Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
ALEXANDRA
I’ve never taken a day off work, let alone an entire week, but I did. I texted Arturo that I need the week off from work. I didn’t even explain why. I’m sure Francesca told him I was sick and needed the rest because I told her I had a stomach bug.
But that’s not the case.
In my hands are the results of my blood test from the night I passed out. It’s been a week and I still can’t stop staring at the sheet of paper.
I can’t believe it, but my name is at the top of the paper with all of my information.
I sink into the back of my couch and pull my cover over me as I stare at documents from the hospital.
We were always careful, right? Because there’s just no way that I’m pregnant. Nine weeks and five days, according to the obstetrician.
Right now, there is a living baby inside of me. A baby that is rapidly growing and forming all the necessary organs he or she needs to live.
I am going to be a mom, and Joey is going to be a dad.
Reaching down, I rub my stomach, feeling an ever so slight bump. It wasn’t there last week, was it?
My heart races, and my breathing turns into pants as I freak out. Joseph Marino is the father of my baby.
Will he be excited?
Nervous?
Upset?
I practice breathing deeply, like the doctor instructed. Breathe in through my nose, and breathe out of my mouth.
Inhale for three seconds and exhale completely out of my mouth.
By the time I do this five times, my nerves are settled and my heartbeat returns to normal. It’s not just me and my health I need to worry about right now. There’s another life depending on me to do the right thing.
I grab my phone and text Francesca.
Hey, are you still at work?
My phone buzzes with her reply.
Nope. I’m picking us up some dinner. Do you want egg drop or wonton soup?
My stomach growls.
That’s perfect because I need to talk to you. Can you get me a small sweet and sour chicken and the sesame chicken with broccoli and white rice?
My phone rings, showing her name at the top of the screen.
“Are you sure you should be eating all of that while recovering from a stomach bug?”
My stomach growls louder. “I’m starving and pretty much over the stomach bug.”
She’s quiet for a minute before saying, “Fine, I will get the food and bring it over, but if you throw it up, it’s on you.”
“I’ll be fine, Mom.” I say with a chuckle.
“I’ll see you in a little bit.” She says before ending the call.
I place the paperwork on the coffee table and turn on the television, stopping when I get to the local news channel. A helicopter is flying over the interstate where a car is on fire.
Firefighters battle the fire as large clouds of black smoke fill the air.
The cameraman from the helicopter zooms in on the car and my stomach turns.
There’s only one person with that car. One person who had a custom vinyl wrap done on it.
Joseph Marino.
I grab my phone and dial his number. With each passing ring, my heart fills with dread. Did Rossi finally get to him? He did promise retribution, and it’s been fairly quiet since Giuseppe Rossi sent that letter.
Light knocking sounds at my door, but I’m unable to tear my gaze off the television.
The doorknob jiggles for a second before Francesca pushes it open. “Hey, I thought you were going to start locking your door? With you being sick, your reaction time isn’t-”
She stops mid sentence as I turn to glance at her. Tears blur my vision before falling down my cheeks.
“Oh my God. Alexandra, what’s going on?”
“It’s Joseph.” I point to the television.
She kicks the door closed behind her and rushes into the living room to join me. She drops the food onto the coffee table and plops down on the couch.
“What happened?” Her voice is soft as the camera zooms back in on the car.
My voice cracks. “I tried calling Joseph, but he didn’t answer.”
She picks up her phone and dials her brother’s number. When the voicemail picks up, she ends the call and immediately dials again. Once again, the call goes to voicemail.
“Do you think he was rushed to the hospital?” I whisper, not wanting to think about the alternative.
She ends the call and dials Rhett’s number, putting the call on speakerphone.
“Hey, babe. I was just about to come upstairs and see if you wanted to go out for dinner.” His tone is cheery, without an ounce of worry.
She doesn’t greet him, she just asks, “Have you heard from Joey? His car is on the news right now, engulfed in smoke. I’m trying not to freak the fuck out.”
“No, he left the arena almost an hour ago to go to a meeting. He looked like shit, though, like he was in a bar fight last night. Gage, too.”
“He was in a bar fight?”
“I don’t know. He isn’t speaking a word of it, but I’ll call him and see where he is.”
“Thanks, hun. Please let me know as soon as you hear from him. I’ll keep trying on my end.”
“How about you call your father and I’ll call Joey? Nevermind. He just walked in. I’ll call you back.” He hangs up, leaving us with more questions than answers.
“What? Why would he hang up?”
Francesca sighs. “The good news is Joey is alive. The bad news is that we still don’t know what happened.”
I grab a tissue off the end table and dry my eyes and cheeks. “At least we know he is alive.”
Francesca pulls the containers of food out of the brown paper bag and sets them on the table. “And Joey was walking, so he can’t be that hurt.”
“That’s true.” I say awkwardly.
After she sets the food out like a buffet on my coffee table, she turns toward me and asks, “So, what did you need to talk to me about?”
I grab the hospital paperwork off the table and hand it to her.
“These are the actual results from the blood tests.”
She skims the paperwork before turning toward me. “So if it’s not a stomach bug, what is it?”
I point to the middle section, to the tiny line that reads:
PREGNANT: YES- 9wk, 5dy
“I’m pregnant.” I confess, no longer able to keep the secret to myself.
She gasps and her mouth falls open. She’s not the only one that’s shocked. I’ve known for a week, and I’m still just as surprised as I was when the doctor told me.
After a few moments, she asks, “Who’s the dad? I didn’t even know you were serious about anyone. You’ve never talked about a boyfriend, or been seen with a man.”
I can’t tell her about Giuseppe Rossi and the reason I’m not with Joseph, but I know she won’t stop asking who the father is.
“Um, how mad are you going to be, if I say it’s your brother’s?”
“What? No way! You’re sleeping with Joey? Oh, I don’t need to picture that.” Her eyes widen as she leans back to look at me. “When did this start? How did it start?”
“It’s nothing serious, but it started a few months after I started working for your father. You know how it goes. Long working hours and being stuck with one another will eventually lead to sexual frustration.”
“And you two have only been with each other?”
Is she insinuating that someone other than Joseph is the father of my baby?
Does she think I just sleep around?
Staring at her, I narrow my eyes and say, “As far as I know, we have only been with each other, but we weren’t ever exclusive. I don’t know if there have been other women. I’ve never asked. For me, though, it’s only been Joseph since our first time.”
“I didn’t mean to imply-” She shakes her head and frowns. “Alexandra, I didn’t mean that you slept around. I’m just surprised that you two have been together for so long and no one knew. At least I didn’t know, and I’m pretty sure Rhett doesn’t know.”
“Joseph and I aren’t dating.”
“So you two are just long-term fuck buddies?”
“We were. We haven’t been together for a couple of weeks now. Sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
“Uh, because I asked, and I’m nosey.”
We share a laugh and grab food. We might as well eat while the food is warm. Besides, Rhett said he will call Francesca back.
“Joseph doesn’t know about this yet. Please, just keep this between the two of us.”
“I won’t say a word.” She leans over and wraps her arms around me in a giant hug. “I’m so happy for you and my brother. I’m going to be an aunt! Just so you know, I’m already planning on spoiling that baby. Well, if you are keeping it.”
I stare at her, frozen in my spot. Her words play on repeat in my mind.
If you are keeping it. If I am keeping it. Am I keeping it? Will Joseph want to keep the baby?
My hand rests on the small baby bump. My heart races as I imagine what it will feel like to feel my baby kick, to watch my bump grow bigger with each passing week, and to become a mother.
Before I can freak out, Francesca says, “I’m sorry. That was stupid of me to say. That’s yours and Joseph’s business, not mine. I just wanted you to know that you are our family and you and the baby will be taken care of.”
Emotion swells in my throat, and I croak out, “Thank you. I really appreciate you saying that. To be honest, I’m scared to tell Joseph. I don’t know how he will react. We’ve never discussed having a family. Hell, we haven’t even gone out on a date.”
“Well, you will have your first date soon because you won the auction with my brother.”
I roll my eyes and smile. “You mean you won the auction and just put my name down?”
“Because I wanted to protect Joey. At least this way, I know he’s going to be with someone he likes, and it’s not like you can get pregnant because you already are.”
I throw my pillow at her before digging into my sweet and sour chicken. She laughs and places the pillow between us before grabbing her container of fried rice.
“I hope it’s a girl.” Francesca whispers between bites.
“Yeah, a girl would be nice. We are always surrounded by all the guys. It’s too much testosterone. Well, now there’s me, you, and Savannah.”
Francesca leans forward. “We need a girl’s night. Or better yet, a girl’s weekend. Just the three of us, and preferably before you have the baby.”
“A spa weekend where we can be pampered.”
“Oooh, that sounds divine. I’ll set it up and make sure it’s during a weekend where the guys have back to back away games.”
“I can’t wait.” I switch to the sesame chicken, loving the rich flavor of the sauce.
Francesca’s phone rings. “It’s Rhett.” She puts the call on speakerphone.
“So what happened to Joey?”
“That is a long story. Hey, where are you? I went by your office, but you were already gone.”
“I already had dinner plans with Alexandra. We are just sitting on her couch relaxing and eating some Chinese.”
“Hey.” I say, so he knows he’s on speakerphone.
“Hey, Alexandra. Do you mind if I swing by? It will be easier to fill everyone in on what’s going on.”
That doesn’t sound good. I want to ask how Joseph is doing. I want to see that he’s alright.
“Come on over. The door is unlocked.”
He barks out, “The door is what?”
Francesca chimes in. “It’s a work in progress.”
Rhett growls before hanging up.
“Oops. I guess he didn’t like that.”
“No shit. I told you it’s dangerous.”
I shrug. “My apartment, my rules.”
Francesca guffaws. “I’d love to see you say that to Rhett and Joey. I’ve been on the other end of their anger and it isn’t pretty.”
“What is there to be angry about? It’s my apartment, and I don’t belong to no one.”
She raises an eyebrow and glances at my stomach. “It’s different now, and if they knew the truth, they’d watch you like a hawk.”
“But they don’t know and won’t find out this way.” I say sternly as I grab the paperwork off the table and shove it under the couch cushion I’m sitting on.
“Not a peep from me.” She pretends to zip her lips and throw away the key.
My apartment door slams open, making me and Francesca jump. Rhett glances over at us and frowns.
“Do you know how dangerous it is to keep your door unlocked? Do you know how many dangerous men are looking for the two of you right now?”
He stalks toward us. His heated gaze locks onto Francesca, and I swear I hear a soft moan come from her. But Rhett isn’t what holds my attention. It’s the bruised and bandaged man that has stolen my heart.
Not to mention impregnated me.
“Joseph.” I whisper. His name sounds sensual as it slips from my lips.
He closes and locks my apartment door before walking over to the couch. Glancing at the coffee table, he picks up my container of sweet and sour chicken, dips one in the tangy red sauce, and pops it into his mouth.
We stare at one another as he licks a drop of sauce off his lips.
Thankfully, Rhett plops down between Francesca and me, breaking the lust filled spell that Joseph holds over me.
I have read that hormones are heightened and there’s a chance I will become insatiable, but I’ll have to rely on my toys because Joseph Marino is off limits.
At least until I’ve told him about the baby.
Francesca breaks the silence. “So, do either of you want to clue us in on what happened and why your car is currently burning into a crisp on the interstate?”
I look at Joseph’s black eye that is yellowing around the edges and the small cut on his cheekbone. There’s no way he just got that. That bruise is at least a day or two old.
“Giuseppe Rossi fucking happened. He tried to fucking kill me. Hell, he almost succeeded. What do you think happened?”
“It was just a question, Joey. Calm the fuck down.”
“Calm the fuck down?” Joseph yells and waves his free hand around. “When was the last time you had to look over your shoulder? When was the last time you genuinely feared for your life?”
Francesca leans forward and places her container on the table. “Every fucking day! Don’t you think I worry about not only my life but everyone’s as well? I know this is my fault. I own it, and I’m sorry that everyone has to be on alert all the fucking time because of what I did.”
Joseph’s expression softens. “Franny, I-”
She jumps up. “Don’t bother. I know you think the sun shines out of your ass, but some of us have real problems we are dealing with right now. How about you take your head out of your ass and think about someone other than yourself for a change?”
She turns to head for the door, but Rhett grabs her hand and pulls her back down to the couch.
“We still need to discuss what is going on. The two of you can play nice for five minutes, right?”
I glance at Joseph, who is glaring at Francesca. “So you think this attack was from Giuseppe Rossi?”
“Yeah, Gage and I were monitoring both exits of the Rossi estate and noticed a couple of cop cars leaving his house. This seemed odd, so we followed them, but lost them on the interstate because Vincent and his men rear-ended me and pushed me into the concrete barrier.”
He pops another bite of chicken into his mouth.
“Thankfully, Gage drove separately and was a couple of cars behind me, so they didn’t know I had backup. Gage rear-ended Vincent and almost pushed him over the bridge wall. Vincent called off his men, but he was heading this way.”
“How did you get the bruises?” I ask, bluntly.
“That’s not Rossi related.”
Rhett sighs. “When did Gage become part of the team?”
Joseph clenches his jaw for a few moments. “The other night. I knew we needed more manpower with everything that’s been going on, so I made the executive decision.”
Francesca scoffs. “Without consulting with Dad or me?”
“Dad is letting me make decisions. He knew Gage was coming on board. It was his idea in the first place, but he was leaving the when up to me.”
Francesca stands and pulls away from Rhett’s outstretched hand. “I’ve tried to be included in the family’s affairs. Begged, even. But it’s clear that I don’t belong here. Congratulations. From now on, I’m done. I’m joining Uncle Tony and AJ. At least they respect me enough to consider my thoughts, concerns, and opinions.”
Francesca gives me an apologetic glance before grabbing her food and leaving. Rhett stands and follows her, but Joseph stops him.
“Before you decide to jump ship and join my sister, uncle, and cousin, I’d think back to the oath you took. I’d hate to make you an enemy, but I won’t let my family’s reputation take a hit.”
“First off, fuck you. Francesca is almost my wife. I’ll choose her over everything else, and your father knows this. Second, calm down. Once the adrenaline from today wears off, come find me. You’re my best friend and I’ll always have your back, but you’re way out of line right now.”
Without another word, he leaves my apartment, leaving me and Joseph alone.
I should tell him now. I should just rip the bandage off.
“Thanks for the food.” Joseph places the chick on the coffee table and stands.
“You don’t have to go. Especially after everything you’ve just been through. I can listen if you need to bitch and get things off your chest.”
His eyes darken with lust, making my pussy clench with need. His gaze roams over my body, lingering on my stomach for a few seconds before moving back up to my face.
Letting out a long sigh, he says, “I wish I could, but I need to get my car towed and meet with Dad about this. Rossi isn’t backing down. I’m just surprised he’s taking his time in between attacks.”
“He wants us to be scared and looking over our shoulders.”
He wants to control when and where he attacks us. He wants to control when and where we die.
“Yeah, be careful, and lock your damn door.”
I don’t know what propels me to open my mouth, but I whisper, “I will, but only because I don’t want you to be worried about me.”
He heads to the front door and turns around. “You look good, Alexandra.”
I’m left speechless as he closes the door behind him.
I should run after him and tell him about the baby. I should confess to everything and beg for another chance with him.
But I can’t.
If I learned only one thing from tonight, it’s that Giuseppe Rossi is coming for blood, and I’m already on his radar.