Conquered by the Mafia Boss

My husband tugs me along, making a beeline straight for his boss.

“Jack! How are you?”

Johnny stands up and Jack breaks away from me for a moment to embrace him. An uneasy feeling creeps inside my stomach as the Cravotta Crime Family boss merely gives me a curt nod and a smile.

“Ladies, this is my wife, Beatrice.”

He introduces me to every single person at the table, including a portly man who wrings my hand, and I’ve already forgotten their names by the time we get to Maya. She beams at me.

She wears a floor-length black gown with a plunging neckline and a dangling, brilliant necklace. Everyone is decked out to the nines, and I’m in this stupid summer dress. Good lord.

“Sit down!”

I take a seat next to Maya, and Jack squeezes in beside me.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” I say fervently. “I’m so completely out of my element.”

She waves off my concern. “You’re fine, Bea.”

“Where’s your little boy?”

“Oh-Johnny’s ma is watching him.”

“Oh.” I deflate a little. Seeing Maya’s baby would’ve definitely been the highlight of the evening.

“I’ll show you pictures!”

I lean over her shoulder as she scrolls through dozens of baby photos, and I fight a rising tide of jealousy at her perfect family life. I touch the screen, marveling at those chubby cheeks and the dark tuft of hair.

“He’s beautiful.”

Maya smiles knowingly. “Thanks.”

It’s not fair.

Emptiness yawns inside me as I scroll through the photos. I feel her hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, you’ll get your chance.”

“With who? Him?”

I glance at my husband, who lounges back in his chair with a sour look on his face. He’s not happy to be here with me. He’s not happy, period. And I know exactly why. Guilt twists inside me like the sharp end of a corkscrew, digging deeper and taking root. I have to fucking tell him, or I’ll hate myself forever, but I can’t help but think about the future. What if we had a baby?

Then Jack turns his head and gives me a curious look, and my face burns hot like a lamp.

“If you ever need a babysitter, just ask.”

Maya nods, beaming. “Of course.”

“We already have a babysitter, ma belle.” Johnny leans in the conversation with a dark smile.

“Be nice.”

“I am fucking being nice.”

She shoots him a glare and then looks over my head. “What happened to your face?”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

Jack shifts in his chair and smiles at her, the swelling on his cheek more pronounced. “Occupational hazard.”

“You gotta watch yourself, Jackie-boy.”

An uncharacteristically ugly look comes over Jack’s face. “Yeah, well, our boy Ben didn’t show up, so I had to handle it-”

“Not now.”

Jack sits back into his chair, looking frustrated.

A cool hand grasps my arm, and I turn toward Maya.

“So how’s everything going? With him?”

Suddenly I’m happy there’s a roar of background noise to disguise our conversation.

I’m basically his whore.

“Not great.”

“It wasn’t easy for me either, but I’m happy now.”

She looks it.

“You don’t regret it?”

“No. I had no future at the MC.”

Call me crazy, but I didn’t mind it so much. Everyone had a place at the MC. Here? I don’t know what the fuck I am.

“Let’s just have a good time tonight!”

I try to smile back at my cousin as she pours me a glass of wine, but there’s a heaviness in my chest that won’t lift. Those fucking baby photos. They’re just a reminder of what I can’t ever have. Who knows how many years it’ll take before this investigation is over?

I down a large sip of wine and hope that it purges the baby thoughts from my head. He would be terrible to have kids with anyway. Wouldn’t he?

Then Jack grabs my wrist and my attention turns to the waiter hovering over me with a pad. I take the menu.

“I’ll have the spaghetti with homemade meatballs.”

He nods and moves down the table.