Page 65 of Mafia Pregnancy

“Your world isn’t safe.” I open my eyelids and look at him directly. “You know that better than anyone. After what happened with that man breaking into your house, how can you ask me to bring a child into that danger?”

“You’re right that my world carries risks that yours doesn’t.” He nods acknowledgment. “You didn’t know that when you first came to work for me. When you realized who I was, what was your plan? Were you ever going to tell me I had a son?”

The question hangs between us, and I can’t find an answer that doesn’t sound like exactly what it is. Cowardice. Selfishness. The determination to keep Leo safe by keeping him secret, regardless of what that cost everyone involved. “No,” I say quietly. “I wasn’t planning to tell you.”

Something painful flickers across his features before he controls his expression. “That’s what I thought.”

“Mama?” Leo’s voice saves me from having to explain myself further. “I have to go potty.”

“I’ll take him.” Radmir slides out of the booth before I can stand. “Leo, want to come with me to find the bathroom?”

“Okay.” Leo abandons his airplane ride and takes Radmir’s hand with the easy trust that makes my heart stop.

I watch them walk toward the back of the restaurant together, panic rising in my throat. What if this is it? What if Radmir simply walks out with Leo and disappears, using his wealth and connections to take my son somewhere I’ll never find him?

The minutes stretch endlessly until I see them returning, Leo skipping alongside Radmir while explaining something with animated gestures. The relief that floods through me is so intense it makes me dizzy.

“Mr. Radmir knows how to wash hands real good,” Leo announces as he climbs back into the booth. “He showed me how to make sure I get all the soap off.”

“Really well,” I correct naturally before saying, “That’s wonderful, sweetheart.” I pull him close for a hug that’s probably tighter than necessary, breathing in the familiar scent of his shampoo and the lingering traces of pizza sauce.

We finish dinner with Leo alternating between eating and running to try different games in the arcade. He wins a small stuffed dinosaur from the claw machine and immediately names it “Raddy” in honor of his new friend, a gesture that makes both Radmir and me go very still. It sound so close to Daddy.

“I think it’s time to head home,” I say when Leo starts rubbing his eyes. “It’s getting close to bedtime.”

“I didn’t try all the games yet.” Leo clutches his new dinosaur against his chest. “Can we come back sometime? Maybe Mr. Radmir could come too?”

“We’ll see, baby.” I gather my purse and help him with his jacket, avoiding Radmir’s gaze.

In the parking lot, he walks us to my car and waits while I get Leo settled in his car seat. When I turn around, he’s standing close enough that I have to tilt my head up to meet his gaze.

“You don’t need to be afraid of me, Danielle.” His voice is gentler than it’s been all evening. “I would never take him away from you. You’re his mother, and he adores you. I’m not interested in disrupting the life you’ve built for him.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want to be part of it.” He reaches out and lightly touches my arm. “I want to be the person he calls when he learns something new at school. I want to teach him about dinosaurs and take him to museums and help him with homework when he’s older.”

The picture he paints sounds wonderful and terrifying in equal measure. “And if I say no?”

“You can’t say no. Not anymore.” His tone remains gentle, but there’s steel underneath. “I won’t let you keep him from me now that I know he exists. We can figure this out together, or we can let lawyers figure it out for us, but Leo is my son. That’s not negotiable.”

I stare at him for a long moment, understanding that everything has changed irrevocably. The secret I’ve been keeping for over three years is out, and there’s no way to put it back. He doesn’t even know about my second secret yet. The thought fills me with dread. “I need time to think.”

“You can have tonight.” He steps back and opens my car door for me. “But tomorrow, we start figuring out how to make this work. All of it.”

As I drive home with Leo chattering sleepily in the back seat about his wonderful evening, I can’t pretend my carefully constructed world isn’t about to change in ways I can’t predict or control.

The envelope in my purse contains news about a daughter who will grow up in a very different world than the one I planned for her. Leo has a father now who wants to be part of his life, whether I’m ready for that or not. He’ll surely want to be part of her life too. My sense of control is slipping, leaving me spinning out in a panic. I’ll have to start learning how to share the most important things in my world with the man who’s already taken up too much space in my heart.

I just wish I could firmly believe we’ll be safe if we step out of our world and into his.

20

Radmir

Saturday morning, I’m already dressed and in my office by seven. I retrieve the small plastic bag from my desk drawer, holding it up to examine the single dark hair I managed to obtain last night during our trip to the restaurant bathroom.

Leo had protested with a small “ouch” when I plucked it, his trusting eyes looking up at me with mild confusion.

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