“Stone,” I say, out of breath even though I’m standing still. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes flick from my belly to my face. Back down to my belly. Then… “Is it Rock’s?”
Panic lodges in my throat, like a piece of meat, threatening to choke me to death. I’ve gone through a lot to keep this secret. Abandoned my post, moved across state lines and ghosted my best friend. All so I could cut my baby’s ties to the mafia family its father was trying to escape.
It feels wildly unfair to get caught now in my very deliberate sin of omission. Not earlier on in the pregnancy, but at the tail end of my third trimester, when I barely have enough energy to get up the stairs to my apartment, much less fight.
Lie, the new much bitchier Naima I’m trying to be urges. A lie will solve everything.
I open my mouth, ready to say whatever it takes to make this cold-eyed killer go away.
But then he says, “And if you’re thinking about telling me anything less than the God’s honest, remember what happened when Amber lied to Luca about the exact same thing.”
Not the exact same thing. This baby isn’t Stone’s, it’s his brother’s. His dead brother’s, which means Stone has absolutely no rights here. But the Ferraro Family’s number one enforcer remains disturbingly effective at the art of intimidation. Despite my silent counter argument, I do exactly as he says. I remember what happened when Amber lied to Luca.
Stone at my kitchen table—that’s what happened when Amber lied to Luca about who was the father of her baby. Also, this isn’t Luca standing between me and my front door right now. Stone is the guy, bad guys like Luca call in for jobs too dirty for them to handle.
Oh God… A sharp pain zips across my pelvis at the thought of what Stone will do if he catches me in a lie, and my over-burdened bladder threatens to release.
“I’ve got to use the bathroom. Like, right now.”
I try to push past him, but he shifts to stand in front of me. “Is it Rock’s?” he asks again, without an ounce of sympathy in his expression.
“It doesn’t matter either way,” I answer.
“The fuck it doesn’t matter,” Stone answers, his voice vicious and lethal.
I visibly squirm, bouncing from foot to foot. “I really, really have to pee. So unless you want me to have an accident…”
A beat. Then he takes a very deliberate step aside.
Unlocking the door feels like it takes a century with Stone’s cold gaze, lasering into me. But finally, I manage to get it open. And though, I wasn’t lying about my need to pee, with a burst of speed, I didn’t know I was still capable of at this late stage of pregnancy, I dart inside, making a quick decision to slam the door between me and the enforcer who showed up out of the blue.
Then I put myself at further risk of peeing my pants in order to flip both locks and pull the chain before I make a mad dash to the bathroom.
Relief floods through me when my bottom finally hits the toilet seat. But I know it’s only temporary. I’ve escaped the ruthless enforcer. I’m safe…for now. But I already know…
Eventually I’m going to have to deal with Stone.
That eventually hits me hard, and suddenly I can’t breathe for the elephant of dread sitting on my chest. I’ve been found out by the Ferraro family’s most ruthless enforcer. And I have no idea how I’m going to get myself or my innocent baby out of this mess?