Filthy: A Mafia Romance

He held me like he hadn’t seen me in months and I held him just as tight.

“Did you have a good time?” I asked when we finally let each other go.

He grinned at me. “Yeah! I got two cookies tonight and she let me watch Pound Puppies. It was great.”

I shook my head a little. “Two cookies?” I glanced up at Mrs. Rogers who smiled innocently and shrugged her frail shoulders. I laughed a little. “Well, then I guess you’ve had plenty of sugar tonight. Did you get your homework done?”

He nodded his head. “Yep. Mrs. Rogers said I had to even though it’s Friday.”

“Good.”

I straightened up, still holding Cody’s hand. “Thank you again.”

“Any time,” she assured me.

We said our goodbyes and I walked Cody home. When we got there, I pulled out the board games and dragged him into a never-ending game of Mousetrap. We kept having to cheat because the cage refused to fall even when we did everything right. But that didn’t matter. We ended up laughing and spending what seemed like hours together, just teasing and tickling each other.

It wasn’t until Cody started to nod off that I finally called it a night. “All right. No more games. It’s bedtime.”

“But, Mom!” he whined, even as he yawned halfway through.

I shook my head, smiling at him. “Don’t ‘but, Mom’ me, mister. You’ve already gotten an extra hour tonight. It’s time to get cleaned up and hit the hay.”

He pouted, crossing his little arms over his little chest, pushing his bottom lip out dramatically. He looked adorable and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to hold back a laugh. He could be so ridiculous sometimes.

“Up,” I ordered him and pulled him by the arms to get him on his feet.

I walked him to the bathroom in the hall, even as he whined and protested the entire way. “But I’m not tired,” he argued.

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

We went back and forth as I made sure he brushed his teeth; he spit toothpaste all over the mirror as he insisted he wasn’t tired again. We made it to his room and he put on his jammies, then I read him a story. It was about a knight on a white horse fighting off a fire-breathing dragon to save the princess who was trapped in a tower. It was a little cliché, but it was one of Cody’s favorites. He struggled to stay awake, nodding off before the princess was saved.

I slid out of bed then, kissing him gently on the forehead as he slept. I’d intended to head to my own room then, but found myself staring at my little boy instead. He was so peaceful in his sleep.

“My little angel,” I murmured.

I finally turned away and headed out, but paused in the doorway as a horrible thought hit me.

They might come for him.

Or for me, and find him. That man—Tommy or whoever he was—could come for me just like Ethan did. And not just at the shop. What if he came looking for me at my home and found Cody here? With Jessie or with Mrs. Rogers? They could all be in danger, because I had made a stupid, horrible mistake.

My first thought was to run to the phone and call Ethan, to tell him I thought Tommy might know where I lived. But a second later I came to my senses and realized how stupid that was.

Ethan didn’t care about me or my son. We could easily be written off as collateral damage.

Swallowing down that bitter pill, I dug into the pocket of my pants and found my cell phone. I dialed Jessie, not caring how late it was. I hated that I was interrupting her again, but I couldn’t call the police like she wanted. Then I’d have Ethan for an enemy, not just a really lousy boss. I just hoped she wasn’t so drunk that she couldn’t pick up.

The phone rang several times, then went to voicemail, but I didn’t want to leave a message about this. I called again. This time, Jessie picked up.

“Hello?” she asked. I could hear laughing in the background.

I glanced at the clock on the wall; just after ten. “Jessie? It’s Diana.”

“Diana. What’s wrong? Did something happen? What did that creep—?”

I cut her off. “Listen, it’s about what happened at the shop tonight.”

“Now what the hell is going on?”

I blurted it out. “Can you take Cody?”

There was a pause. “What?”

Tugging on the ends of my hair, I said, “Can you take Cody? It wouldn’t be for long. A day or two. The weekend.”

“You want me to babysit him this weekend?”

I winced as I realized what I’d just asked. She had friends over and probably wanted to enjoy this weekend. She didn’t want to be saddled with a kid. She was young, pretty, and single. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.”