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“I didn’t know,” I told him, standing up. I wasn’t going to be sitting here at a disadvantage, I’d learned that in one of my first fights. “I didn’t even know she’s only eighteen.”
He spun around, his eyes wide. “Fuck me,” he roared, so loud it hurt my ears. “Why thefuckdidn’t you wrap it up?” Lorenzo stalked toward me, stopping a few feet away. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” He pushed his hand through his hair, gripping it.
“I was in a bad place.” It was the truth. Iwasin a bad place. But it was after Navy that I’d decided to get myself together—or at least try to. It wasn’t an easy road, but I’d gotten there, and now I was back and…had all of this to deal with.
“Are you sure it’s yours?”
Anger bubbled up in my veins at his words. I tried not to show it, but I had no doubt he could see my fists clenched at my side. “Don’t doubt it for a second.”
He groaned, clearly frustrated with me. “So what was with the bruise, then?”
“Her dad.” I widened my stance, my anger turning to full-blown rage. It was taking every ounce of inner strength not to get in my car, drive to her house, and beat him to a pulp. He’d hurt her. “He hit her and made her sign adoption papers.”
It was Lorenzo’s turn to look pissed off now, but for a change, it didn’t seem directed at me. “And that’s why she came here?”
I nodded. “There’s no way in hell he’s taking my baby, Lorenzo. I’ll kill him first.” I paused, grinding my teeth together, then growled, “I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt Navy or our baby.”
Lorenzo titled his head, acknowledging me. He knew I was telling the truth. It wasn’t an empty threat. Berettas didn’t make threats that we didn’t intend to see through. All we made were promises.
He glanced to the side, his silence telling me that he was thinking everything through. “The paperwork is void anyway. It was done under coercion, and it doesn’t have your signature.” Lorenzo stepped forward, planting his hand on my shoulder. “I guess we should celebrate the prospect of having a new Beretta, then, huh?”
For a second, I stared, dumfounded, not understanding how he’d switched from anger to…was that a bit of happiness I could see in his eyes? I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen that look on his face, and if I was honest, it weirded me out.
“Stop,” I said, pulling a face at him. “You’re freaking me out.”
He frowned. “What?”
“Your face.” I pulled back, causing his hand to drop. “Jesus, Lorenzo, don’t ever look at me like that again.” I shivered.
Lorenzo shook his head, blowing out a puff of air, clearly exacerbated with me. “You’re ridiculous.” He moved back to his desk, lifting his cell. “I’ll push The Enterprise meeting to next week.”
“What?” Gone was the side of me that was trying to make light of something, and back was the seriousness. “Why would you do that?” I’d waited for weeks to make my appearance back at The Enterprise.
“Because we have more important matters.” He glanced up at me for a split second. “Like the fact that we’ve got the eighteen-year-old pregnant daughter of an FBI agent upstairs.”
He had a point, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t any less disappointed. I’d had a plan for coming back, one that would cement my place firmly in the family, but not just in their eyes, in The Enterprise’s eyes too.
“Call everyone in,” Lorenzo demanded, sitting back at his desk. “Meeting in an hour. All in attendance. Command center.” He wasn’t talking to me as a brother now, but as my boss.
“On it.” I walked out of his office, staring at the stairs, desperate to go back up to Navy, but I couldn’t. I had a job to do, the most important one I’d ever have: to keep her safe.
CHAPTER 7
NAVY
I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do when I’d finished showering. Dante was gone, leaving a clean T-shirt and some shorts on the bed for me, along with a note saying he had to do some business with his brother. Which left me alone, in a room I didn’t know, a house full of strangers, and not a single thing to my name but my keys.
I’d left my car parked on the road, something that I probably should have told Dante, but I’d only just about managed to tell him what had happened before I’d cried myself to sleep.
Huffing out a breath, exhaustion blew through me. The baby was already kicking up a storm inside my belly, and then the biggest rumble rang out.
Food. I needed food.
Biting down on my bottom lip, I winced as I touched the scab. Dammit. I’d forgotten about that.
Everything felt like a whirlwind, like I was all of a sudden living someone else’s life, and I had no idea how I was supposed to act or what I was supposed to do. But my feet were already deciding on wheretheywere going: on a mission of their own to find some food.
I placed my hand on the top of my stomach, feeling like I was doing the best impression of a duck waddling as I opened up the bedroom door and poked my head out into the hallway.
