Don Valentino sat behind his desk smoking a cigar. He puffed away at it, frowning at me from beyond the smoke. He was a young man, good looking, dark hair, muscular frame. His second-in-command, Gian, was there, sitting with his legs crossed, arm casually slung over the back of his chair.
“Matteo,” Don Valentino said. “You texted.”
“I did, Don Valentino.” I stepped into the room and nodded respectfully to Gian. These men gave me this life, raised me up from the ranks, taught me everything I knew, and yet I still felt a twinge of uncertainty.
I didn’t know how they’d react to this news. I slept with a blood Healy girl and got her pregnant, and I had no clue what they’d think of that. It wasn’t on purpose, but it still happened, and now I had to deal with the consequences.
No matter what though, I’d make sure she was safe. If they talked about hurting her in any way, I’d get her out of the city somehow—but I didn’t think that was a real possibility.
“Sit down,” Don Valentino said. “Cigar?”
“No, thanks,” I said.
“Drink?” Gian asked.
I hesitated and nodded. “Please.”
He got up, grinning, and poured drinks for everyone. When I had my whiskey and slugged half of it down, I finally wiped my mouth with my sleeve and looked the Don right in the eye.
“I fucked a Healy girl and got her pregnant.”
It wasn’t the most eloquent way of saying it. Maybe I could’ve dressed it up a bit, made it seem a little classier, a little gentler.
But I wanted to get the words out as fast as I could, and there it was.
Don Valentino’s eyebrows shot up. Gian made a curious grunting noise.
“How the hell did that happen?” Don Valentino asked.
“Well, when a man loves a woman,” Gian started, but the Don interrupted him.
“No jokes,” he said, still staring at me. “Explain, Matteo.”
I told him the whole story, starting with finding out about the party, through forging the invitation and sneaking inside, right until the moment that I brought Sam into that bedroom. They didn’t know the graphic details, so I glossed over them.
“She found me just today. Told me she was pregnant.”
“You believe her?” Gian asked.
“I’ve got no reason to call her a liar. She’s shaken up. You should see her right now. This is for real.”
Don Valentino leaned toward me. “I should see her right now?” he asked slowly.
I grimaced and stared down into my glass. “She’s at my place.”
“Oh, goddamn it,” Gian said. “Matteo, what the hell were you thinking?”
“You brought a full-blood Healy family member into your home,” Don Valentino said. “It’s bad enough you got her pregnant, but you brought her into your home.”
I glared at him then at Gian. “It’s my baby,” I said. “And I like her. I’m not fucking with her.”
“Nobody’s asking you to fuck with her,” Gian said. “Nobody said we’re hurting the girl.”
“You still could’ve been more careful,” Don Valentino said. “Does she know who you are?”
I let out a slow sigh. No reason to lie. “I told her.”
“Goddamn it,” Gian said, throwing up his hands. Some whiskey spilled on the carpet. “Are you kidding me?”
“That’s not good,” Don Valentino said. “That’s not good at all.”
“She doesn’t get along with her family,” I said. “She’s not about to go tell them that she slept with a Valentino hitman. They’ll kill her themselves.”
“She knows where you live now,” Gian said. “You get that, right? She could sell you out whenever she wants to.”
Don Valentino took a long drink. “Gian’s right, she knows too much.”
“We’re not hurting her,” I said sharply.
“Nobody said we are,” Don Valentino said, holding up his hands. “But we need to think of something to do with her. Something that’ll keep you safe.”
“Maybe we can use her against the Healys,” Gian said. “I’m sure she knows where guys live, safehouses, shit like that.”
“We’re not using her. It’s not about the goddamn war.”
“It’s always about the war,” Don Valentino said, staring daggers at me.
“You could always marry her,” Gian said, grinning. I knew he was joking, but the idea twisted my stomach into knots. The thought of Sam as my wife, pregnant with my baby, living in my home—
“That’s not a bad idea,” Don Valentino said.
I stared at him. Gian laughed.
“I was joking,” Gian said. “You can’t be serious.”
“Think about it,” Don Valentino said. “If Matteo marries her, that puts her in our control. We can protect her better if it’s official.”
“She’ll never go for it,” I said. “She cares too much about her family, even if she says she doesn’t.”
“You don’t know that,” Don Valentino said. “You’re a charming man. You’ve lied your way into worse situations. What’s one more lie?”
“No,” I said, harder than I’d intended, but my fingers were turning white as I gripped the whiskey glass. I took another drink to try to drown my anger. “I’m not lying to her anymore.”