Page 89 of Knocked Up by My Dad's Mafia Boss

“We can’t all be like you, you know,” I say, too loudly.

She whirls around to face me, shushing me. “Stop being so loud. Are you drunk again?”

“No,” I say honestly. I haven’t had a drop since last night. “I just… fuck.” I trail off, rubbing a hand across the back of my neck.

She looks at me shrewdly, throwing her hands up in the air. “What do you want from me, Dante?”

I glance back at the kitchen. I don’t see Elio. There are no cameras in the house, Elio thinks it’s a breach of privacy. They’re only outside.

I back her against the stairwell, placing my hands on either side of her head. “I don’t know,” I say, and it’s maybe the most true thing I’ve ever said to her. “I just know that I still…”

“That you stillwhat?” Her eyes narrow.

Love you. Need you.

“Want you,” is what comes out of my mouth.

I lean down and kiss her roughly. She doesn’t pull away, but she doesn’t kiss me back, either. I’m the one that pulls away, to see her expression.

Her mouth twists in a grim smile. “Well, you can’t have me. Not anymore.”

She slips out from under my right arm and heads up the stairs. She’s not storming up them. Not stalking. She doesn’t even seem angry, not really.

Just…. Gone.

The rock in my throat is hard to swallow around. My hands itch to go to the liquor cabinet, but I don’t. I manage to refrain from day-drinking the next few days, but it’s a near thing. I don’t ever stop thinking about her. Worrying about her. I’m off my game, and everyone knows it.

Elio notices. Tells me to talk to my girl. I wave him off. Because she’s not my girl. She never was, not really.

At least I’ll be distracted tonight. We’re catching the rat, once and for all.

Elio called myself, Marco, Leo, and Ricardo into a meeting a few days ago. Told us about the shipment. Told us he’d text us a location. Three of Elio’s men will be stationed at each location, except for Leo’s location. Only I’ll be stationed there.

Elio doesn’t really suspect Leo or Ricardo. Ricardo because of obvious reasons, and Leo because well… Elio trusts him. He’s been with him from the beginning, when Elio took over for his father.

I’m not so sure. So when I head out, I’m armed to the teeth. Bullet-proof vest. Handgun in the holster at my spine. Derringer at my ankle. And finally my lucky pocket knife, which has gotten me out off more scrapes than I can count. I sit in the car across the street from the warehouse, watching Leo pull up. He skirts the area, watching the perimeter. Just like he’s been taught.

But my eyes narrow when he pauses just outside the warehouse doors. He doesn’t go in. Usually he would, he’d walk in and check the shipments, which are supposed to be crates and crates of high-grade cocaine.

In reality, we’ve set up a shipment from Columbia in a couple of weeks to provide us with the blow we need to sell.

Of course, Leo, Marco, and Ricardo won’t know that. Just me and Elio.

I narrow my eyes, putting my hand on the door handle.

That’s when I hear the rumbling of a V-8 engine. I turn to see two sportscars pulling up across the street, two men piling out of each car.

“Christ,” I curse under my breath, pulling my phone out of my pocket and texting Elio.

It’s Leo.

Elio’s standing by, ready to deploy all his men to whichever location gets hit. But I can’t wait for backup like Elio said. If I do, they’ll head inside, see that the crates are empty. Leo will know he’s been made.

I pull my gun. I don’t bother twisting on the silencer. This is going to be messy. Four men, plus Leo.

And there’s just me.

I have to play this right.