She pulled it open, looking flushed. Her face instantly dropped when she saw me.
“Expecting someone else?” I asked.
“I hoped you were Sonya. What do you want?”
“Heard the kid crying. Thought I’d check on you.”
“He’s fussy today,” she said. Alex was in her arms, crying away. She was bouncing him, trying to get him to relax.
“Need a hand?”
She eyed me, suspicious. “Why?”
“I’m trying to be fucking nice.”
“Fine. Come on.”
I stepped inside and she shut the door.
“Here,” she said. She handed me Alexei, him crying and all. “I need to use the bathroom. Just hold him for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait, no,” I said. “I was thinking a back massage, maybe get you off again. Not a crying baby.”
“Just a minute.” She was already walking away toward the bathroom.
“No. Hold on.”
But she was already gone.
I looked around the room, uncomfortable as fuck.
“There, there,” I said to Alexei, rocking him slightly. “There, there. It’s okay.”
He was screaming so loudly. I couldn’t believe that anybody could live with a baby that screamed like this. What was I supposed to do with him?
“It’s okay, little guy,” I said and began to walk. “It’s okay. Vince has you. I can throw you twenty feet in the air, I bet.”
As I moved and spoke, slowly the baby’s screams got quieter.
“Yeah? You think that’s funny? I could throw you like a football, I bet.”
And after a second, he stopped.
I laughed, looking down at him. He blinked back at me with these blue eyes, just like my own.
“You like when I talk to you?” I asked. “You like to hear my voice? Shit, maybe you are my son.”
He just blinked at me.
“What do you do, anyway? Aside from screaming, crying, pooping, and eating?”
Then he smiled at me.
I felt something weird in that moment. I had felt it before, but it was a little stronger, a little more intense this time. Alex smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Oh. That’s cute as fuck,” I said.
“Don’t curse at him.”
I turned and saw Kaley. “How long were you standing there?”
She was smiling at me. “Not long. He likes you.”
I looked back down at him, and he smiled up at me, squirming around.
“He moves a lot,” I said stupidly.
“Yeah. He’s a baby.”
She sat down on the couch, sighing.
“How long was he crying?”
“Too long,” she grumbled.
I kept walking around the room, bouncing him in my arms. He seemed to like it, so I just kept doing it.
I was playing with a fucking baby, not an hour after setting up a deal with a Chinese arms dealer.
What a weird fucking morning.
Kaley was watching me with this strange look on her face. I didn’t exactly understand it. It wasn’t anger, which was what I was used to. It was more like curiosity mixed with amusement.
“What?” I asked her.
“Nothing. You just look like a natural, holding him.”
“Don’t get used to it,” I said. “I had a moment of weakness.”
She smiled. “Yeah. Your baby can do that to you.”
I looked down at Alexei, and he laughed up at me again.
“Are you my baby?” I said softly.
And then my phone started buzzing.I walked quickly over to Kaley and handed him off, opening the phone.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“It’s me,” Rafa said. “I think I got a lead on some cash.”
“That was fast. How much?”
“About half of what we need. The Latinos are looking for some smack, and we happen to have a surplus.”
I nodded. “Set it up.”
“Will do.”
I hung the phone up. Kaley smiled at me.
“Work?” she asked.
“Work.” I looked at her for a second. “Call Sonya and give her the brat. Let’s go back to that jungle room and finish what we started.”
Kaley laughed. “No, thanks.”
“You sure? I’ve been thinking about slipping my thick cock deep inside you all fucking day.”
She blushed. “I’m sure.”
“Your loss.” I gave her another long look, her holding that damn brat. That warm, squirming little brat.
I walked to her door, opened it, and quickly left.
15
Kaley
I shouldn’t have been so surprised that Vince was able to calm Alexei down like that, but I was anyway. Vince was Alexei’s father, so it made sense that they would have some special connection like that. But it was still such an interesting surprise to see this tattooed badass mobster holding and talking to a little baby.