MOBSTER’S BABY_Esposito Family Mafia

by Nicole Fox

  "You're gonna need to strap in and hold on to something, Evie," I told her. I hit the gas harder and harder, and when we got closer, I slammed the break. Our back up flew past us instead, ramming into the cop car that had raced down the dirt road, and I had to swerve like a mother in order to avoid it. Evie gasped and pressed herself against the window.

  "Are they going to be all right?"

  "Who the fuck knows? I'm sure your father can deal with the fallout just fine. He's probably the one who sent them this way."

  She said nothing.

  There were more sirens, though, and I knew we weren't going to be in the clear. I saw more lights at the mouth of the road.

  "Both of you hold the fuck on."

  I could hear Evie breathing heavily in the back, and I sped up. So this was how Rick Brown wanted to play? He wanted to try and corner me while I got what was mine? That was fine. I wasn't a pussy. I told him that I was going to get what belonged to be and that's what the fuck was happening.

  There were three cop cars, lights and sirens blaring. They had their guns out, and I had time to yell ‘duck’ as the windshield was shot out. Evie screamed, and Allan cursed.

  "What the fuck? Don’t they know that she's in here?!"

  "So much for careful cops."

  They didn't hit the tires, and I peeled down the road. I didn't take the freeway, though. It would be too easy for them if they decided to give chase. I went through the dirty backroads with winds and turns and forks; I had done enough dirty, off-the-grid business to know the area, even if Rick Brown thought he was doing himself a favor hiding his daughter in the fucking boonies.

  "Holy shit, Tony, slow down." I took a turn sharp as hell, tilting the car. Evie sounded like she was going to be sick.

  "I will when I know they're not gonna be up our ass."

  "Then you might have to deal with me throwing up all over your car!"

  The thought wasn't appealing, but neither was letting the cops close. I slowed her just a little.

  "Better."

  There were still sirens in the distance, but that sound got further and further away and there weren't any lights following us. That was good.

  "We're gonna need to explain to your pops about all this," Allan said after a moment.

  I laughed.

  "What's he gonna do, tell me to take her back?"

  "Nah, but he might be pissed about the car ... and Terry and Troy. Probably the windshield on this, too." He dusted away some of the broken class. "This was one of his favorite cars ..."

  "Eh." I shrugged. "What's money if you don't use it to fix up your fuck ups, hm?"

  Allan laughed. He turned around and looked at Evie curiously.

  "You all right back there?"

  I caught her in the rear-view mirror. She was looking a bit shaken, but she wasn't too hurt. That was good. She nodded palely at Allan.

  "Yeah ...yeah I'm fine ..." She shook her head. "I can't believe all of this."

  "Well, you better believe it, girl. You're in good hands now."

  She raised her brow at Allan.

  "Well, okay. Relatively good hands. They could be worse hands, to be fair."

  I didn't comment on how she'd already been in my hands. Seemed the wrong time to bring all of that up, but it didn't stop me from smirking about it.

  "What's so funny?" Allan asked.

  "Nothing, man. Nothing."

  We were quiet the rest of the drive, cruising through the backroads and avoiding the majors and highways. It took a little longer to get back into the city, but it was better safe than sorry. It was much later by the time we pulled back into the compound. Most people were asleep by then, or out partying. There were the guards keeping watch and they let us through, eyeing our shot-out windshield curiously.

  I heard snoring from the back as I pulled into the lot, parking us in the garage. I looked up to see Evie snuggled in the back of the car, curled against the window. That shit was precious and there was a strange tug in my chest that I shrugged off as I got out. Must be a lust thing.

  "Get her suitcase, will you?"

  Allan nodded and complied.

  I went to the side that Evie was on, opening the door quietly and nudging her gently.

  "Evie? Evie, we're here."

  "Hmm ..."

  She was out cold.

  I shook my head and smiled a little, scooping her up easily in my arms. I carried her like that, with Allan following me, trekking in through the garage. If we were lucky, we could avoid my father, and I would be able to get away with having brought her here until the morning.

  "My, my. I was beginning to wonder when you'd come home."

  My father, Geno Esposito, was standing just on the other side of garage door leading from the lot into the main house that we shared. He must have been waiting for us, or had been told we'd pulled up.

  "Father," I said. "You're up late."

  "As are you." He looked to Evie curiously. "And with a guest."

  "My guest," I said levelly. "She's important."

  "Yes, I'm aware. Governor Brown's daughter, yes? If you were planning on taking her as bait or to pass around as a whore, you could have at least run such a thing by me."

  My jaw twitched a little.

  "Allan, can you take her shit to my room?"

  Allan didn't even say a thing. He nipped on past us, not wanting to get involved in an issue between my father and myself.

  "She's not a whore," I started out. "She's gonna be staying with me."

  "You decided all this on your own, did you?"

  "She's carrying my child."

  That made my father pause. He looked to her curiously once more, eyes lingering on her flat, little belly.

  "Well. That's far more interesting than using her as a whore. I would have been angrier had you taken two of my men and gotten into a chase with police over a whore."

  "Her father tried to keep her from me. That baby in there is mine. That makes her mine. I figured you'd approve."

  My father laughed.

  "I'd approve more if you'd have had the sense not to put your seed in the governor' daughter and then risk my men—"

  "Our men," I corrected. "We're in this together. Partners."

  His lips twitched.

  "We'll discuss this in the morning," he said. "Have a good night with your ...woman."

  My father turned and left me. I scoffed. Ever the formal bastard—not even interested in the fact that he was going to be a grandfather.

  I shook my head and went to my wing of the house. I had a lot of space all to myself. I liked it that way, though. My father had his side, and I had mine. Sometimes, though, it felt like the space was little more a physical reminder of the fact that he treated me less like a son and more like an employee. Cold. Distant. Ever disappointed.

  I shook off that, though. I didn't have time for that shit.

  Allan was waiting for me in my room.

  "Ah, well, he didn't carve your balls, at least," he said as I laid Evie on my bed.

  I rolled my eyes at him. "Funny. He's still in a bitch-ass, pissy mood, though. Fucker."

  "Well, he is your dad. It's kinda what he does."

  "Yeah, yeah."

  I brushed my fingers through Evie's hair as she curled into the covers. She was worn out. I guess I couldn't blame her; there was some unexpected excitement, and I'm pretty sure this wasn't how she’d envisioned her great get away. That was all right, though.

  "I need to make a call. Watch her real quick."

  Allan looked at me puzzled, but shrugged it off.

  "Sure, no problem. Whatever you need man."

  I pulled my phone out my pocket, dialing up a number I had just called a few days prior.

  "I take it my boys in blue couldn't wrangle your slippery, little ass." Rick Brown's voice answered the phone—not angry or surprised, but somewhat amused. I scoffed.

  "Nah. Your boys in blue didn't get me. But it's nice to know you're paying cops to do your dirty busi
ness."

  "A man tries to kidnap my daughter, then I have every right to call that in," he said smoothly.

  "She came with me willingly. Couldn't wait to get out." I laughed. "What is it you're afraid of, Brown? Huh? Are you worried that this is gonna fuck up your election? That's spineless, cowardly—"

  "What do you want, boy? You wouldn’t have called me after victory if you didn't have something to tell me. Is it a ransom price? Are you already tired of having my slut daughter in your care?"

  "I'll forget that little comment if you can remember this: I'll keep Evie's pregnancy a secret for you. Don't think I'm dumb; there's plenty of people who would go after her because my kid's in her and she's your precious little girl. I don't wanna flaunt that."

  "What do you want? I'm listening."

  "Evie stays here. I keep her pregnancy secret, out of the media, and all that shit. I also keep quiet about how you were trying to keep the pregnancy a secret yourself. I'll keep her safe, her and that baby. And when she has it, that baby stays here. No one has to know it's your grandson. Hell. Maybe I adopted." I laughed at the thought. "But you try to interfere in my child's life, I'll ruin you and then I'll kill you. We both know that I'm fully capable of doing so, don't we?

  I could practically hear the wheels turning in Rick's head. It gave me a sense of satisfaction. He was thinking about it, which meant that I had something to hold over his head. I had leverage—leverage gave me power.

  "Say I agree to this. What about my daughter? You can't hope to keep her ...living with you in secret forever. I have an image and a reputation to maintain."

  "That's be up to her," I said with a shrug. "Maybe you should work on getting her back in your good graces, Governor."

  With that, I hung up the phone.

  Chapter Five

  Evie

  I wake up in a bed that's definitely not mine. That isn't saying much, as I haven't woken in my own bed in weeks, but this bed is different. It's warm, soft, and it smells like a man. A man that's pressing close against me and behind me.

  Tony's arm encircles me and his face presses into my neck. It warms me low in my belly, but I roll over, not wanting to get too comfortable with this. I've broken from my father's attempt at hiding me—but now what? Tony seemed so carefree last night as he was talking about bringing me here, about our child, and about all this. It was exciting, thinking about finally leaving that horrible home my father had put me in. Now I wondered if I'd jumped the gun too soon.

  "Tony?"

  He grumbled in his sleep, muttering. It was kind of cute, if I had to admit it. I didn't want to, but just ...God. Mafioso was waking up like a child would.

  "Five more minutes."

  "Come on Tony ...it's morning. We should wake up and talk."

  He grumbled again and blinked his eyes at me. I, embarrassingly blushed. I cleared my throat.

  "Tony. Please?"

  He blinked some more, tilting his head. He sighed.

  "Mkay."

  I smiled at him and disentangled myself from his arms. I was still in my clothes from the night before, and I desperately needed a shower to wake up. I slipped out of the bed, stretching.

  "Do you have a bathroom I can use? I'd like to take a shower and get dressed."

  He sat up, running his hand through his hair. He was bare-chested and had an intricate koi-fish tattoo on his chest. I found myself staring; I hadn't gotten to see him naked when we'd had our one-night stand. I hadn't known that he had ink, but it was beautiful, especially on the darkness of his skin. I'd always been interested in tattoos, but my father would have killed me if I'd ever gotten one.

  "Evie?"

  "Huh? What?" I had gotten a little distracted. He laughed.

  "Bathroom is that way. Towels and stuff, too. Your suitcase is over there."

  I nodded, blushing some more, and grabbed an outfit from my suitcase before heading to the bathroom.

  Tony's room was, in a word, huge. It wasn't anything I wasn't used to; father loved living lavishly and over-the-top. But there was a different kind of opulence that filled up Tony's space. It was all deep, dark colors, hints of bold and rich reds. Modern. I liked it, and I loved the bathroom when I entered. There was porcelain, marble, and chrome everywhere. What drew me, though, was the huge shower with several different water speed settings.

  "Oh my."

  I undressed quickly, turning the water on. It was so hot when I got in, but I loved my water scalding. I sighed and stood under the hard and soothing spray, enjoying how it rolled over my body.

  "Oh, Evie. What are you even doing?"

  I selected a soap from the few bottles of liquid and lathered up. The scent was soft and clean, relaxing me further with the aid of the heat of the water on me, as well. As I washed, I idly wondered what the day had in store for me, or what the next day would. What Tony planned to do with me now that he had 'freed' me from my father's clutches.

  When I was done showering, I got out and dried off. Tony had these huge, impossibly-plush towels. They were thick and soft, and if I hadn’t known any better, I'd have just walked around in one all day. Instead, I pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, brushed out my hair, and went back into Tony's room.

  "Oh."

  He was naked, pulling on a pair of boxers. I couldn't help the out-loud comment, but hell if it wasn't embarrassing to have burst out like that. He raised a brow, looking over his shoulder. His head tilted and he smirked as he slid his pants on next.

  "Like what you see?"

  I had enough shame to scoff indignantly.

  "Well, I won't complain, but that's the only bone you're getting," I told him.

  "Shame. I was hoping for a little more than just that for a bone."

  I felt myself flush more under the implication of his words and shook my head.

  "You're impossible."

  He smirked.

  "Come on. I wanna show you around. Apparently, my father left early for business, so we have some time before he comes around again."

  He pulled on a simple tank and held his hand out to me. I looked at it hesitantly before reaching out to slip my fingers into his. His hand was warm and soft. And—dear Christ—was that my heart fluttering?

  Probably just remembering what those nice, soft hands could really do when given the chance.

  I fell into place beside him easily, and he led us hand-in-hand out of his room. It seemed that he had a complete wing to himself, and he pointed out various rooms.

  "I have a couple of guest rooms that way.” He gestured down the opposite end of the hall. "In case we have any parties and there are crashers. Then I got the game room that way, the piano room—"

  "You play piano?" I asked, a bit surprised. I could play. It was one of the few things my father had gotten me into that I had actually enjoyed and done because I liked it, not because he thought that I should like it.

  Tony laughed. "Hell, no. I don't have a musical bone in my body. It used to be my mother's. She could play."

  "Used to be?"

  "She passed a few years back."

  "Oh, I'm sorry." I regretted asking about it, but Tony surprisingly shrugged.

  "Don't worry about it. We knew it was a long time coming. She went happy, enjoying her family and what it had built over the years."

  "That's lovely."

  "It was. Ah, and here's the main part of the house."

  Tony showed off everything, telling me about art pieces that his father had bought and about furniture that had been important. Oddly enough, he talked about it all from the perspective of his father's possessions instead of things that were his own as well. I wondered how much he and my father were alike, but didn't ask.

  "And out here ..." He led me out the front. I gasped a little, not having expected the sprawling grounds. There were several additional buildings dotted here and there, spreading over the property. "Out here is everything else. I could show you to the pool or even to a couple of the 'guest' homes. Those closest to the
family live in those."

  "Wow," was all I could say. It was a little overwhelming. I felt Tony squeeze my hand and pull me a little closer.

  "You good?"

  "Yeah, I'm good," I said. "I just. Ha. I thought my father had it made."