I can’t stop thinking about Connor. As much as I hate it, and as much as I want it to stop, he just keeps coming into my mind.

I keep seeing that look he gave me in the exam room. I keep hearing his voice, telling me that he can be my daddy and take care of me. I keep picturing exactly what that means.

I wanted it. I wanted him to push me down onto the table and to fuck me until I couldn’t walk. I know it’s crazy, he’s a stranger, but the attraction is real and it’s intense. I’m resisting it because I don’t trust him, but I don’t know how long I can hold out for.

And I don’t know how long I have to. He was incredibly confident about the paternity test, and only an idiot would think that they could somehow beat their DNA. If he’s that confident, it’s because he knows he’s Ryan’s father for sure.

At least he thinks he is. Who knows what Harper was doing while she was with him. I still can’t rule out Harper sleeping with another man and telling Connor that he’s the father.

Clearly though, as the day wears on, I’m starting to realize that I don’t think he’s working for the Gallos anymore. That idea was probably far-fetched to begin with, but the way he just showed up randomly was pretty suspicious, especially using Enzo’s name. It put me on edge right away.

I’m nervous and excited all day. I don’t know what I want the test to say. On the one hand, I’m just starting to bond with Ryan, and having his father come into the picture is going to complicate things immensely. But on the other, if Connor is the father, that means he’s not a liar, and maybe I can actually give in to all my desperate desires.

No, I can’t think like that. I can’t be selfish. I have to think of Ryan’s best interests first, but I just don’t know what those are.

I’m conflicted by the time Doctor Roberts tracks me down at the end of the day.

“Results,” he says, eyeing me. He holds out an envelope. “Sure you want to know?”

“I’m sure,” I say, taking it from him.

“Mind if I give you some advice?”

I shrug. “Go for it.”

“Open it in front of him. Watch his face when he hears the results. That’ll tell you a lot.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Do you have a lot of experience with this?”

His grin is huge. “I love Maury. See you later.” He walks off, chuckling to myself, and I sigh. Freaking doctors, they’re all so weird.

But I decide to listen to him. As much as I want to tear the envelope open and look at the results, I resist the urge. I’m going to do this with Connor to really see his real reaction. I guess I could peak now, but part of me doesn’t want to ruin the surprise.

I tuck the envelope into my bag and head out. I stop at the daycare and pick up Ryan. He sits in his car seat, looking placidly out the window.

“How was your day?” I ask him.

He doesn’t answer, just shrugs a little. That’s more response than I normally get, so I consider it a win.

We drive back to my apartment. I park and bring him inside. We go through our normal routine, dinner, playtime, story time, and bedtime. He’s in a good mood, so things go smooth and he’s asleep right on time.

I head back into the kitchen, grab my phone, pour myself some wine, and call Connor.

“Got the results?” he asks instead of greeting me.

“I got them,” I say.

“And?”

“I want you to come over.”

He hesitates. “Of course you do,” he says, and I flinch at the smugness.

“Not for that,” I respond. “I just think we should read them together.”

“Okay,” he says. “I’ll be over in a few.”

“Sounds good.” I hang up the phone and sip some wine, feeling anxious all over.

What am I thinking, inviting him over like this? This could go really, really wrong. What if it says he’s not the father and he flips out? I’ll be all alone with him, and I don’t know what he’s capable of. He got into a fight with the mafia recently, so he could have a horrible temper.

But honestly, I’m not worried about that. I’m thinking more about the way he might kiss me, touch me, hands in my hair, lips on my neck. I go back into my bedroom and get changed, putting on something cuter but casual.

As I finish getting changed and letting my hair down, I hear a knock at my door. My heart spikes and excitement pools through me. I can’t believe the way I’m reacting to this. I should be running away.

Instead, I’m running right to him.

I go out into the living room. “Coming,” I say softly. I grab the door and pull it open. “You’re easy,” I say, but stop and stare.

Enzo and Piero are standing there, grinning at me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask them.

“Expecting someone else?” Enzo steps forward and I back into my living room. Piero follows him, shutting the door. Where Enzo’s like a Pitbull, Piero’s more like a panther. He’s tall and sleek with dark hair and dark eyes. There’s a family resemblance, since they’re siblings, but they could have different fathers or something like that.

I stumble backwards, fear spiking through me. “Get out of my apartment,” I manage to say, but that only makes Enzo laugh. Piero stares at me, stoic and unflappable, blocking the doorway.

“I warned you already, right?” Enzo says. “Here’s the thing you gotta understand. The mob hasn’t been doing too good these days, right, Piero?”

“Right,” he says.

“What does that have to do with Ryan?” I ask him. “I’m going to call the cops if you don’t leave.”

Enzo laughs again. “Recruitment is down, you get it? And there’s no better soldier than a fucking member of the family.”

“What’s wrong with you people?” I snap at him, heart racing. “You want to take a nice little boy and turn him into… into a criminal?”

Enzo cracks up at that and even Piero smiles a little bit. I glare at the two men as Enzo comes closer to me. “Listen up, cousin,” he says. “The only reason we haven’t hurt you yet is because you’re family. But we’ll make things real bad if you don’t stop getting in our way, understand?”

“I can’t let you have him,” I say. “Harper left him with me. He’s my son now.”

“He’s not shit to you,” Enzo snaps. “He’s my fucking nephew.”

I clench my jaw and ball my fists. Without thinking about it, I strike out at Enzo and manage to catch him on the shoulder as he shrugs away from me.

Fear spikes through me again as Enzo turns back, eyes glaring. “We’re not kids anymore, Leah,” he says. “You touch me like that again and I’ll hurt you.”

“You can’t have him,” I say, and swing my fists again, desperate to fight him off.

He grabs my wrists and wrestles me against the kitchen counter. I gasp and groan as he pins me there, his sadistic grin getting bigger.

“It’s a shame we’re family,” he says, his face inches from mine. “Otherwise, this would be a lot more fun.”

“Enzo.” Piero’s voice cuts in from the living room. “Let’s grab the boy and leave now.”

Enzo stares me down for another second, eyes wide, and I want to scream.

He releases me and steps away. “Fine,” Enzo says. “Let’s go.”

I stand up, bruised but fine, and I take a step toward him.

“Wait, Enzo, please—” I start, but the door flying open and smashing into Piero interrupts me.

Connor comes into the room like lightning. He smashes into Enzo, throwing him away from me and toward the door. The men curse as Connor hits them, kicking and pushing them. He shoves Enzo back outside, with Piero right behind him.

“You’re making a fucking mistake,” Enzo growls from the hall.

Connor stands his ground. “Fuck off, mafia bitch,” he says. “You can’t have my son.”

“Come,” Piero says to Enzo. “We’ll be back.”

“You just made a fucking mistake,” Enzo growls before he stalks off down the steps and away from my apartment.

Piero lingers in the hall. “The boy will be ours, one way or another,” he says, and follows after Enzo.

Connor grunts and shuts the door. “Fucking assholes,” he says, grimacing, clutching his hurt ribs.

“Are you okay?” I ask him.

“I’m fine. Did they hurt you?”

“No, I’m okay.”

Just then, Ryan comes tottering into the room. He peers around the corner and down the hallway at us, his eyes wide.

“Oh crap,” I say softly. “It’s okay, honey. Let’s go back to bed.”

I glance at Connor, and his eyes are wide. He’s staring at Ryan with a strange look on his face.

“Can I…” he says, and then stops.

I sigh. “Come on,” I say. “We’ll all go back to bed, okay?”

Connor follows me and I take Ryan by the hand, leading him back to bed. I get him settled again before reading him a story. Connor stands in the doorway, watching our little ritual, a strange smile on his face.

When I finish, I give Ryan a kiss, and we leave. I lead Connor back out into the living room.

“I guess all the commotion woke him up,” I say.

“Guess so.” Connor sits on the arm of the couch, wincing again. “Did you check the results?”

I had completely forgotten about that. I grab my bag and pull out the envelope, holding it up for him to take.

“Are you sure you want to see?” I ask him.

He takes it and opens it without a single bit of hesitation. He pulls out the page and scans it before handing it over to me with a little smile.

I take the paper and read. “So,” I say softly. “You’re not a liar after all.”

“Ninety-nine percent,” he answers. “I’m the father.”

“You’re the father,” I repeat, astounded. I don’t know why I’m so shocked though. It’s clear that Connor cares deeply about Ryan, but I guess I just thought it was too good to be true.

Now though… now I have to figure out what this means. I watch Connor carefully, trying to decide what the hell to do.

He just saved me from the Gallo assholes. I don’t know what they would have done to me, but I know for sure that I wasn’t going to let them have Ryan without a fight. Things could have gotten bad if Connor hadn’t shown up to scare them off. If he wasn’t on their bad side before, he definitely is now. Enzo isn’t the kind of guy to let that sort of thing go.

“What now?” I ask him.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “I’m guessing those two assholes are going to be back sooner or later.”

I nod slowly. “Yeah, they will. And Enzo… he’ll be pissed.”

“What about the other guy? What’s his name?”

“That’s Piero, the older brother. Enzo is the middle sibling, and Harper was the youngest.”

“Huh,” he grunts. “I don’t remember her mentioning Piero.”

“I’m not surprised. He’s a lot older than her, almost ten years. They weren’t close. I barely know the guy.”

“You’re their cousin,” he observes.

“Right. But apparently they don’t care about that.’

“Maybe.” He looks away. “Look, I don’t want to take him from you, okay?”

That surprises me. I expected him to push for custody right away. “Really?”

“Really,” he says. “I’m not established here yet, so I can’t even take care of him if I wanted.”

“Where are you staying?”

“Got an apartment nearby,” he admits. “And I’m working on some jobs.”

“Good.” I take a breath and let it out. “I guess you want to see him now, huh?”

He grins at me. “Yeah, that’d be nice, seeing as I really am his father and all.”

I sit down on the chair across from him and I feel like it all hits me at once. “It’s true then,” I say softly. “She just… took him from you.”

“Yeah,” he says, looking down. “She went on a bender right after he was born and left me to take care of him alone. And then one night, she came home and took him away from me for two long years.”

“Shit,” I say. “And here I am, still keeping him from you.”

He smiles a little sadly. “Honestly, that’s part of why I want him to keep staying with you.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Really. You’re a good mother. You’re good for him. But if you don’t want the responsibility, I completely understand.”

“No,” I say quickly. “I want him to stay.” I realize that’s true, which is really strange. When he first came home with me, I was thinking about how my life was completely ruined. But now… I can’t imagine living without that little boy.

“Good,” he says. “He’ll stay with you for now then. I’ll get more settled and help you out as much as I can.”

I nod slowly, excitement spreading through my core. This is exactly what I wanted, although I know it’s probably not fair to him. He came so far to get his son back and here I am, keeping them apart. The least I can do is let the man see his boy.

And it’ll be nice to have some help. I won’t have to worry so much if Connor can pick up some of the slack, at least a little bit.

“They’re still going to keep coming for him,” I point out.

He shrugs, a grin on his face. “Let them,” he says. “I’ll keep them away.”

I watch him for a second and I have the irrational desire to push him off the arm and onto the couch cushions. I want to climb on top of him, press my body against his, and kiss him slow and deep, let him grind up against me, make me feel something.

Instead, I stand up with a sigh. “Come back tomorrow after Ryan gets back from daycare,” I say. “Around five-thirty. Okay?”

“Okay,” he says.

“You can have dinner with us and spend a little time with Ryan.”

“I’ll be here.” He stands up.

“After he’s in bed, you’re leaving, okay?”

“Okay.” He walks to my front door and I follow him. He pulls it open and turns back to me. “Thanks, Leah.”

“Yeah, well.” I blush a little bit. “You’re his father, so it’s only right.”

“You’re good for him. I’m glad it was you.” He leaves, shutting the door behind him.

I stand there, not sure what to think. I’m not sure what that means, but I know that I can’t wait to see him again. I can’t tell if it’s for Ryan’s sake, since this man is his father, or if it’s for my own. I don’t know what we’ll tell Ryan or how we’ll explain any of this, but we’ll figure it out eventually. We’ll make it work.

I sigh and shake my head. This is all so complicated. The Gallo family is still coming for Ryan, and now his real father just shows up out of nowhere. I feel like I’m torn into a million different directions, but I do know one thing for sure.

There’s something about Connor that I can’t stop thinking about. He must be a good father, if he spent the last two years tracking his son down. Now only time will tell just how good, exactly.