Page 51 of Mafia Doctor's Secret Baby

“Well, I’ll try not to fall in love with a mafia don,” she jokes. “But I can’t promise anything.”

I grin at her, and then I hear a slight noise from next door—I glance around.

“Oh, I think that’s Polly awake,” I remark as I get to my feet. “You want to come and see her?”

“Of course I do,” she shoots back, almost incredulous. “I’ve got to get in as much quality time with her as I can…”

And as she brushes past me to lead the way to the bedroom, I smile. This life is going to be hard to leave behind—but the one that lies ahead of me seems even more appealing.

24

LUCA

I checkmy phone for what feels like the thousandth time in the last day. I’m not sure how long she’s going to make me wait for an answer—but I know, sure as hell, that I’m not going to be able to take much more in the way of waiting.

It’s a huge decision for her, and I know that. I’m not oblivious to the fact that she’s going to be walking away from so much here. She has worked so hard to make this life for herself, even with no family to fall back on to help her, and now I’m asking her to step away from it and into a world that’s already caused her more trouble than can possibly seem worth it.

Which is why I went out to do a little shopping the day before yesterday, after she left. I knew that, if I was going to ask for something as huge as this, I would need to be prepared to back it up with my actions. And if this isn’t enough to convince her, I don’t know what will be.

She said she would visit when she got the chance today—seems like she was in the middle of something, though I’m not sure whether I should be worried about it or not. I can’t help but think I should try to get more out of her, but I don’t even knowwhat that really looks like. She’s either going to come with me, or she isn’t, and I have to accept it either way…

Finally, the door to my apartment buzzes. I head over to answer it at once. I suppose I should care about looking too eager, but this is the mother of my child we’re talking about. I still can’t believe it’s really come to this, that I have a woman like her in my life now, a woman who has brought my child into the world, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

She reaches the door, and she gives me a small smile when her eyes meet mine. My heart jumps in my chest. She looks happy—excited, even. That has to be good news, doesn’t it? She reaches up and gives me a hug, and I press my face into the side of her neck, letting myself linger for a moment in the feeling of just having her here with me once more.

“I missed you so much,” she murmurs, the words emerging from some place deep inside of her and convincing me that she means every word. I can’t help but smile. As I pull back, I gaze down at her, scanning her face for anything more in the way of clues to her decision.

“You’ve had time to think?” I ask her. With Emil back at my father’s side once more, I can’t help but feel as though he will tell him about Polly, about this family that I have down here, about everything that’s going on. And when he does, I want to have an answer for my father about whether or not Katie will be joining our clan—or if she intends to stay behind and pretend like I never existed in the first place.

She nods, her teeth resting on her bottom lip for a moment before she tells me.

“Yeah, I have,” she murmurs, and her gaze flicks up to meet mine. With a beaming smile, she finally comes out with it, the words I’ve been longing to hear.

“I want to go with you. I want to move to the city with you and Polly…I want to find out what life’s like out there. I want a fresh start.”

For a moment, I just stand there, wrapping my head around the enormity of what she just said. My life is about to change for good. Everything I’ve made for myself, everything that I’ve had planned for my future, it’s never going to be the same again after this. No, everything is different—in ways I could never have seen coming, even a year ago.

But as Katie looks back into my eyes, I know this is where she belongs. At my side. As my partner, as the mother of my child…

And if I have my way, my wife too.

“You have no idea how much I’ve been hoping you’ll say that,” I murmur to her, lifting a hand to caress the side of her face as she beams up at me. “Jesus, Katie, for a second there, I thought you were going to say no.”

She giggles slightly, as though the mere thought of it is utterly ridiculous to her.

“Don’t be silly,” she replies. “I just needed time to clear my head. But if you think you get to walk into my life and just stroll on out again without taking responsibility for me…you’ve got another thing coming.”

She’s grinning—but I can tell from the look on her face that she’s just kidding, that this isn’t about forcing me to stand by her side. No, this is a choice we’ve both made, a decision to stay with oneanother that I’m not going to let anything take from me. She’s part of the family now, and nothing is going to change that.

“Then I have something to ask you,” I reply, and she frowns at me before I turn away to pull open the drawer to the living room table. I’ve had the ring stashed in there since I picked it up a couple of days ago. I knew it was a long shot, maybe too soon, but there’s no way I’m going to risk her saying yes without the means to make it official.

I lift the small red box into my hand and hold it there reverently for a moment. I spent the better part of an hour picking out this ring, choosing a gold band with a blue gem pressed into it that will bring out the color of her eyes.

When I turn to her, I can see the shock written all over her face. I know this is a lot, but fuck it, the last few months have been a lot too. There’s no point pretending that what we have here isn’t serious, isn’t meant to be for the rest of our lives. We could have gone on without ever seeing each other again, had it not been for the strange collection of circumstances that led me to that hospital room when she was giving birth to Polly. I refuse to leave the rest of our lives up to such chance.

No, I’m going to lock her down, and I’m going to show her just how serious I about this.

“What’s that?” she gasps, as I sink down to one knee before her.

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