While I Breathe: The Veiðimenn Mob, Book One

Twenty-Three

Declan turned to Hans, pointing down the hall. “The bathroom is the first door on the left if you want to clean up before meeting them."

Hans nodded. As he went into the room, he tried to regain control over the emotions that were running wild within. He wanted to hate the girl for her parents’ mistakes, but he knew it wasn’t right. He wanted his son to be happy, to have what he’d had with Emily all those years ago.

Standing up, he turned on the taps and splashed cold water on his face.

He scoffed, knowing that if the girl hated Callum as her elders did, she could have terminated or given the baby up for adoption. Instead, Ambrosia chose to have the baby, raising the boy well with the help of her brother. Hans didn’t want to admit that he may have been wrong about her, but, apparently, he was.

“Please don’t let trusting her be a mistake,” he prayed. When he opened the door, he stopped short. Standing a few feet away, there was a child looking up at him with a curious expression, his brown eyes shimmering with calculative aptitude. Hans softened when he looked into eyes that were identical to Callum’s and his beloved Emily’s eyes. Swallowing, Hans casually said, “Well, hello. You must be Phoenix.”

“I am, and you must be the man Momma said was coming to see my Dad today,” the child answered.

Shocked by the eloquence of the boy’s manner, Hans didn’t know what to say to him. He turned his ice blue gaze to her, and what he saw made his heart skip a beat. The young woman by the now open room door was watching him with a look of uncertainty on her face.

Callum wasn't kidding when he said that his angel was a beautiful woman, Hans thought. As he looked her over for the first time, realizing he’d only ever seen her in passing, he got a good look at the girl who had saved his son – twice. Her waist-length auburn hair was held back with an elastic band, and she had stunning forest green eyes that were set in a serene, heart-shaped face. Her features pointed to her heritage with her somewhat pale, freckle-kissed complexion was accompanied by an evidently confident demeanour.

“Ambrosia,” he started. Hans watched her for any sign of fear. Instead, she closed her eyes, giving him a tight-lipped smile.

“Follow me, please,” she said as she led him toward the room. Turning to her brother, she said, “Declan, can you bring Nix out to the kitchen for his snack?”

Pushing off the wall, the man who had been silently taking it all in nodded. “Come on, squirt, your mom needs some time with your Grandfather.”

“So… he’s my Afi? Well, as long as he doesn’t hurt Mom, I guess it’s okay,” Phoenix said. He bit his lip before he smirked devilishly, “Hey, Uncle Declan?”

“Yeah?”

“David plays Fortnite better than you,” the boy teased.

Once they were alone in the hall, he noted that Ambrosia was gone. He stepped into the room and sighed heavily as he watched her check Callum’s vitals. “So, you’re really a doctor?”

She rolled her eyes, “You can drop the nice guy act, Hans. I can tell that you want to say something to me, so just out with it already. I’ve actually been looking forward to this, so please, say your piece.”

His brows shot up, “You’re a brave woman, Ambrosia.”

“You wouldn’t be so shocked if you actually knew me,” she whispered. “My brother is a nervous chatter-box when he’s met with someone highly intimidating, so he’s already likely disclosed a lot.”

“You're right, of course, but I do have a few I’d like you to answer personally,” he said calmly. He shoved his hands into his pockets, sighing heavily. “What is said in this room goes no further than these four walls, agreed?”

“Confidentiality is important in my line of work. So, I agree with your terms,” she said as she stood up to adjust the blankets.

“You love him, don’t you?” He asked abruptly.

She cast a weary glance over her shoulder, and he saw the tears glistening in her eyes. “I never stopped. I waited for his calls, his texts, for anything that would tell me he still cared."

“I assure you, he does. You kept the baby,” he commented. “Why?”

“A child doesn't ask to be born. They’re a product of their parent’s actions, and should never be held accountable for their parent's misdeeds,” she stated harshly, bristling at his cavalier questioning.

He was floored by her explanation, amazed that a kind-hearted woman like her could come from a family wherein the parents could not be trusted. He found himself softening towards Ambrosia the longer he listened.

“I tried my best to protect him from Justin,” Ambrosia sobbed quietly. "I tried to keep him safe, but it got so hard. Every night was a struggle to find new ways to keep that bastard away from Cal. The night he found out that we were sleeping together, I knew I wasn’t enough to keep Callum safe. Desperate to get him the help he deserved, I got into his phone and called David as a last resort.”

He watched her shoulders shake as she started crying. She didn’t refer to Justin as her father, he realized. “Don't you care about your father?”

She growled, angrily brushing the tears from her face. “If he’d been a man and not a petty child in adult clothing, none of this would have happened. If my mother restricted me so much, I would have told Callum I was pregnant in a heartbeat. I don’t know what I would have done if my step-dad and brother weren’t there for me when I first got out on my own. Both Declan and I received full-ride scholarships, and attended college while taking care of Nix between classes. Declan graduated before me, so he took care of my son while I finished my courses.”

He watched the tender way she adjusted the pillows. “Why did you wait for him?”

“No one else would ever be able to measure up,” she mumbled. She turned to face him, “I managed to hide a few pictures of Callum so our child knew what their father looked like. My mother wanted me to keep Phoenix in the dark, but I can’t lie to my child. Lying to him doesn't teach him anything in the long run.”

“So, he knew all along Callum was his father,” Hans said, his voice just above a whisper. “And he speaks Icelandic?”

“I’ve never hidden it from him. I never had the heart to be so cruel. As for his ability to speak your mother tongue, blame Phoenix. Once he learned where you were from, he insisted on being able to talk to you in Icelandic,” she replied.

The little one he’d met earlier was far more brilliant than He exhaled, closing the small distance between them in a few steps. Reaching out, he pulled the young woman into his arms to soothe her. "I will tell you everything, Ambrosia. Your mother gave me no chance to explain and held my being a mobster against me."

Ambrosia nodded against him, letting him console her as she released her pent up emotions. Taking a step back, she attempted to compose herself. "I’ll listen to whatever you have to say. Then you can go spend time with your grandson."

Hans looked at her in surprise, "You would allow it?"

"Do I seriously need to worry for the safety of my child in the hands of a Mafia King?" She countered.

He chuckled softly, "No, Ambrosia. You have my word, I’ll watch him like a hawk. My right hand man, Ross Drake will be with us.”

“Can we play Yes or No? It’s something Cal and I used to do when we were younger to avoid conflict. I ask a question, and you only need to say yes or no. Further explanation can wait until you know me better. Deal?”

Blinking at her, Hans was amused that she’d even brought it up. “Deal.”

“Are you really the Kingpin of Ontario?”

“Yes, I’m the Kingpin of the Veiðimenn. I also have a legitimate security business I run in partnership with another mob leader, who happens to be my friend.”

Nodding, Ambrosia sat down in the nearby chair. “You really don’t get this game, do you? You’re a gentleman, though.”

“Not always, but I try.”

Her lip trembled as her green eyes pegged him with a remorseful stare. “Will you take them? My son and Callum? They deserve to know each other, but I don’t want to be forgotten. I don’t want to lose my child.”

“Amber, may I call you that?” He asked, kneeling in front of her. When she nodded, he said, “I know you think that me being Mafia means you’re losing your life, but I didn’t spare you all those years ago for nothing. You gave my son hope, you were the reason I got him back, and now you’ve given him a well-behaved, happy child. Admittedly, I also blocked him a few times from finding you because of who your parents were. I was concerned that you would break him, but being without you was worse. I won’t stand in the way anymore, Amber. I won’t take your child, either. I’m not that cold-hearted. I’m going to take him to that playground around the corner for a bit to talk to him.”

She nodded, “Okay. Can you please bring my brother with you? He’s going to climb the walls if Nix is gone too long.”

“Of course, Amber,” Hans replied before he left her alone in the room. Smirking, he knew it would also be a great opportunity to get to know Declan better.