•KINLEY•My foot bounced against the hospital floor impatiently. After I feinted we went straight to the hospital.I was sitting next to Gianni on one of the chairs, the baby was in Barney's arms.I was too scared to go anywhere near him. I was scared that I would allow myself to believe that he was my son, only for it to be proven he wasn't.I couldn't handle that pain, so I kept my distance."Billie is right. He looks like you."I raised my brows at Gianni, "Do you really believe that he could be our son?""Sí and I wouldn't be surprised if Lola did such a thing. She can be very cruel."I sighed, "I don't know how to feel about all of this. It's a big shock.""It is. But I will be happy if that is our child. It will be a miracle."I nodded, but couldn't find the words to speak. I wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't even sure what I was feeling.We had been waiting for hours when the doctor finally returned with the papers."Mr. Esposito, we rushed things as you requested," he handed t
•GIANNI•My eyes were on Kinley and Renato as the two sat beside the pool on a blanket in the shade.Kinley held a fluffy toy airplane in her hands, whizzing it around for Renato who didn't take his eyes off it.I smiled as I watched them, I never guessed that my heart could feel so full. With Kinley in my life, I thought that was as good as it got. But now that we had our son, it was a different feeling. Something I could not explain, but only call magical."You look at them like they're your whole world," Barney spoke as he took a seat at the table."That's because they are. It's funny, I didn't even know Renato existed a few days ago, and now I would die for that little boy if need be."Barney smiled, "Parenthood is a strange thing, no?"I nodded, he was right about that."Barney, I've been thinking. I will handle the O'Clery but once that is done I won't be as heavily involved anymore. I want to spend more time with my family and start handling the legit businesses that I have. I
•KINLEY•I had no idea how exhausting being a mother was, but I was fast asleep the moment my head hit the pillow after spending the day with Gianni and Renato on the yacht.What I wasn't expecting was to be woken up to gunshots sounding off in the house.My first instinct was to get Renato, but as I approached his room I found Luca inside it."What the hell is going on?""I don't know who, but we're under attack," he was throwing things into the baby bag, "Gianni told me to get the two of you out of here. We'll use those tunnels.""Are they safer than they were the last time?""Yes, there are a number of men on guard there at all times.""Let me get my gun, I'll meet you at the wall." I hurried back to the bedroom to get my gun before rushing back out.I would have preferred to attempt to help Gianni, but my son needed to be my priority.I took Renato from Luca and we made us through the tunnels quietly.Once we arrived at the car and I strapped Renato into his car seat I turned to L
•KINLEY•"What the fuck happened?" Gianni asked in panic as he ran over to me, crouching beside me with concern etched on his face.He briefly glanced over at Matius but returned his attention to me."Your ex is what happened. She attacked me with a fire poker. I dropped my gun somewhere in the house when she hit me the first time.""My ex? Which one? Where is Renato? Are you okay? Where is Billie? And what happened to him?" He questioned while helping me to my feet."Jodie. I don't know what she did to Matius, I found him like this, but he's still breathing. Billie left with Renato when we heard something in the house. And no, I am definitely not okay. My arm is killing me."Luca ran in and frowned as he took in the scene around us, "Do I ask, or do I just start killing someone?"Gianni turned to him, "Find Jodie. Have Barney call an ambulance for Matius, and also have him call King. Call Billie and tell her to meet us at the hospital."Gianni had me leaning up against him as we walk
•KINLEY•When I woke up there was a change of clothes left for me on the bed with a note from Gianni telling me that he went to get breakfast for us, it also said Billie would be coming over with Renato.I showered and got dressed just in time too, as I was walking out of the bathroom, Gianni walked in with Billie and Luca. Renato in Gianni's arms."Hi!" I went over straight away to take Renato and hold him, "How was he last night? And how is Matius?" Billie smiled as we made our way over to the sofas, "He was an angel. We had lots of fun this morning when it was bath time though. Someone didn't want to get out of the tub." She playfully poked Renato, "Matius will be fine.""He loves water!"I leaned over to grab one of the tacos Gianni had plated and noticed Luca looking uncomfortable."Okay, what's going on?"Luca looked at Gianni.Gianni looked everywhere but at me."Guys!"I watched as Gianni ran a hand down his face, "Um, well, our house was torched.""What?" Surely I couldn't be
•KINLEY•We had viewed all the houses and I was pretty much sulking in the car."So, which one should we take?" Gianni asked me."They are all nice, so I don't mind."He sighed, "I know you're upset about the other house, but we can't do anything about that right now.""I know. I'm just... I feel like I've lost a part of me with that house. We have so many memories there." My vision blurred with unshed tears, the emotions getting too much for me."Baby, we made those memories. They go everywhere with us. They aren't in that house. And we have the rest of our lives together to make many more memories." He leaned over and kissed me, "I love you.""I love you too," I sniffled and wiped my face with my hand, "But really, any of the houses we looked at are fine. They're all really nice."We hadn't looked at any mansions, but that was fine with me. The houses were big enough for us without being too big. Each house also had a pool in the backyard.I wondered how Gianni planned on coping wit
•KINLEY•My nerves were bouncing through the roof as Gianni and I walked into the home of Noah O'Clery.A woman with a large protruding belly greeted us immediately with a warm smile on her face, "Hello, Gianni," she turned to me with the same smile, "You must be Kinley. Welcome."I smiled back but didn't trust myself to speak. I was still reeling from the fact that I had handed one of Noah's brothers over to King.A man cleared his throat down the hall and I had to fight the urge to hide behind Gianni as he walked toward us.He was older than I imagined, Fiona looked to be in her early thirties, but Noah looked to be in his fifties.His auburn hair had whisps of grey in it.His mouth was in a tight line when he greeted Gianni. When he turned to me, his eyes narrowed slightly."Kinley, my brother has told me a lot about you."I forced myself to hold his gaze, "Good."He smirked before turning back to Gianni, "Why don't we leave the women to tea while the two of us discuss business?"G
•KINLEY•"How did it go?" I asked as soon as we got into the car to leave."He denies being part of the fire. He does however claim that Jodie is behind it with no help of theirs. She does have a connection to Callum, the brother you didn't arrest.""Lovely. And is Callum involved in the fire?""We suspect so, yes. He has been avoiding Noah.""So what is the plan going forward?""Find Callum and Jodie. Eliminate them. Then we go ahead with our original plan for Noah and the rest of his crew.""What about Fiona and their son?"Gianni frowned, "I would prefer to leave no loose ends. But I don't feel comfortable killing a child.""Good, you shouldn't. I exchanged numbers with Fiona, we're meeting for lunch later this week."Gianni sighed, "Gattina, why are you doing this? These people are our enemies.""Noah is our enemy. Fiona just goes along with everything he tells her. The doting housewife. If I can get through to her, I don't see why she needs to die."He shot me a look, "You just w
•GIANNI•"Where the hell is Renato? That kid is always late to something."Kinley chuckled, "He texted me, he's just picking up his girlfriend."I shook my head, he had been talking about this girlfriend for a while now but we had yet to meet her.Today was the big day.I looked over at Luca standing in front of the barbecue.Ripley was sitting busy typing on her phone. I couldn't believe both of my kids had grown up and I had been blessed enough to see them grow.If Fin and Luca hadn't done what they did for me, I may not have had the privilege of having these years to watch my son and daughter grow into a man and woman.We invited Fin for this barbecue, but he was away undercover for work so he wasn't able to make it.I looked over at Kinley and my mind went back to that night all those years ago at the shipping yard.She had run over to me in such a panic when she heard those gunshots. She thought I was shot.In actual fact, it was Fin who shot one of the men guarding Martha.After
•KINLEY•I pulled my phone out while telling Luca the truth about what I had been up to with Hilton.Now that I was aware of the reason he was doing what he was, I was sure we could still trust him.We just needed to help him make sure Martha was safe."Who are you calling?""Fin. I have an idea that will help all of us.""Kinley? Do you have news?""I do. But I need you to meet me, and get Gianni here too." I gave him the location and hung up."Gianni is going to skin me alive, why are you bringing them here? I trusted you with this.""You trusted me for a reason, Luca. You know we would never let anything happen to Martha. I just wish you would have told us what was going on sooner. A lot of this mess could have been avoided.""Kinley, they have my wife. I couldn't risk her life. I don't even want to do this right now. If they kill her-""They won't, okay? Trust us, please."Luca looked around as if he was worried someone was looking at us, "If they find out that I'm telling you, th
•KINLEY•"So? What's the plan here?"Gianni was already in planning mode, "We tap his phone. I'll put someone on him to follow him. We can go to him with these calls, but he can play it down without any real evidence. Once we have evidence, we confront him."Fin nodded, "Got it, I'll get the tap, you have someone follow him."Gianni nodded, "Sounds good. I'll get onto that immediately. Kinley, I don't want you leaving the house unless it's with me. Understood?"I nodded, but I had no plan of listening. I still had to meet with Hilton and see if I could find anything out.I glanced at Fin and he looked away from me, he knew what I was thinking about, I could see it by the way he looked at me.Now I needed a plan to get out of the house without Gianni stopping me.And knowing Gianni, that wasn't going to be easy.I got to my feet and walked out, going downstairs where I found Luca about to leave. "Where are you off to?" I asked, fighting the urge to attack him in anger."Got a lead." H
•KINLEY•With the baby bottle in hand, I made my way to the kitchen, pausing just outside the doorway when I heard Luca on a call."Well, she didn't say a damn word to me about being there okay? No, I'm telling you the truth. I'll do my best, but I'm not making any promises. Yes, I know. Thanks for the reminder." I walked in just as he turned to look at me."I'll call you back, Martha," he cut the call and smiled at me, "Gianni on daddy duty?""Yeah. What's up? That sounded serious?""Oh, uh," he looked down at his phone with a frown, "Martha. She has some issues with her sister that she wants me to help with. She's, uh, getting herself involved with the wrong crowd.""Oh no, I hope it works out. Do you want me to talk to Gianni to give you some time off to sort things out?""No, it's nothing that serious. I just need to find out if she was at that cop bar near the precinct last night with her boyfriend."I frowned, "Cop bar? I thought you said she was involved with the wrong crowd?"
•KINLEY•I sat in the courtroom biting my nails while waiting to hear if the judge was going to allow Gianni back out on bail while the investigation was ongoing, or if he would be remanded.Fin and King were seated beside me, Luca near the back.Billie was at the mansion watching the kids.I breathed a sigh of relief when the judge said Gianni could have bail.It was a large amount, but I knew we had it.I rushed to Luca to arrange the payment and waited outside with Fin and King for it to be taken care of."At least he's coming home," Fin said.I nodded, "Yeah. But we still have to pinpoint who it is behind this, and a way to stop it."Fin started pacing, "Detective Hilton is trying to take down the big fish like Gianni to exhilarate his career. I bet that if we put enough pressure on him, we can make this all go away.""But is he the type to let it all go away?" I asked.King shrugged, "If we find the sweet spot, yes. And they all have a sweet spot. We just have to find his."I nod
•KINLEY• "You should go home and get some sleep," Luca suggested. I curled my legs under me on the hard steel chair, "Not until they let me speak to him." "Kinley, come on. We can come back." "I don't want to go anywhere until I've seen him," I looked at my watch, "We've been here for hours. How long is this going to take?" "It takes as long as it takes. They may not even allow you to see him at all until he goes to the judge." "I don't get it. Barney has been dead for months. Why now? So long after his death. How did he rig it up to get the information about Talon sent to them? He was barely even involved in what happened. How did he even have the proper information?" Luca shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "Kin, this is not the best place to talk about that. Can we go across the street?" I looked in the direction of the interrogation room, "Yeah. Let's go. I could use another cup of coffee." We went across the street and ordered coffee, I also ordered a toasted cheese sandw
•KINLEY• I grinned triumphantly, Ripley had finally fallen asleep. Until Luca barged in, that is. "Kinley!" I turned to glare at him, "Could you shut up? I just got her to sleep." "That's going to be the least of your worries. Gianni was just arrested." "What?" I was almost sure I hadn't heard him correctly. "They barged in here with a warrant of arrest. Some new guy trying to make a name for himself." "What was he arrested for?" "Murder. Of Talon." This was getting more ridiculous by the second. "Excuse me? But that was ages ago. How would they even know about that?" "It looks like Barney was looking out for himself right to the end. He rigged it so that all the information was sent to this detective if anything happened to him." "That doesn't make any sense. Barney has been dead for months. Almost a year." Luca shrugged, "That's all I know. Why don't you go down to the station and I'll get a lawyer to meet you. When Billie's up and watching the kids I'll come down there
~A FEW MONTHS LATER~ •KINLEY• My eyes were blindfolded as Gianni guided my steps. "If something jumps out at me, I swear I'll kill you!" I threatened playfully, one hand on my large belly. "Relax, nothing is going to jump out at you." He stopped, his hands on my shoulders, "Okay, take off the blindfold." I whipped off the blindfold and gasped, my hands going to my mouth in shock at what I was looking at. We stood in the front yard of the mansion which had burnt down. Only now it was rebuilt. "You had it rebuilt?" I couldn't believe it. "Yes. That's what I've been busy with for the last eight months. I know you've been wondering why I've been so secretive." My eyes filled with tears as I was overwhelmed by emotions. I spun around and wrapped my arms around his neck, "Thank you!" "Anything for you, baby. There are a few changes, like Renato's room. And the nursery for Ripley when she's born. I've also made sure the place is baby and toddler-proof." He looked pretty pleased wi
•GIANNI•I sat with Renato on my lap while watching Kinley swim. A small smile played on my lips at the peaceful moment.It was nice to experience life like this, without the intense adrenaline of the mafia on my back.I texted Luca to find out how my surprise was coming along. I knew how important that mansion was to Kinley, so I had a team working on rebuilding it as close to the first one as possible."What are you smiling about?" Kinley asked as she came over, she kissed Renato on the head before reaching down and kissing me."I can't tell you or it won't be a surprise anymore. Do you want to go to dinner tonight?"Kinley nodded, "That will be nice. Should we invite Luca and Martha? I wanted to invite Billie, but I don't think that will be fair to her with the recent loss.""We can. You should call Billie, you know she won't hate you. She doesn't blame you for this. She knows and understands the way these things go, and she knows that this isn't on you."She sighed, "I know. But s