Page 105 of Baby for my Daddy's Best Friend

“I don’t care.” All I see around me is red. “He needs to be put into his place.”

“Dad,”he begs. “You have a family to look after. You’re better than this.”

The image of Quinn and our unborn baby flashes in front of my eyes followed by my other three children, and my shoulders fall slack.

“What is it?” Silvano smirks. “Scared, already?”

“I don’t expect you to understand. If you had anything worth living for, you’d know,” I spit back and follow Valentino to the car, slamming the door shut behind me.

Valentino takes the wheels. It’s not until Silvano’s residence has faded firmly in the background that he decides to speak again.

“I’m glad you didn’t act on your ego back there,” he admits. “Who’s to say if you would have walked out of there alive? We were too outnumbered.”

I rub my temples. “Quinn… is pregnant. For the sake of the child, and all of you, I held back.”

The surprise registers on his face for a moment, but he handles it well. “You’re having the baby?”

“Of course, we are. I’m not about to let her walk out of my life again.”

“You misunderstand me. I’m not criticizing you. Just trying to make sure I know what’s going on.”

My voice softens. I don’t mean to take my anger against Silvano out on him.

“You’ve done a good job these last few days, taking the lead. For someone so young, you’ve filled the role gracefully.”

He nods and grows quiet. A rare thing for him.

I wait until he pulls into the driveway to deliver the next part of my speech to him.

“This Silvano thing.” I sigh. “I think it would be better if we just let the police handle things from here.”

Valentino purses his lips. “It feels like we are just giving up on making him pay.”

“But we are not,” I say firmly. “We’re just playing the long game, waiting for the right moment to strike.”

Seeing him this morning was a mistake, we showed him our cards too soon. I would not put it past him to pay someone to get rid of all the evidence we got so far.

Valentino huffs but nods.

I put my hands against the tops of his shoulders and get him to look at me.

“There’s one more thing. I’ve decided to hang up my hat for good. I want to legally transfer all power over to you.”

“Dad, that is—”

“The next logical step.” I nod. “I love this life, and I’ll be here to help you and support you every step of the way. But it’s time I step down and you step up take the reins.”

“What will you do, then?”

A smile appears at the corners of my lips, “Settle down with Quinn. Build a life together. Give her the attention she deserves. I want to enjoy life for once.”

Valentino stiffens up, and I know he’s feeling the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

“I have full faith in you to manage things. Maybe even better that I was able to.”

“Dad, that means a lot to me.”

“And as for Silvano, he’ll get what is coming for him, sooner or later. But for now, let’s focus on us, on your mother’s dream. I’m counting on you.”

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