Page 150 of Never Say Never

"I love my girls, but I think I'm good on kids. There was little to no sleep the first few months. Don’t think I have it in me at my age." Thinking about starting over sent chills over my arms.

"Exactly, and not to mention the shit and puke everywhere. Give me a dead body to clean up any day, but the stuff that comes out of babies? No, thank you."

I opened and closed my mouth. Was it weird I understood Harlow? I definitely found working cases and scouring over multiple gruesome crime scenes was a lot easier then when the girls had blow outs or got the flu.

"York." Ash raced across the penthouse with a smile on his young face. He really looked out of place amongst the room full of hard-cut men.

"Hey, Ash."

The young man smiled even brighter.

"Oh, yeah, the paper you sent me was great,” I said. “I had a few pointers, from an agent's point of view. I left them on the document you emailed."

"Really? You didn't have to,” Ash said, nearly blushing. “Thank you. Anything helps."

Harlow ruffled Ash's hair. "Why are you taking the class again? It's not to become a fed, right?" He glared at me as if I was influencing Ash into a bad profession.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" I asked.

Harlow shrugged. "You going to stop being the enemy?"

"I told you, I switched divisions. I'm now in the behavioral analysis unit."

"Still a fed."

There was no pleasing someone like Harlow, although that would never be my priority. Gianpaolo and I talked it over. Being an agent meant the world to me, and giving it up felt like cutting off a piece of myself. I didn't have to stay in organized crime. It was fun, but I had plenty of interests elsewhere. The current director of the department now did ask for me to come on to consult from time to time. I wasn't going to turn him down. I still wanted the streets to be safe and the world to be a better place. I just wasn't willing to get rid of my boyfriend and his family.

Ash ignored both of us. He stared behind me. Right at the door.

"Where is Gin?" I asked. He was the only one missing. Enzo had Tex next to him and Gianpaolo was talking to Benito while they played with the kids.

"I don't know," Ash twisted his fingers, a nervous look coming over his face. "He hasn't been answering my calls or texts and that's not like him. I know Benito said it's safe to be out and about again, but I haven’t been able to get a hold of him." Ash pulled his phone out and showed the multitude of messages and calls.

I squinted, reading one strange line. "Why the hell did you threaten his hammer?"

Harlow groaned. Ash rolled his eyes, putting his phone away.

"Because he loves that stupid thing. He sleeps with it, bathes with it, I swear he started taking it out on dates."

"You're competing with a hammer?" I asked, making sure I understood exactly what he meant.

"Pretty much," Harlow confirmed.

The elevator doors on the opposite side of the room opened. Ash whirled around and was gone before I could question him any further. He was at Giancarlo's side in a matter of seconds. But that wasn't what grabbed my attention the most; it was the balled up blanket in his arms.

"Gin!"

"Shh, puppy, you'll wake the baby," Giancarlo chastised.

"He didn't," Harlow whispered. "Ugh, this family will drive you to drink." He took one look my way. "I have wine."

"I'll take a glass." I had a feeling I was going to need it.

The girls ran over to Giancarlo and he instantly dropped down so they could see the baby in his arms.

"It's real," I pointed out. "How?"

"Who the fuck knows with him? I think Benito's nuts, and then I look at Giancarlo and remember I got the second easy brother.” Harlow sighed.