched over me while the other took care of Ry.

The weeks passed slowly without any incidents and Ry grew like a little weed. He was the cutest little baby boy I had ever seen and at three months old was chubby, friendly and lovable.

And I started to relax.

I shouldn’t have. I should have stayed vigilant and guarded my stupid heart.

The cracks in it got bigger when I overheard Ink and Viper talking about Lucky and his new woman. How nobody liked her because she was slutty and a raging bitch. And how they didn’t know what he saw in her. They both thought she must be spectacular in bed which was why he was still with her.

After overhearing them I scaled down on my outings, pretending I wanted to spend more time at home. The reality was I was scared that while we were out I would run into them. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle seeing him with someone else.

So I stayed home where I felt safe.

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