Page 44 of Mafia Boss' Surprise Baby

Mickey answers the door. Rory clocks me on the couch, remote in hand. He glances at the TV.

“What are you watching? Pierce Brosnan? He was the best fuckin’ James Bond and then he went and made that stupid singing movie,” he says.

“This is what you came to talk about?” Mickey says, taking his place beside me on the couch. He’s making it clear with his closeness that he and I are in this together, and we’re a team. I’m grateful for it and squeeze his hand.

“I want to see how my sister’s settling in,” he counters.

“You got a phone,” I point out. “You can call.”

“I wanna see with my own eyes. You okay?”

“Yes,” I say. I want to say something sarcastic about how I’m obviously being held hostage and it’s nice of him to finally come looking for me—I’m that hurt by his behavior. Instead, I take a breath and ground myself in the fact that I am safe and loved, that Mick is with me and our baby is healthy. “Are you trying to say you missed me? Because it sounds like you’re making sure we’re not both so stupid that I took a bath with the hair dryer or something.”

“I’ve never thought you were stupid,” he says grudgingly. “You’re the smart one.”

“Always have been,” I say.

He sits down in a chair and kind of sags for a second.

“What’s going on Rory?”

He sighs before answering. “You and Mickey, you’re my family. If I stay pissed at you, I’m on my own.” He says this like it’s a huge revelation.

Taking a page out of Mickey’s playbook, I sit and wait and listen. Eventually it works.

“I guess what I’m sayin’ is I miss you and if you’re okay and everything’s on the up-and-up then I can try and get over how fuckin’ weird this is.”

“You’re… sorry,” Mickey supplies.

“Yeah, that too,” he says and then shrugs his shoulders like he’s shaking off a huge burden. “Wow, that was tough. I don’t go in for these big emotional scenes.”

I can’t help myself. I bark out a laugh and then clap a hand over my mouth. “Sorry,” I say. “I missed you too. But that was not an emotional scene. It was more like trying to pry words out of you at gunpoint.”

“What’s the difference?” he grumps at me like I’m taking the sweetness out of his hard-won triumph.

“Uh, emotional maturity probably,” I say.

Mickey squeezes my hand. I glance at him and he gives a slight shake of his head. He’s telling me that maybe I should let this go and quit being a hard-ass to my own brother who’s trying to choke out an apology for the first time in his life.

“Look, I was an only child. I don’t know how long brothers and sisters bitch at each other like this, so I’m gonna try to translate. Rory, you know you acted like a jerk and you want to smooth it over, right?” he nods grudgingly. “And Katie, you love your brother and you been sad about being in a fight with him, right?”

“Yes,” I say.

“For my part, Rory, you’re like a brother to me since we were kids. I don’t wanna be crossways with you if I can help it. So you gotta know that I love Katie more than anything, or I wouldn’t have done something off-limits like get involved with somebody that works for me and is also your little sister. But that’s not all she is. She’s remarkable and smart and brave. And we got something to tell you if we can get past this mess.”

“Okay, I’ll get over it,” he says. “How ‘bout you?”

“I love you and I want you in my life. It made me sick that you thought I did something to hurt you when I got with Mickey. I know you want what’s best for me, and you worry about me being safe around the business. But we grew up that way, and it’s gonna be fine,” I tell him. “Trust me. Trust both of us, okay?’

Rory comes over to the couch and kisses the top of my head. Then he sits down on the couch with us. “Whaddaya got to tell me now? Are you getting’ married already?”

I blink fast, thrown by that half-sarcastic suggestion. I don’t even look at either of them. A slow breath to steady myself and then I just brazen it out.

“We’re having a baby,” I say.

“Baby.” Rory says the word like he doesn’t know what it means. The dumbfounded look on his face is not exactly the joy I’d hoped for at becoming an uncle, but there’s nothing for it.

“That’s right. There’s a baby Donahue O’Halloran on the way,” Mickey says.

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