Entangled With The Mafia Boss

Chapter 9

Bruce

"You don't have long, you know." I looked up to find Mom there, arms folded. I squeezed the phone in my hand a bit more, feeling the slight perspiration that had gathered, causing it to moisten and slide between my fingers until it nearly fell.

"Esemerlda is going to grow up, and she's going to gain her own—how do we put it?—sense of awareness," she continued.

"What do you mean?" I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at her wrinkled face.

"There are a lot of things she's not going to take anymore. She's going to be a big girl and start asking questions. Questions you won't be able to answer." Mom walked over and sat right next to me, causing the chair to dip slightly with her weight.

"I know," I found myself saying. "Trust me, I know. But there's not much I can do. For what it's worth, I brought her. What do you think?"

"Well, she seems like a sweet girl. A bit critical of everything, but don't we all need to be? If she wasn't critical, then she'd be a bad one. Where did you get her from—a therapist?" Mom's slightly gray-blue eyes squinted, scrutinizing me. She gave me that look again, the look I was long used to and knew wouldn't let me sleep.

"Yes, she's a therapist.” I admitted until her face turned slightly sour. “I know there's nothing wrong with me, Mama. Everything is fine, and so am I." I patted her leg.

My phone rang again with the same person who had called me earlier. "What?" I barked into the phone.

"Someone is snooping, and Williams has been asking questions, especially about the warden and how you managed to escape. What do you want to do?"

"Nothing," I said with a head shake. "Why don't you figure it out? Throw up a smokescreen high and wide enough."

"Got it, boss." I hung up and found Mom looking at me skeptically.

"I appreciate what you do for us, my son, but sometimes I think you overwork yourself. Esmeralda was asking where you went, where you disappeared to. I didn't know what to tell her because I myself had no idea. Where were you? What would you have me say?"

I shook my head slowly as I stood up and walked over to the window and then, over to where Mom was seated. I bent down, crouching in front of her and coming to her eye level. The little woman shook her head and reached out her hand towards my face. Her warm, wrinkled hand touched my cheek, prompting me to instantly lean into her touch.

"Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't come between us. The beautiful life you have helped us create has been nothing but wonderful." Her eyes softened even more. "But I fear that the more you keep leaving, the more I keep getting worried, and Esmerelda gets worried. She can handle a lot, but without you, it would break her. And it would break me."

“I know, mom. Trust me, I’ll do what it takes not to hurt you or Esme. Josie was hard enough on me.” I held that promise to my heart.

***

I walked into the lounge where I had left Michelle to find that she was still seated in the same chair with her legs crossed at the knees, drawing attention to her soft, smooth skin. The little thing was so beautiful that I wanted to continue hiking up her skirt as high as it could go, not just for the sake of riling her up.

"I want to go home," she said, looking at me squarely in the eyes with defiance for the nth time that day.

"I know." I sat opposite her and c****d my head at her.

"So, when are you going to let me go home? When do I get to leave? Or do you plan to keep me here indefinitely?" she asked, her voice edged with frustration.

"It's dangerous," I said, shaking my head. "My world is dangerous."

"I know." She raised a hand in surrender, rolling her eyes with defiance. "Very dangerous," she said. "In fact, it’s so dangerous that you have a daughter and a mother. It's so dangerous that you’ve decided to pull me into it. Real genius. Whether or not I’m with a therapist, I just want to know what was going through your mind when you thought it was a good idea."

I smiled, unable to help the amusement she genuinely brought me. It was like a tug-of-war between us every time we spoke or argued, as the case may be. Either way, I was loving it. I smirked, fighting the urge to walk up to her, crouch in front of her, and cage her between my arms.

"You still haven't answered my question. If you thought it was dangerous, why didn’t you deem it normal to leave me alone and stay the hell away from me? Maybe it was dangerous for you, but it wasn’t dangerous for me."

She shook her head. "It was dangerous," I said, crossing my legs at the ankles. I c****d my head to one side, observing her a little more and deciding which room I should put her in.

"Really?" She perked up a bit, sitting up slightly more in her chair and looking around the room as though danger might pop out at any moment.

"Oh yeah," I smiled. "So dangerous, in fact, that if I loved you, you would have been in danger of being kept away from everyone as much as possible."

Her eyes widened in surprise as her lips began to part. She stood up, thundering towards me, stomping over with palpable anger.

"I’ve had it with you! First, you bring me out here, kidnap me—which, by the way, is a crime! I don’t care whoever it is you are or whatever it is you have. As soon as I get out of here, I’m going to report you, and I won’t stop at anything until you’re thrown in prison."

"Are you going to take my daddy away?" I felt my heart drop into my chest. Slowly, I turned my head towards the door of the lounge to find my daughter blinking at me with wide eyes, a look of fear on her face.