Page 114 of The Mafia's Christmas Baby
I hold her eyes.
“You are not a piece I move. You are mine. That should have been enough to tell me.”
She swallows.
The anger in me cools into something heavier.
“What do you want to do?” I ask. “Doctor first? Quiet car? A place to sleep where no one knocks? Tell me and I’ll make it happen.”
She hesitates.
That pause is the knife.
It tells me what I already know.
She has been alone with this and measuring me from a distance.
“I have a doctor,” she says. “I will make the appointment in the morning. I will not hide records or play games at work. I will do this right.”
“Good,” I say. “I know a second if you want a private consult after. She is clean. She keeps her mouth shut. No favors. Just a number when you need it.”
She nods.
She still will not look straight at me.
That turns the heat back on.
I step in until there is no more distance left and set my hands on her arms.
Not hard.
Not soft.
Firm enough that the words don't float.
“How long have you known?” I ask.
Her eyes finally meet mine.
There is fear there.
There is steel too.
“Long enough,” she says, and her voice doesn’t shake. “Long enough to know I can’t lose this baby to your world.”
21
ELISA
The room feels smaller after I say it.
He steps back from me and starts to pace, slow at first, then tight turns in front of the table.
Hands on his hips.
Jaw set.
He looks like he is keeping himself from punching a wall because he knows the wall would win and nothing would change.
