AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There you are.”
I turned around at the voice and smiled. Dante smiled back, leaning up against the wall, his arms crossed in over his chest. He wore a black suit, form-fitted and perfect, with a little red pocket square and shiny black shoes. He never wore a tie, but he somehow always managed to make himself look perfectly put together.
“Hey,” I said, putting the picture down.
He walked over and tilted his head. “Thinking about him again?” he asked.
“Can’t help it. Especially around now.” I touched my belly and felt a spike of nerves.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I think so.”
“We’re going to be fine.” He pulled me against him and kissed my cheek. “Trust me, Aida. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of and our baby’s perfectly fine.”
“I keep thinking about the baby,” I said. “And the name.”
“I thought we were going to do Dante, Jr.,” he said.
“I don’t know.” I frowned at him, tilted my head. I reached up and touched his cheek. “I’m not sure I could survive two Dantes.”
He laughed and took my hand. “Okay then. What were you thinking?”
“Gino,” I said.
He frowned a little bit and looked at me for a long moment. Then slowly he nodded his head. “Yeah, I think that’d be good,” he said. “That’d be fitting.”
“Since he saved us,” I said. “You know? Made sure we survived.”
“All right then. Little Gino Valenti. Future king of the Leone Crime Family.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Don’t let anyone else hear you say that.”
“Ah, it’s okay,” he said. “I don’t plan on moving up any more than I already have. I think Capo is enough for me.”
“What else could you possibly want?”
“Underboss, maybe.” He shrugged. “But it doesn’t matter. Our neighborhoods are so profitable, I can’t imagine needing more.”
I laughed and kissed him before looking past him and into the hallway. Three bags sat there, two of mine and one of his own, just waiting to be picked up and carried into the car. I felt my stomach do flips again and I bit my lip.
“I’m afraid,” I said.
“I know.” He took my hand and squeezed it. “But I’ll be there with you the whole time. You can do this.”
“I know.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “I know I can.”
“Remember when you slapped that stripper in the face?”
I snorted. “I remember. That was when I was just coming over to the dark side.”
“Yeah, exactly. And you slapped that bitch so hard, she walked off and quit.”
“No, I fired her.” I leaned my head against his chest. “I’ve done way worse since.”
“True,” he said. “But you weren’t mob back then. You were just… just my little Aida. Still just learning.”
“We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?” I smiled and looked up at him. “Six successful clubs, three restaurants, and a thriving drug business on the side. Keep this up and Don Leone is going to give you more responsibility.”
“Better not,” Dante said.
I stepped away toward the bags and nodded to myself. “Right. Okay. We can do this. Let’s just head to the hospital and it’ll all be okay.”
“That’s good,” he said. “Keep saying that. It’s the truth, anyway, it’ll all be okay.”
I walked over to my bags and stared at them. He scooped all three up and lingered near the front door. Our place was in the middle of Girard Estates and was actually two rowhomes turned into one massive single structure. We bought the first one a few months after getting married, and the second one a few months after that. Dante built it for me as a surprise present, to congratulate me on all my businesses doing so well.
As it turned out, I had a knack for running strip clubs. I found it was all about keeping customers engaged and spending money, keeping girls pretty, happy, and paid, and keeping trouble outside. It really was simple as that, and most clubs failed because they had shitty owners or stupid people running them.
I made sure my clubs ran like clockwork, and I got paid because of it.
But not everything was perfect.
I was two weeks overdue, the longest my doctor was willing to wait. I hoped little Gino would have come out on time, and getting induced was never part of the plan, but I couldn’t wait anymore. He had cooked enough, it was just time to bring him into the world.
I was ready. I knew I was. I’d read every single book available and I was prepared for what was about to happen. I even caught Dante reading a book or two on being a father, which surprised the hell out of me. I knew things were going to be okay, but I hated doing something that wasn’t perfect.
Still, that’s how life was, nothing was ever perfect, nothing went according to plan. Dante hesitated at the door. “You can do this,” he said, then walked outside. I stepped onto the front stoop and watched him pile the bags into the back of his SUV, just like his old SUV with all the armor plating and the bulletproof windows. He loved that car so much, probably since the first version had saved our lives once.
