My mind was a stressful mess of plans and contingencies when suddenly the phone rang. I grabbed it on the third ring. “What?” I said.
“Sir,” the man said, “this is Alan at the front gate. Someone is here asking for you.”
I paused, frowning. Rafa looked up at me. “Who is it?” I asked.
“She said her name is Kaley Kozlov. She said you know her, sir.”
Kozlov? That was a Russian name. One of the more prominent bosses in the Russian mob was named Kozlov, though I’d never had dealings with him before.
“Are you sure she’s asking for me?”
“She asked for you by name, sir. What should I do?”
I paused, frowning. “I’ll be there in a second.” I hung up the phone and stood.
“What’s up?” Rafa asked.
“Follow me.”
I walked out of the office, Rafa in tow, and headed outside. We snagged a golf cart and hopped into it, riding it back down the driveway toward the front gate.
A bunch of armed men were standing around. I couldn’t see her at first since they had her surrounded, but they parted as soon as I pulled up.
I got out of the cart and stared at her.
I recognized her instantly. It was the nameless girl from months ago, the girl I never thought I’d see again. She looked exactly the same, beautiful and sensual, and the memory of that night came flooding back, making my cock hard.
Alan came up to me. “Do you know her, sir?”
“Yes,” I said. “What’s she doing here?”
He looked uncomfortable. “Sir, she has a baby with her.”
I looked closer, and sure enough, she was holding something in her arms. She stared back at me defiantly, anger and fear in her eyes.
She was holding a baby. I stared at her as shock began to rise up through my body. She was holding a baby, just about thirteen months after our night together. That kid couldn’t have been more than four months old at most.
I took a step toward her, feeling dizzy.
3
Kaley
My heart was pounding as I walked up to the gate of the Barone family’s enormous mansion.
Earlier, I had pretended like I was getting a ride from Soph to work. I’d bundled up Alex and snuck out the back, making sure my mother and father didn’t hear me. I hated living with them, but when I’d had Alex, I knew I had to take a break from school and get some help in those early months.
Soph drove me out of the city. It was surprisingly easy; I half expected to see men chasing us down. Instead, we had zero problems.
Until she dropped me off. I kissed her goodbye and hiked the last bit up to the gate as she drove away.
“Can I help you?” asked the man sitting in the guard booth.
“Hi. I’m here to see Vince Miro.”
He stared at me. “You’re not on the list.”
“I know, but I need to speak with him. It’s urgent.”
“Sorry, ma’am. You can’t speak with him unless you’re on the list.”
I stared at the guy. “Please. Get me Vince Miro. He knows me. He’ll want to speak with me.”
The guy glanced at Alex and then got on his phone. Two minutes later, a bunch more security guards descended on me and began asking a ton of questions, none of which I wanted to answer.
And then I saw him. He climbed out of a golf cart and stared at me while the original guard said something to him.
He watched me for a minute, and I stared back defiantly. I made no attempt to hide Alex. That’s right; this is your kid, I thought.
Finally, he walked toward me. My heart was leaping in my chest. He was as handsome as I remembered, tall and broad, muscular and tattooed. I remembered that night well, remembered how he had worked my body, how dirty he’d been on the dance floor, the things he’d whispered in my ear. I remembered how incredible it had felt to give myself to him, to let his hands explore my body, his mouth on my neck, his cock deep between my legs.
A shiver ran down my spine. His gaze was intense as he walked slowly toward me.
Vince Miro. He had a bad reputation, a dangerous reputation. And here I was on his home turf, trying to get him to help me take care of a baby he didn’t even know about.
This was crazy, I realized as he came toward me. This was absolutely crazy. He wasn’t going to believe me; he was going to throw me out, and then my father was going to take Alex away.
I took a deep breath, biting back my panic. I had to stay strong, had to stick with my plan. I didn’t know anybody else in this city that could protect me from my father; there was only Vince.
He nodded to the guards as he approached, and they quickly dispersed. After a moment, Vince stood alone in front of me, staring down at me. He was wearing jeans and a tight black T-shirt. He crossed his arms, staring at me.