Page 12 of Secret Babies for the Italian Mafia Boss

Oliver nods, pressing his cheek against my shoulder. “Yep. You do lots. We wanted to help.”

My heart melts as they look at me with their big eyes. Oliver has my eyes, deep brown with gold flakes. He definitely takes after me, while Olivia takes after Luca.

“You’re so sweet. I love you both so much.”

“More than the size of the moon?” Oliver asks in his adorable kid voice. They are still learning, and most of the time, the words don’t sound recognizable to others. I’m their mom, so I can speak their language.

“Are you kidding? More than all the moons, planets, and suns the galaxy holds.”

Like always, they gasp. “That’s so much!”

I boop their noses. “It sure is. Now, go back to bed, okay? Please? You can put on your show, but I’ll be in there to check on you to make sure. The last one there is a rotten egg!”

They squeal, racing one another down the hall; their laughter makes me smile. They’ll go back to sleep soon. This is pretty much the routine. I walk to the pantry and grab the broom, sweeping the broken plate off the floor and into the dust pan, and my eyes catch an envelope on the counter. It’s stamped in red.

Final notice.

All the bills are like that.

All of them are late. Every month I barely make it. Every penny gets pinched.

I wouldn’t trade my children for the world. When I found out I was pregnant, my entire world changed. I never planned on seeing Luca again after my birthday. I snuck out, and his security didn’t think twice about me leaving. I was another hookup for Luca, which was fine because that’s what I wanted, but God, that night still awakens me in the middle of the night.

I wake up sweaty, gasping for breath, and my hand on my clit.

He was my first sexual appearance, and he has been the last. I don’t have time to date, and I do not bring men to my apartment.

Not that any man could ever compete with Luca.

When I missed my period and took a pregnancy test, my first thought was to go to the club and find Luca. I never wanted to hide it from him. He deserved to know. I wondered how it happened in the first place and then remembered he didn’t wear a condom, and I wasn’t on birth control. I was a little tipsy, and the sexual tension was high, which isn’t an excuse, but I ended up pregnant with twins.

And I don’t regret it.

Olivia and Oliver are my entire world.

A thought my dad did not share.

I didn’t tell my dad right away. I waited. I was nervous and scared. I didn’t even go to the doctor at first to ensure everything was okay, but months passed, and I was bigger than usual.

I couldn’t hide my pregnancy anymore.

So when I finally did go to the doctor, of course, they were on my dad’s payroll somehow, which means my OB/GYN was probably a shady man.

He called my dad and told him I was pregnant.

So much for doctor/patient confidentiality. That didn’t exist when you were the daughter of a mafia boss.

When I got home, my bags were packed, and we fought.

He gave me money to get on my own two feet and drove me out of town until I was twelve hours away. He wanted nothing to do with me. He said I disgraced his name and acted like a whore.

“No daughter of mine is going to be pregnant without being married or knowing who the father is. You’ve disappointed me. You did this to yourself. You can deal with it yourself.”

So I did.

He left me with enough money to get an apartment and the first few months of bills. It gave me enough time to find an okay job with crap insurance, but it was better than nothing.

I haven’t heard anything from my dad since. He wanted me out of sight and out of mind. And telling Luca became a thing of the past. I’ve been too busy taking care of twins and surviving. He probably wants nothing to do with them, either. So why bother setting myself up for disappointment again?