Matt watched the expression on Maya’s face carefully. She must hate him after all this. Who would want their kid around a mobster? She wouldn’t want to be with him, and she wouldn’t want him around Jason. He couldn’t take seeing her hate him.

“Thanks for fixing me up.” He pushed himself up off the couch. “I’m going to get going.”

“Already?”

“I need to sleep and I don’t want to confuse Jason. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, then dashed out before she could kick him out or tell him what he feared most. That she wouldn’t have anything to do with him now that she knew.

All night, Matt was tormented. He loved her. No denying it. He loved her and his son and he wanted them to be a family. A real family. He thought she’d been coming around to it. But that was before last night.

He hadn’t slept well and woke up feeling sick to his stomach. He shook it off and got busy with what he needed to do for Antonio. But he couldn’t stop worrying about what she would do with this information. Especially after she pretended to call the cops and told him to take down the mob. What if she did something stupid, like tell the police what was going on, thinking he could get out of it somehow?

He needed to talk to her and make sure she wasn’t going to do anything crazy. Make sure she understood just how bad this life was. Though, that might push her away, too. If he kept telling her how dangerous it was, it might make her that much more likely to keep him out of their lives. His head spun with all the stress.

To make things worse, Antonio was being a complete prick. He’d called Matt several times, and when Matt hadn’t answered as quickly as he liked, he got pissed. Matt swore he got crueler and less reasonable as the years went by. Right now, it seemed to be the worst it had ever been. And the things he was having Matt do? Today Antonio wanted Matt to spy on an exchange taking place between two of their enemies. If either side caught him, he’d be dead.

He went and did the task for Antonio, and luckily, walked away alive. When he reported back to Antonio, several guys from the family were in the backroom with him. As Matt was leaving, Ricki caught up to him and walked out with him.

“Hey man, got a minute?” Ricki asked.

“Sure.” Matt stopped and turned to face him.

“Not here. Meet me at the McDonald’s on 5th in twenty.”

“Okay.”

Matt had no idea what this could be about, but he didn’t like it. Ricki was one of Antonio’s top guys. Had they been putting pressure on Matt because they wanted to give him a raise? Bring him up higher in the family? More likely, it was because Matt had screwed up and they were going to kill him. Well, if Ricki asked him to go anywhere else after this, like for a long drive in the countryside, he’d take off. He’d hide if he had to.

Ricki was already there when Matt walked in, sitting at a table in the back corner. He nodded to Matt.

“Do not tell anyone we’re here,” Ricki said.

Matt nodded and swallowed hard.

“I’m talking to you for a very specific reason.” Ricki leaned in close and dropped his voice. “We could both be killed if the wrong people found out, got it?”

Matt nodded again and his fear faded into curiosity. This was something dangerous for both of them?

“You’re from the outside and you’re kinda newer around here. Not like me or some of the other guys who were born into this and grew up in the family.”

“Okay…”

“So, I’m hoping you don’t love this lifestyle.” Ricki paused to inspect Matt’s face. “If you had a chance to work for someone else, would you?”

“Antonio’s not exactly warm and fuzzy, but he takes care of me.” Matt had to be careful, here. This could be a setup. If he said the wrong thing, if Antonio was testing his loyalty, he’d be dead before the end of the day.

“Look, I know what this seems like, but it’s not a setup. I’m going to tell you something, and I’m doing it because I’ve been watching you and I think I can trust you. Or at least, I hope that you care enough about that woman and your son that I can trust you.”

Matt felt his whole body grow cold. If Ricki knew about Maya and Jason, then Antonio probably did, too.

Ricki nodded slowly. “Antonio knows. He’s not happy that you’ve been lying. He also thinks you’ve been distracted lately.”

“Did you bring me here to tell me he’s going to kill me or what?”

Ricki shrugged. “That’s always a possibility with Antonio, you know that. But no, that’s not why. I want your help. Would you be willing to do something for me if it meant going against Antonio, and if it meant that your family would be safe?”

Matt narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What is this, Ricki?”

“This is you getting the chance to be in on it. Anyone not in on it might wind up dead soon. I’m trying to save you because I like you. And I know you don’t love Antonio.”

Matt leaned in closer. “So, what are you saying here?”

“I’m going to take Antonio down. I’m taking over as boss. But obviously, I can’t do that all on my own. If you help me, I’ll promote you and make sure nothing ever happens to your woman and child.”

Matt sat back and thought for a minute. It was a good deal. Ricki was much more reasonable than Antonio, and if he were in charge, things would be better for Matt. But Ricki also believed that only family born into this were the ones who’d stay loyal. Kinda funny since Ricki was born in and was making the most disloyal move ever with this plan. If Matt came in from the outside, there might be a chance for something else to happen here.

“I’ll help you,” Matt said. “I’d much rather have you in charge. I’m sure most of the guys would. I appreciate your offer for promotion, and obviously, I want to protect my family. But what if I wanted something different than a promotion?”

Ricki gave him a knowing look. “You want out?”

“I do.”

“You do what I ask, it’ll be arranged. You fail, though, and you miss your chance. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Matt walked out of the meeting with hope. He could have a normal life. He could be with Maya and not worry that they were in danger.

His hope vanished later that day, though. Antonio called him into another meeting. This one was private and not in the usual backroom location. He met him in a parking lot. A bad sign.

Matt was nervous stepping out of his car. Antonio might just kill him right here, right now.

“I wanted to talk here, away from ears and eyes,” Antonio said, clamping a hand down hard on Matt’s shoulder. “You don’t mind that, do you?”

Matt shook his head.

“Good, good. I just wanted to have a little conversation about loyalty. You see, the word around the family is that you’re distracted. You’ve been spotted many times out with a woman. I need to know that you’re focused, Matty. That you’re not going to let me down.”

“Of course not. Have I let you down before?”

“I want to make sure you never start. This woman and your son…” Antonio stroked his beard and eyed Matt.

So it wasn’t just Ricki who knew. Antonio knew about them, too.

“I worried that when you found out you had a child, this would happen.”

“What do you mean when I found out?”

“Well, it’s been, what five or six years since you knocked that girl up? You didn’t really think I’d stopped watching her, did you? After you pretended to not be involved with her? Well, I suppose you didn’t pretend that part. You did stop seeing her, like you said. But then, she showed back up one day, and now you’re thinking about them all the time. Probably even right now, am I right?”

Matt didn’t know how to answer. “I want to be the best dad I can be. That’s all.”

Antonio grinned. “Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page. Then you’ll understand when I tell you that if I ever find out you’re even considering crossing me, they’ll both be killed. You do know that, right?”

“Of course. I would never cross you. I appreciate what I do and my income with the family.”

“I sure hope so, Matty. Because you’re a young, good-looking fellow.” He pinched Matt’s cheek, then slapped him. “I’d hate to mess up this face.”

“It’ll never happen.”

“I like your determination. And you’d tell me if, say, someone came to you and tried to get you to join in on a plan against me?”

“Who would do something like that?”

“I sure hope no one, Matty. But you never know. You would tell me, right?”

Antonio’s grip on his shoulder ached. Matt nodded fervently.

“Glad we had this little talk.” Antonio patted his shoulder hard before getting back into his car and driving off.

Matt pulled out his phone the second he was in his car, out of sight of Antonio. Ricki didn’t answer. They had to stop the plan. If Antonio already knew something was up, then it was too late. Going through with it would mean they would all die.

He called Maya next. If he couldn’t get Ricki to stop the plan, he had to keep them safe.

“Hi Matt,” she said.

“Maya. Pack your things. Get Jason and leave.”

“What? What are you talking about? Leave?”

“It’s not safe. Please. Don’t tell me where you’re going. It’s better that way.”

“Matt—”

“I have to go. Hurry.”

He ended the call and sped to his apartment. He had things ready for a scenario like this. Ever since the first time he had to walk away from Maya, and then once he knew they had a son, he had this plan in place. Now it was time to act.

He felt a moment of sadness as he dashed inside and went to open his safe. He’d planned for this, but hoped it would never happen. That he’d never need to do this. Now he had no choice.

Antonio knew what Ricki was planning, knew that Matt was part of it. Or he at least suspected.

Matt yanked open the door of his safe. This safe had nothing valuable in it. A tiny bit of cash in case he needed pizza money. He kept it tucked under his bed. He grabbed the small silver key and relocked the safe. Someone might not know it to look at it, but this key was the most valuable thing in the safe.

He dashed back out of the apartment and drove fast.