“Good enough.” I turn and leave the room as Enzo and his men begin to set explosive charges that will bring the place down. The authorities will have to dig for weeks before they get at all the bodies. I suspect they won’t even bother.
The night smells fresh. Smoke and blood are in the air. I breathe deep and smile to myself. With Emir gone, Medved’s attempt to muscle into my territory is finished.
It’s a fresh start.
I stripoff my clothes in the darkness of the apartment. My body is tired from the long night. There’s a wound on my thigh I don’t even remember getting. It’s just a long gash. It took six stitches to close up. Nothing too bad.
I limp into the bedroom and find Allie asleep with Rosie. The pair of them are snuggled together. I stop cold, struck by the sight.
My daughter looks angelic. My wife looks like a goddess. I can’t bring myself to move even though I should get some rest. I’ve never seen anything so precious in my entire life. Allie is sin and Rosie is salvation. The sudden urge to stay right here, to watch them all night just to make sure nothing ever gets anywhere near them, is sudden and hard to deny.
I’ve avoided relationships all my life. They’re a liability in my line of work. Women have been disposable. I enjoy their bodies, but I never, ever let myself get emotionally attached.
That’s for their protection too.
The moment a woman becomes important to me is the moment she has a target on her chest.
Allie was a mistake. She’s the one error I’ve made in my personal life. And it’s not just Rosie that was wrong.
I never should have gone anywhere near Allie to begin with.
I knew better. Her links to me run much too deep. If she ever finds out I knew who she was from the start…
But I already damned myself. I took her home that night. I slept with her and felt a piece of myself open with the thought of taking her again. And when Rosie was born?—
Everything changed.
Now I can hardly recognize myself.
Especially as I creep to the bed, moving softly.
I bend down and lightly stroke my fingers over Allie’s cheek. She stirs but doesn’t wake. God, she’s so beautiful in only a tight tank top and a pair of black panties. Simple, but perfect.
Rosie whimpers as I lift her from the bed. I do it as slowly and softly as I can. She wakes as I rock her against my chest and carry her from the room. Her little mewls are adorable. Even the angry way she squints at me.
“It’s okay, baby girl. I’m only putting you back into your bed.”
She glares as if to say,but I was in my bed already, you fucking idiot.
“You’ll be more comfortable here and your mother will sleep better.” I rock her until her eyelids flutter. “That’s right, little girl, go back to sleep. Daddy’s got you.”
When I’m sure she’s back down, I place her in the crib and linger for another moment.
I’m not a man of faith. I learned a long time ago that God doesn’t answer my prayers. He saves his miracles for people worthy of His mercy.
But this is the first time I truly believe I’ve been blessed by a divinity.
What else could explain this feeling?
“What are you doing?”
I turn to find Allie standing in the doorway. She’s frowning but doesn’t seem alarmed. I move her from the room and close the nursery door behind me. She seems so small in the darkness of the hallway. “I put Rosie in her crib.”
“We were fine in bed, you know.”
“And you would’ve been woken up at five in the morning.”
“So what? That’s what we always do.”
