The Mafia And His Queen

Chapter 12

~ Damon ~

"Hey, man. Where were you last night?" Jax asks me as soon as I walk into the kitchen.

I roll my eyes at him and grab some coffee before asking, "What are you? My mother?"

"Fine, don't tell me. I'll find out later anyway." He takes a bite of his toast and then his eyes widen as if he just remembered something before telling me, "Oh, speaking of our dear mother... her and dad are coming over for Christmas."

I pick up my cup from the counter and take a sip of my coffee, "I thought dad said they were staying in Italy."

He shrugs his shoulders, "Yeah, well you know how mom is about family and holidays and all that."

I nod my head and ask him, "When did she tell you?"

"Last night. I was going to tell you when you got home but... you know." He gives me a pointed look and pulls out his phone.

"I was busy." I respond to him while crossing my arms over my chest.

He shakes his head and replies without looking up from his phone, "I never said you weren't. Oh yeah, and mom's organizing another New Years' ball."

I let out a sigh at the thought of another ball and rub a hand over my face.

"She's going to do it whether you like it or not. She does it every New Year. You can't try to talk her out of it again." He reminds me while leaning back in his chair with a smirk.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes at him in annoyance and place my cup down. "I'm going to change and take care of a few things. I'll meet you at the warehouse later tonight."

"Can I go?" I hear Axel ask from behind me.

I turn around to look at our little brother and raise my brow, "No."

"Come on, Damon! You said that I can start going with you all when I turn nineteen. It's been five months since my birthday and you still haven't let me." He complains like a little child does when they don't get what they want.

Narrowing my eyes, I tell him with a stern voice, "This isn't a damn game. Don't complain."

"I know it isn't a game. Just let me go this time." He says back stubbornly, not taking no for an answer.

Jax comes up beside me and places a hand on my shoulder, "Just let him go. You did say after he turned nineteen that he'd be able to get involved in the business."

I mentally groan and remove his hand from my shoulder before speaking with frustration as I walk away, "Fine, he can go but you're going to watch him and be responsible for him."

After changing and leaving the mansion, we head out to one of the warehouses. I get off the car and walk into the building dressed all in black. Everyone goes silent as they watch me.

"Is everything in the vans and ready to go?" I ask, not bothering to talk loud since everyone is quiet.

"Yes, boss." One of my men answers. "We've checked all of the boxes. Everything is inside and accounted for."

"Good. Let's go to the docks and get this s**t over with. I have somewhere else I'd rather be at." I tell them before walking back outside to my car.

Axel goes with Jax and two of my other men while everyone else leaves in different cars. When we arrive at the docks, the men we're meeting with are already waiting. I get out of my car and make my way towards the two SUVs that are parked next to each other.

"Rodrigo." I greet the man once I'm standing right in front of him. Rodrigo is the leader of a small gang here in New York.

"I'm glad that you could finally grace us with your presence, Mr. Knight." He says back and I don't miss the sarcasm in his tone.

I take an intimidating step forward and reply with a firm voice, "Speak to me like that again and I'll cut out your f*****g tongue. Do you have my money?"

He presses his lips together in a thin line and nods his head before a man walks up next to him, "Of, course. I told you that I would." He grabs two large suitcases from the man beside him and asks, "I trust you have every gun that I've asked for here?"

"Don't question me." I tell him with a calm and deep voice. I wouldn't be selling to him if I didn't have what he wanted.

Rodrigo thinks to himself for a moment before nodding his head. He puts his arms out to hand me the suitcases. As I'm about to grab them, two gunshots go off. He swings his arm to try and hit me with one of the suitcases but I quickly knock it out of his hand.

Everyone immediately pulls out their guns, runs for cover, and starts firing. Anger rises in me and I move behind one of the nearest vehicles. Pulling my gun out, I spot Rodrigo running back to his car.

"Don't be dumb! Grab the suitcases and the boxes!" He shouts to his men and places his hand on the door handle of the car.

I aim at him and shoot his leg, causing him to cry out in pain and fall. Then I look around and spot Axel running towards the suitcases that are on the ground.

"Axel, stop!!" I yell as loud as I can but he doesn't seem to hear me over all of the gunshots. "f**k!"

Moving from my place, I go after him, shooting anyone in my line of vision. Just as I reach him and put my hands against his body to push him behind one of our cars, another shot goes off and I freeze in my spot.

"No!!" I hear Jax yell. Axel and I both look at him at the same time only to see him looking our way with wide eyes.

I'm not sure which one of us he's looking at though. Then I see him running towards us, punching and shooting at anyone who gets in his way before my vision blurs and everything fades to black.

••••

~ Roxie ~

"Mama?" A quiet voice hits my ears, bringing me out of my sleep. "Mommy."

I slowly open my eyes and come face to face with Lily who is laying right next to me, her nose barely touching mine.

I smile at her, pulling her tiny body even closer to me, and give her the biggest hug ever as I shower her face with kisses.

"Good morning, mama." She says while giggling from my kisses.

"Morning, bubbles. Are you hungry?" I ask her as I push her hair away from her face.

She shakes her head, "Auntie Nessie already made some breakfast."

"Oh, okay." I move the blanket and get up from the bed before asking, "Where is she?"

Lily jumps off the bed and follows me to the restroom, "She's watching TV."

I quickly use the bathroom, wash my hands and brush my teeth. After I finish, Lily and I go into the living room where Ness is sitting.

"Hey, Rox." She says without looking away from the TV as she munches on some snacks.

"Hey." I reply and sit down next to her while Lily sits on the floor to play with her dolls.

We sit in silence for a few minutes until Ness decides to break it. She lowers the volume on the television before turning to me, "Okay, I can't do this."

I look at her and raise my eyebrow, "Do what exactly?"

"Sit here in silence and pretend like nothing happened last night." She says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

I let out a sigh and slouch back on the couch, "What do you want me to say?"

"Umm, I don't know... maybe why you told him?" She says in the form of a question with a 'duh' look on her face. "You never like talking about the past. I'm just surprised that you told him so quickly."

"I mean, I kind of had to tell him I guess." I reply to her while shrugging my shoulders.

"How did you have to tell him?" She questions with confusion written all over her face.

"Well, I think me and him were going to have..." I make an O with my finger and thumb on my left hand before sticking my right finger through it. "You know? So I just felt like he should know that I'm a..." I glance down between my legs and nudge her arm. "You know?"

She sits there silently and just stares at me for a moment, looking at me like I've grown two heads. Then she exhales and nods her head as she tries to contain her laugh, "Okay, go on."

"Alright, well... after I told him that, he was completely confused as you can already guess so I continued to tell him about..." I stop talking and nod my head in Lily's direction.

Her mouth forms an O shape, "Right, right. I understand now."

"Who are you talking about?" Lily suddenly asks, causing us both to look down at her.

Before I could say anything, Ness speaks to her in a low voice, trying to hide her laughter behind her hands, "Your new daddy."

"I have a new daddy? Mommy, is it Damon? I like him. He calls me princess." Lily talks fast in excitement while standing up from the ground, smiling widely and bouncing on her toes.

I shoot Ness a look for saying that. I don't want Lily thinking that Damon might stick around let alone be her new dad. He might have stayed last night but he could easily walk away whenever he wants.

I don't want her to get too attached to him only to get heartbroken if he was to leave. That would just crush her and honestly, it would hurt me a little bit too.

"Mama?" She speaks up again, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I'm sorry, bubbles. Auntie Nessie doesn't know what she's talking about sometimes." I say, giving Lily a gentle smile and hoping to change the subject.

"But she said that I have a new daddy." She sadly mumbles with her bottom lip quivering as she looks at the ground.

I glare at Ness who is now looking at me apologetically. Later that night Lily and Ness are in the kitchen baking cookies and cupcakes. It took some time but eventually, we were able to distract Lily from the subject of Damon.

"Can I lick the bowl, mama?" Lily asks me while trying to reach for the bowl on the counter.

"Of course, you can." I answer before grabbing the bowl and handing it over to her.

After she's done eating the excessive batter left on the bowl from the cupcakes, I take her a bath and then go back to the living room with Ness. We play some board games and cards while eating the cookies and cupcakes.

"I win!" Lily happily says while placing five of her cards on the table and taking the rest of the cookies that we bet on. She didn't really win but we always let her think she does so she doesn't feel bad about losing.

"Oh, man. How come you're so good at this game? I never win!" Ness complains as she fake pouts while placing her elbows on the table and chin in her hands.

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling and laughing. The two of them together are so cute.

"I'm sorry, Auntie. Maybe you'll win next time." She tells her while patting Nessa's arm in a comforting way. I put my face in my hands and finally let out a laugh.

Nessa's phone starts ringing. She picks it up and walks to the kitchen counter before answering it, "Hey, Lucky. What's up?" There's silence as she waits for Lucky to speak. "Wait, what?"

I look up at her and watch her face turn to an expression of concern. She looks at me and I tilt my head while furrowing my brows. From the sound of her voice, it seems like something is wrong.

She lets out a sigh and rubs her temple, "Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll see you later. Bye."

Then she hangs up and walks back to where she was sitting. She looks at me and I wait for her to tell me what Lucky had told her.

"Da- Umm..." She pauses and glances at Lily before moving closer to me. "D is in the hospital."

I know she's talking about Damon. My heart starts beating faster in concern. Is it crazy for me to be this worried about his safety? We might not have known each other for that long but I do care about him.

I look at Lily who is eating her cookies. Usually, I wouldn't do this but for some reason, I can't stop the words from coming out of my mouth.

"Lily, do you want to go see Damon?" I ask her nervously while bouncing my right leg.

She looks up to me with wide eyes and then breaks into a smile, "Yes, mommy!"