Falling for the Killer

“Want me to stay?” I asked. “We can talk more, if you want. I’m curious about you.”

She looked down at her hands and ran her thumbs around each other in quick little circles. “Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked, looking up. “I thought a guy like you would—” She cut herself off and shook her head.

I let out a soft chuckle. “Guy like me?” I asked.

“Mafia,” she said. “Is that for real? I mean, are you really in the mob?”

“I work for a family that engages in certain illicit activities,” I said slowly. “If that makes me part of a mafia—”

“Which it definitely does,” she said.

“—then yes,” I said, “I am.”

We watched each other in silence. I could almost see the thoughts pinging around her brain, wondering if she was safe or if she should get away. I was sure she was having some second thoughts right about now, but she only shook her head again and leaned back on her hands.

“I’ll stay here,” she said. “I think I just want to try to go to sleep if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “I’m right down the hall if you need me.” I turned and walked to the door.

“Gian,” she said before I could leave.

I looked back at her. “Yeah?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked, and sounded genuinely confused. I felt a stab of guilt and sadness right then, like the girl had never had someone be kind to her before. I thought I had it bad, but at least the Valentino family treated me right and I found some respect among the soldiers and the other Capos. We weren’t a bunch of cuddly, loving guys, but there was kindness in the family, even if that kindness was sharp and pointed and tough, at least I knew my soldiers had my back.

This girl looked like she was lost in the wilderness without a guide.

“Because you’re pregnant with my baby,” I said. “And because it’s the right thing to do. Goodnight, Ash. Get some sleep.” I shut the door and left her there to think about it.

Maybe she’d see that her family and that piece of shit Stuart weren’t worth her time. Maybe the baby would tip her in the right direction and she’d stay here with me. We could have a life, start a family, do all that shit.

Of course, that was wishful thinking.

The Adamsons would never let her go. Her father and mother would burn my house down before they let their precious daughter move in with me. They were rich and well connected, and they’d be a real fucking problem if they wanted to be.

And that guy Stuart. He was a weak little bitch, but he’d give me trouble in other ways.

Despite all that, I didn’t care. I wanted Ash, and I was going to have her and my baby, even if it wrecked my life and ruined my world, I’d have what was mine.

3

Ash

Showing up at Gian’s house was obviously the most insane thing I could possibly do, but when I saw those little blue lines, I knew I had to talk to him.

The father of my child.

My parents were going to murder me. I think they were literally going to murder me for being pregnant, especially pregnant by a guy like Gian. To them, men like Gian were the help and nothing more than servants and people that did hard manual labor for them. Getting pregnant by a gangster, by a guy that looked like Gian, that was about the worst thing I could possibly ever do.

They were going to hate me.

And Stuart. God, Stuart. I didn’t really care what he thought of me, but he was going to be livid. I was afraid of what he’d do to me and my family once he learned that his precious little virginal Ash wasn’t as pure as he’d hoped.

Fuck him. Fuck them all.

I woke up with light streaming in through the window. I felt groggy and heavy, like I’d been crying all night. The pillow was stained with tears and eye makeup and I sat at the foot of the bed staring at the floor. The room was strange, empty and quiet, and I felt like I was in a whole different world. I remembered the way Gian touched my back, his soothing voice, his earnest stare.

I wondered what he was doing with me here. A man like him couldn’t possibly want anything to do with a baby.

He hadn’t come out and told me in so many words that he didn’t want me around. In fact, it felt like he didn’t want me to leave, but that couldn’t be right. He was a mobster, and a baby wasn’t going to make his life any easier, and yet when he looked at me last night, it was like he saw me for the first time, like he really wanted to reach past all the layers of our lives and see the real me lurking down below my past and my future.