NANNY FOR THE MAFIA BOSS

CHAPTER 13: MICHAEL

POV: Me

The man at the door had Vince’s face.

Same dark hair. Same sharp jaw. Same eyes.

But where Vince’s eyes were tired and scared and trying to be soft, this man’s were flat. Calculating.

And he was smiling.

“Ava,” he mouthed again through the peephole.

My blood turned to ice.

On the phone, Vince’s voice was sharp. “Ava? What’s that sound? Who’s at the door?”

“Michael,” I whispered. “It’s Michael.”

A beat of silence. Then,“Get away from the door. Now. Marco!”

Footsteps. Marco was already moving from the kitchen, gun drawn.

“Back,” he said to me, low. “Get the girls. Back room. Now.”

Ria was sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes. “Mama? Who’s there?”

“Nobody, baby,” I lied. “Come on. We’re gonna play hide and seek.”

Ella was crying again, that thin, scared wail.

The doorknob turned.

Locked.

Then stopped.

Michael’s voice came through, muffled but clear. “I know you’re in there. I had this place built, remember? I picked the locks myself.”

He knocked. Three times. Polite.

“Vince? Are you there? Come on, little brother. Let’s talk. Like family.”

Marco was at the window, peeking through the blinds. “One guy. No car. He walked here.”

“Through a gated community?” I whispered.

“He owns it,” Marco said grimly. “Or he did. The safe house was a Vince property before we flipped it.”

Of course it was.

Vince was still on the phone, breathing hard. “Ava, listen to me. Michael isn’t here to talk. He’s here to finish it. The cops think Francisco is the head. He’s not. Michael is. He’s been pulling strings for 8 years.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why does he want you dead?”

“Because I was supposed to die,” Vince said. “Eight years ago. The boat accident. It was supposed to be me. He took the fall, went ‘missing,’ and ran the family while everyone mourned me. Then I came back. Married you. had kids. Became the face again. He hates me for it.”

Another knock.

“Vince, I know you’re listening,” Michael called. “I can hear you breathing. Come out. Or I come in. And I’d rather not hurt the nanny. Or the kids. But I will if I have to.”

Ria grabbed my hand. “Mama, I’m scared.”

“I know, baby,” I said. “I’m scared too. But we’re gonna be okay. I promise.”

Marco looked at me. “We have maybe 2 minutes before he kicks the door. The police are 7 minutes away. We called it the second you said his name.”

“7 minutes is too long,” I said.

Vince’s voice cracked through the phone. “Ava. Give me the phone.”

“What?”

“Give Marco the phone. I need to talk to him.”

I handed it over.

Marco put it to his ear. “Yeah, boss.”

He listened. His jaw tightened.

“Got it,” he said. Then hung up.

He looked at me. “New plan. We don’t run. We draw him in.”

“What?”

“Vince said Michael wants to see him. Thinks he’s here. If he thinks you have Vince, he’ll come in quiet. No shooting. No risk to the girls.”

“And then what?”

“Then I take him,” Marco said. “But you have to sell it.”

My stomach dropped. “You want me to lie to him? To his face?”

“I want you to keep Ria and Ella alive,” Marco said. “Can you do that?”

I looked at Ria. She was holding her rabbit like a shield.

I looked at Ella, tiny and helpless in my arms.

I nodded.

Marco moved fast. He dragged a chair to the door. Put Vince’s jacket over it so from outside it looked like someone was sitting.

“Open the door,” he whispered to me. “Just a c***k. Talk to him. Keep him out here. I’ll be behind the wall.”

My hands were shaking so bad I could barely turn the knob.

I opened the door two inches.

The chain was still on.

Michael was standing there in a black coat. No gun visible. Hands in pockets.

He looked exactly like Vince. It was like looking at a ghost.

“Ava,” he said. Warm. Like we were old friends. “There you are.”

“Michael,” I said. My voice didn’t shake. I made sure. “What do you want?”

“I want my brother,” he said. “And I want this whole mess to be over.”

“He’s not here,” I said.

Michael tilted his head. “Liar.”

“He’s in the hospital,” I said. “He almost died. Again. Because of you.”

“I know,” Michael said. “I’m the one who called the ambulance.”

The lie was so smooth I almost believed it.

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I’m tired,” he said. “Tired of cleaning up Francisco’s mess. Tired of Vince thinking he can play family man and still run things. I want to make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“You give me the girls,” he said. “Just for a little while. Until Vince signs everything over to me. The business. The accounts. Then you all walk. New names. I’ll even pay for it.”

Ria made a small sound behind me.

Michael’s eyes flicked down. “Hello, Ria.”

Ria hid behind my leg.

“You leave her out of this,” I said.

“I’m not going to hurt her,” Michael said. “She’s family. Vince blood. I’m protecting her. From him.”

“You’re not protecting anyone,” I said. “You shot him. You poisoned him.”

“I tried,” Michael said, and he actually looked sad. “I really did. But he’s annoyingly hard to kill.”

Behind me, Marco shifted. I could hear it.

“Is Vince here?” Michael asked. “Because if he is, tell him to come out. We can do this like men.”

“He’s not here,” I said again. “And if you come in, the police are 5 minutes away.”

“I’m counting on it,” Michael said.

And he smiled.

Before I could react, he slammed his shoulder into the door.

The chain snapped.

I stumbled back.

Marco came out from behind the wall, gun up.

“police! Hands up!”

Michael didn’t even flinch. He was already moving.

He had a knife. Small. Out of his sleeve.

He lunged at me.

Not at Marco.

At me.

“DOWN!” Marco yelled.

I dropped, pulling Ria with me. Ella screamed in the carrier.

Marco fired.

Once.

Michael spun and hit the wall.

For a second, silence.

Just breathing.

And Ella was crying.

Then Michael laughed.

“Missed,” he said. Blood was spreading on his shoulder. “You always were a bad shot, Marco.”

Marco fired again.

This time Michael went down. Hard.

“On the ground! Hands where I can see them!”

Two officers burst through the back door. Then more.

They had him cuffed in 10 seconds.

Michael was bleeding from his shoulder, but he was still smiling.

“Hi, Ava,” he said as they dragged him past me. “Tell Vince I said hi. Tell him this isn’t over.”

“Shut up,” an officer said, shoving him.

Rodriguez came in right behind them. “Is everyone okay? Are the kids okay?”

“We’re okay,” I said. My voice sounded far away.

She looked at me, at Ria shaking in my arms, at Ella. “You did good. Really good.”

Paramedics checked Michael. He was going to live.

“Take him to county,” Rodriguez said. “Not Rikers. Not with Francisco there.”

They took him out in cuffs.

Before he left, he looked back at me.

“You should’ve run when you had the chance,” he said. “Now it’s too late.”

The door closed.

Sirens outside.

I sank to the floor.

Ria climbed into my lap. “Is it over, Mama?”

“I don’t know, baby,” I whispered. “I don’t know.”

2 hours later.

Hospital. Again.

Vince was sitting up in bed when we got there. Awake.

“What happened?” he demanded when he saw me.

“Michael came to the safe house,” I said. “He’s in custody.”

Vince closed his eyes. “He’s alive.”

“He is,” I said. “And he’s talking. He wants a deal.”

The DA was there. Same agents.

“Micheal is willing to testify against the entire family,” the lead agent said. “In exchange for leniency. 5 years instead of life.”

“Don’t take it,” Vince said immediately.

“Why not?”

“Because he’ll lie,” Vince said. “He’ll say what you want to hear, get out in 5, and come after us again.”

The agent looked at me. Ms.Vince, what do you think?”

I thought about the way Michael smiled. About the key in his hand. About the way he said my name.

“I think,” I said slowly, “that if we let him walk in 5 years, we’ll never be safe.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want him in prison forever,” I said. “And I want his name wiped off everything. So Ria and Ella never have to look over their shoulder again.”

Vince reached for my hand. Squeezed.

“Then we testify,” he said. “Both of us. Together.”

The agent nodded. “Court is in 48 hours.”

48 hours.

Again.

We went home. Not the safe house. A new one. One Michael didn’t know about.

This time with 24-hour security. Armed guards. Cameras.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

I kept checking the locks. Checking on Ria. Checking on Ella.

Checking my phone.

At 3:13 AM, it buzzed.

UNKNOWN

You think cuffs stop me?

You think prison stops me?

I built this family. I can burn it down.

48 hours. Courtroom. I’ll be there.

M

M.

Michael.

Attached: a photo.

It was the courtroom. Empty.

And in the back row, circled in red:

A seat.

With my name on it.

Under the photo:

“See you soon, sister. Bring the girls. - M”

My hands started shaking.

Vince was asleep next to me, finally.

Ria was asleep down the hall.

Ella was asleep in the bassinet.

And Michael was promising he’d be in the courtroom in 48 hours.

From a jail cell.

Unless he wasn’t in a jail cell anymore.

The guard outside our door radioed something.

“Possible breach at the perimeter. Northwest fence.”

My blood went cold.

Vince sat up instantly. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” I lied. “Go back to sleep.”

But I was already standing.

Already walking to Ria’s room.

Already thinking: we can’t run.

We can’t hide.

If Michael wants us in court, then court is where we end this.

Even if it kills us