: Chapter 23

I lay on the couch and read a cozy mystery that made me laugh constantly. My hormones were all over the place, so books with dark topics or too much drama were out of the question.

I glanced at my cell phone screen. It was already close to midnight, and Maximus wasn’t home yet.

Maximus’s workload had increased in the past three months. He told me he wanted to collect extra work hours so he wouldn’t feel bad if he took some time off after I gave birth, but I could tell that wasn’t the entire truth. It wasn’t as if he had a nine-to-five job. If something big came up, he’d have to work, no matter if I had just given birth. Something was definitely bothering Maximus. Since I had been so adamant about him letting go of his wish for revenge, I assumed he still had a few people on his list that he wanted to kill. While I was very happy that Jabba and his men were dead, I didn’t understand the obsessive need for more blood.

When Maximus wasn’t by my side, Flavio or Dad usually kept watch. Sometimes Growl or Primo jumped in too. I wasn’t sure if my additional protection was because of my pregnancy like Maximus claimed or because of something related to his work.

Now Flavio slouched in the armchair across from me, playing a game on his phone while his eyes kept drooping. He had taken over from Dad after lunch and had been boring himself to death inside the apartment all day. I had felt too tired all day for any outside activities.

“Why don’t you go home? There are two bodyguards in front of the door,” I said. “I’ll be fine. And Maximus will be home any moment.”

Flavio looked up from his screen and cocked an eyebrow. “Even if Maximus wouldn’t kick my ass if I left you by yourself, I’d feel horrible if I did. I’ll stay until your husband returns.”

I sighed. Yawning, I wondered if I should just go to bed. I preferred to wait up until Maximus returned, but I was exhausted, and I had an early appointment with my doctor in the morning.

Flavio’s phone buzzed, and he picked up. His body language changed as he listened to the other person. He got up, in a forced casual manner, and strolled toward the window. His lips set in a tight line. I pushed to my feet, wondering what was going on outside our window.

Flavio ended the call and gave me a tight smile. “Maybe you should go to bed.”

I walked toward him, but he stopped me with a hand against my arm before I could reach the window. A woman screamed outside. I shoved Flavio’s arm away. “Let me through!”

“Sara,” he implored, but he knew better than to stop me. I rushed toward the window overlooking the street and froze when I saw one of my bodyguards clamping a hand over the mouth of a young woman who lived in the house across from us. She looked terrified. Then I saw why she’d screamed. Maximus stood on the sidewalk to her left. Covered in blood, he held a knife in hand, and a body lay at his feet. The streetlamp illuminated the gruesome scene so I could see the big puddle of blood around the corpse.

My heart rate picked up. “Oh my god. He’s hurt.”

“He’s not,” Flavio said calmly. “It’s not his blood.”

“How do you know?” I asked sharply. “I want to see my husband now!”

“Sara.”

“Either he comes up or I’ll go down. But I want to talk to him.”

Flavio picked up his phone with an exasperated expression. He probably thought my pregnancy hormones made me unreasonable when him being a Made Man made him blind to the reality of how horrible a sight this was. After a few rings, Maximus must have answered because Flavio said, “Sara is freaking out. She wants to talk to you.” He gritted his teeth. “I couldn’t stop her. If you didn’t stand under the streetlamp like a bad actor, she wouldn’t have seen you covered in blood.”

Flavio hung up, then turned to me. “He’s coming up. He doesn’t want you out on the street.”

“Who did he kill?” I asked.

Flavio shook his head and raised his palms. “I won’t say a word.”

My older sister scowl didn’t get any results either, so I decided to wait for Maximus. When he stepped through the front door, I froze, my belly doing a dangerous flip. My nausea had improved considerably, but the amount of blood that covered Maximus from head to toe was too much for me. I lifted a finger, then rushed into the bathroom and threw up. Maximus stayed in the doorway. I flushed the toilet, then washed my mouth, but I didn’t go closer to Maximus.

“Are you injured?” I pressed out, breathing through my mouth.

“It’s not my blood.”

Flavio shrugged. “That’s what I said, but she didn’t believe me.”

“I can take a shower.”

“Please,” I said.

Maximus stepped up to Flavio, and they exchanged a few quiet words before my brother left. Maximus moved toward our bathroom, and I followed him from a safe distance. He undressed and tossed his stained clothes on the floor. “I’ll throw them away later, don’t worry,” he said as he stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

When most of the blood on his face and hands was gone, I moved a bit closer despite the stench coming from his clothes. “What happened?”

Maximus stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. He regarded me with a gauging expression.

“You killed someone in front of our home.”

He tossed the towel over the edge of the bathtub and came toward me completely naked. A bruise bloomed under his rib cage on his right side. “He’s dead now.”

“Should I be worried?

“I don’t want you to worry.”

“That wasn’t my question. I know you’re keeping something from me.”

“The life we’re living is full of dangers. I don’t want you to constantly worry. That’s my job and so is your protection, and I’m taking both seriously.” He cupped my face. “You have enough on your plate, growing a baby and taking care of the two of you.”

I nodded, even if I wasn’t happy with his reply. “Will you be able to come to my appointment tomorrow? There’s a big chance that we’ll find out the gender of our baby.”

“Nothing will stop me. I won’t miss any milestones of this pregnancy. The danger is over.”

We went to bed, and I snuggled up to Maximus. I ran my hands over his chest and stomach, needing to assure myself that he was okay. Of course, I knew how dangerous Maximus’s life as a Made Man was, especially as an Enforcer, but being witness to it added a different dimension to it.

I didn’t want to imagine losing Maximus. I couldn’t imagine being without him anymore. I wanted to see him become a dad to our baby. Despite the darkness that he undoubtedly harbored, he was a wonderful husband, and I knew he’d be a wonderful dad too.

I watched Sara fall asleep in my arms, her cheek pressed against my chest. My adrenaline kept me from sleeping. If I was lucky, I’d catch a few hours in the early morning.

My phone lit up with a call from Romero. I had it on mute so as not to wake Sara. I didn’t want her to find out more about my current worries. She should have never seen me covered in blood either.

“Romero, how’s it?”

“Everything’s cleaned up. The neighbor is handled. She’s in need of a vacation. We donated her the necessary funds.”

I smirked. I hated beating around the bush, but if law enforcement kept an eye on you, there really wasn’t another option. Romero’s cryptic words meant the murder scene had been cleaned of evidence and that my neighbor who’d unfortunately witnessed the crime had been threatened and bribed into silence, and would be moving out of the state with the money the Famiglia had given her.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t talk to our visitor before you sent him off.”

“Trust me, I wish he were still around to talk,” I muttered. I hadn’t meant to kill him—yet. But when I’d seen a figure watching Sara’s and my apartment, I’d been determined to catch him. I had caught him, but in the resulting brawl, my knife had cut through the artery in his thigh, and he’d bled out within a minute. No time to torture any information out of him. But I knew Jabba’s father had sent him.

“We’ll find him,” Romero said. “But maybe Sara and you should consider making a trip out of the city.”

“I’ll talk to her,” I said, then hung up. I’d tried to talk Sara into moving in with my parents before, but she wanted to stay in the city, close to her parents. After this close call, I’d have to convince her.

I turned off the lights and listened to Sara’s rhythmic breathing. She trusted me enough to fall asleep even after what she’d seen today. I gently pressed my palm against her belly. “I’ll keep you and your mom safe, I swear.”

When Sara’s alarm rang at 5:30, I had just fallen asleep. Groaning, I pulled Sara against me and buried my face in her hair.

“We have to get up,” Sara said sleepily.

I grunted. Sara twisted in my arm but I didn’t release her. The click of the lamp told me she’d turned the lamp on. Even with closed eyes, the brightness hurt my tired brain.

“Maximus, we really have to get up. I have to take a shower before the appointment.”

I took a whiff. “You smell good. Stay in bed with me.”

Sara let out a laugh and wriggled her way out of my hold. “I’m going to take a shower now. You don’t have to come with me if you’re too tired.”

She slipped out of bed. I opened one eye a slit and watched her move into the bathroom. Groaning, I sat up. I wouldn’t miss this appointment for anything in the world. I’d accompanied Sara to every appointment so far, and today, we might find out the gender.

I got myself a strong coffee in the kitchen before I moved back to the bedroom to grab clothes. Sara was still in the shower, shaving and doing whatever else she deemed necessary before seeing her doctor.

I downed my coffee and felt a tiny bit more prepared for the day. Sleepless nights weren’t new to me, but the things that usually got me awake quickly—sex, a hard workout, or a fight—were all out of the question now. Sara came in a few minutes later, dressed in underwear. By now, I had managed to put boxers on.

“The coffee didn’t help?”

I shrugged. “It did, but it’s not enough.” I told her what usually got my blood pumping, then asked, “I assume there isn’t a chance of you waking me up with a quick round of sex?”

Sara pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “I won’t have sex before a doctor’s appointment!”

I pushed to my feet and headed over to her for a brief kiss. “That’s what I thought. Do you want a coffee? I need another one.”

Sara shook her head with a smile.

Fifteen minutes later, we were on our way. Sara fumbled with her purse and worried her lower lip.

“Everything will be okay.”

“I know,” she whispered.

When we arrived at the practice and Sara had to lie down on the examination couch, anxiety filled her face. I took her hand.

She squeezed my fingers tightly when the doctor began the ultrasound. Almost immediately, the heartbeat sounded steady and reassuring. I released the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. Sara beamed up at me, then she turned back to her doctor, who watched the ultrasound monitor in concentration. “My suspicion about the gender seems to be confirmed.” She glanced from Sara to me. “Do you want to know?”

Sara nodded, then gave me a questioning look. “I don’t like surprises,” I said.

The doctor pointed at the spot between the baby’s legs on the screen. There was something. “A boy?” I said. Sara had guessed it was a girl, female intuition apparently.

“That’s the umbilical cord,” the doctor said.

“It’s a girl, right?” Sara whispered as if she could actually make out anything on this screen.

The doctor nodded. “Congrats.”

Sara closed her eyes and covered them with her hands. She let out a sob. The doctor got up. “I’m outside if you need me.”

Seeing Sara cry reminded me of the moment she’d found out we’d lost the baby, but this time, it was obvious joy. I perched on the edge of the examination couch and wrapped an arm around her. She peered up at me through teary eyes. “I had a feeling she was a girl. I’m so happy everything’s as it should be.”

“I told you everything is going to be okay. Nothing will happen to you or our little girl.”

Our little girl. It was still hard to believe that Sara and I would be parents soon, that the pain of the past would eventually lead to this kind of happiness.

I wouldn’t allow anyone to destroy this.