And now finally, it felt as if my life were snapping into place, falling together with one great crash.
I’d lead my family. I’d keep my wife.
And I’d kill my enemies.
A man couldn’t ask for more.
22
Mags
Two Years Later
Sunlight reflected off the pool. I stretched my legs with a sigh and my feet slipped out from the shade of the big umbrella for a moment. The sun felt good on my bare skin.
“You look comfortable,” Ash said, grinning at me.
I smiled back at her and put one hand on my big, swollen belly. “I’m never comfortable, unfortunately,” I said. “Seven months pregnant and I’m ready to be done.”
“You’ve got a little more cooking to do.” She laughed and put her arms up above her head.
“Should I be scared?” I asked her. “Of giving birth, I mean. I haven’t really thought about it, if I’m being honest. Which is crazy, right?”
“It’s not crazy,” she said. “I mean, I obsessed about it, but still. Everyone’s different.”
“I’m just worried for the baby,” I said.
“You’ll be totally fine,” she said. “Dean’s paying for the best doctors, right?”
“I know,” I said, shaking my head and smiling despite my anxiety. “It’s just becoming real, you know?”
She rolled slightly toward me and sat up on an elbow. Her hair fell down around her face and she put a hand on mine. “I promise, you’ll be okay. I’m here for you, right?”
“Right,” I said. “Ditto.”
“Now come on, we have some relaxing to do.” She sighed and shifted onto her back again.
I grinned a little and watched the inflatable gorilla glide along the water. I didn’t know what I would do without Ash. There weren’t many women I was close with, especially any women around the mafia, and very few of them completely understood what it was like to be married to a man like Dean.
Every day was heaven.
But I worried. The war was over, but that didn’t mean Dean was safe. He was the Don of the Valentino family, which meant he’d always have a target right between his eyes. I was afraid for him, and being super pregnant didn’t exactly make that any easier.
At least I had Ash and Bea. They understood and were patient with my semi-regular freak-outs.
“Well, look at that,” Ash said, shading her eyes. “Seems like your man’s home.”
I sat up and spotted Dean coming toward us. I felt a little flutter in my chest like I always did, and climbed to my feet with some embarrassing difficulty. Ash winked at me as I went to greet my husband.
He kissed me then kissed my belly. “You look amazing,” he said.
“You tell me that every day,” I said. “At some point it’ll lose its meaning.”
“Has it yet?”
I hesitated, considering. “Not yet,” I said. “So keep it up.”
He laughed and kissed me. “How are you ladies doing?”
“We’re good. Lounging. Relaxing. Enjoying my last days before the baby comes.”
“Speaking of the baby, I have a surprise for you.” He took my hand and looked over at Ash. “Do you mind if I borrow her?” he called out.
“Go ahead,” Ash said. “So long as I can stay here.”
“Stay as long as you like,” Dean said and pulled me along back to the house.
“You didn’t get another car, did you?” I asked, frowning. “You know I don’t care about cars as much as you do.”
“No, this is about the baby.” He pushed open the door and led me upstairs. The house was like a maze, and even though I’d lived in it for the past two years and spent considerable sums of money renovating and redecorating, it still felt a little strange and foreign to me.
There were traces of his father all of the place, even though I painted, got rid of most of the creepy old art, ripped out the tacky wood paneling, and basically modernized the whole place.
Bea said she liked it, although I had a feeling she missed the way it used to be. Dean seemed ambivalent and really only cared that I liked it, which worked for me.
He took me down the hall, past our room, and stopped in front of the nursery. The door was shut and I smelled paint fumes in the air.
“What did you do?” I asked, eyes wide.
He laughed and pushed open the door.
The floor was covered in a drop cloth. There was painter’s tape around the edges. The walls were pained sky-blue, and on the far wall, right where the crib would be, was an incredible mural. I gasped and covered my mouth with both hands.
It was a hot air balloon floating over a little forest. There was so much detail: deer stood drinking from a river, birds chirped in the trees, squirrels ran around in the grass. The balloon’s basket was empty, but the colors were incredible, a dazzling rainbow array.
“What do you think?” he asked. “We can cover it up if you don’t like it, but I wanted to surprise you.”