AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I refuse to put up with it anymore. Enzo deserves to know I’m having his child. If that means I need to confront my father so he can put me in contact with him, then that’s what I need to do.
Instead of knocking on his door, because I know he won’t answer, I barge right into his office. He’s looking over some contracts with a glass of dark liquid in his hands. I wince. The smell had been giving him away, but I hoped it was something I was imagining. My father doesn’t drink much. His father was an alcoholic, and he has always tried to stay away from it to keep history from repeating itself.
My pregnancy has been enough to drive him to drink.
The familiar guilt I can’t escape creeps in. His eyes snap up to me and I swallow down the lump in my throat. This is going to make things worse for him.
“Father,” I say, standing in the doorway of his office. He at least dares to look bashful as he sets the glass down.
“Emma.”
We stare at each other for what feels like several never-ending minutes. The ticking of the clock lets me know that in reality, it's only been a few seconds. The nerves don't help with the nausea. I thought that the fact that I had completely emptied my stomach of its content minutes before would keep me from puking again, but my stomach bile threatens to rise while I fight my nerves.
I think my face is green by the time I manage to spit the words out.
“I need you to put me in contact with Enzo.”
His entire body freezes before he picks the glass back up. He downs the remaining liquor like a shot before turning back to me. “And why do I need to get you in contact with Enzo?”
“He’s the father of my child. I need to tell him.”
My father slams the glass down, the entire desk shaking from the force. I'm surprised the glass doesn't shatter into a million pieces. I jump at the noise, shying away when I see the glare my father is pointing in my direction. Every muscle in his body is tense. The hand that isn’t clutching onto the empty glass is balled into a tight fist.
“Dammit Emma. Why?” His voice is angry, but more than that, it’s broken. Resigned.
I don’t have an answer for him. Not one he will accept, anyway. I can't describe the connection I felt with Enzo. Besides, my father will brush it off a naivety. So I stay silent, not wanting to hear him destroy the most meaningful night of my life.
“Do you know who he is?”
“He’s Enzo…”
“He’s Lorenzo Lombardi, heir to his father’s criminal empire and future boss of the Lombardi family mafia.”
Time stands still as I digest his words. Criminal empire. Mafia. They’re all words I’m vaguely aware of, things I understand happen in the world but never thought would affect my life.
It doesn’t make any sense. If Enzo is the heir to the criminal empire, Sal would be the current boss. It’s hard to picture the boisterous man I met as some sort of hardened criminal. And, if Sal is a criminal, that makes my father…
I refuse to think about it. I store the thought away in the deep corners of my mind to dissect later. The information is going to change how I look at my father, and how I look at my life up until this point. With everything else that is happening, I don't need anything else challenging me.
My dad curses. Instead of pouring himself another glass, he pulls out the entire bottle and starts taking swigs directly from the opening.
“Have you had any appointments yet?” he asks me. I wrinkle my nose. The smell of alcohol is growing stronger in the room, and I can barely stand the scent when I'm not pregnant.
“No, I have one scheduled for next week.”
“Cancel it. Tell them you’ve miscarried. There are too many eyes in this city. Anything could get back to them.”
Turning his attention away from me, my father frantically types on his computer. He multi-tasks, pulling out his phone while also navigating his screen. I’ve never seen my father work. He’s always kept his personal life entirely separate from his home life. It feels like I’m getting a glimpse of what my father looks like when he’s working.
Working for the mafia.
I want to ask him what he’s doing, but I feel frozen. Between the information that the father of my child is the future boss of a crime family and my father’s anger, I feel like anything else is going to overload me. I put my hand on my stomach. It’s a habit I’ve gotten into, though I’m not sure why. I still haven’t felt anything, and I know nothing about them yet. According to the app I downloaded, most women find out their gender during their twenty-week ultrasound. There are also blood tests that can tell me the gender. I still haven’t decided what I want to do. My baby is the size of a strawberry now, and I grow more protective of them every day.
“Wait, if Enzo is the future head of the mafia, what would that mean for my baby?” I finally manage to ask.
My dad shoots me a glance but doesn’t stop what he’s doing. I’m patient. I don’t move from my spot until he gives me his attention.
“The Lombardi’s take family seriously. If they were to find out about the child, they would want him to be a part of the family. They would expect him to act as the heir.”
