* * *

The fucking agent was surrounded by too many suits for me to get to him now so, it looks like I’ll have to come back later and take care of it. No one followed us from the house so I was thinking they didn’t know where my place was. I was feeling like an idiot for not seeing that this man was more of a danger than I first thought. Never underestimate the power of greed.

I’d paid this asshole over the years to look the other way. I’m sure I’ve paid him more than the government in the three years I’d been dealing with his dumb ass. The thing is, he knows me, knows what a colossal fucking mistake it is to cross me, so the triads must’ve offered him something that was worth him risking his damn life over. My phone rang cutting off my train of thought.

“Why is your wife calling me, what’s wrong with your phone bro?” I didn’t stop to think that something might be wrong and that’s why my little sister was calling me instead of her husband.

“What’s up Anna, you three need bail money?” with Mouth in the mix, that shit was a possibility.

I heard the noise in the background before she opened her mouth.

“What’s with all the screaming?” Fuck, Mouth. My heart was already halfway to my throat.

“Shane, hurry...” The tone of her voice made my stomach drop.

“Mouth, where the fuck is Mouth?”

“She went after him.”

“Who the fuck are you talking about?”

“Mom’s been mugged.”

“The fuck you say?” No one fucks with ma on my streets what the fuck is going on?

“Where the fuck is Mouth?”

“I told you she ran after the mugger.”

The fuck.

I wanted to ask her a million questions at once but I needed to get to where the fuck they were more. “Where?” I motioned with my hand for the boys to head out and hit the door running as soon as she gave me their location.

“Okay stay calm we’re on our way.” Her tears fucked with my head.

I refused to entertain the idea that anything could go wrong. She’d only been out of my sight for half a fucking hour and already some shit had gone down. I hung up with Anna and called the twins. “We’re on her fuck, she took off before we could stop her.” This was my fault. I’d told them to give her space like she’d asked.

“Who?”

“Triad.” I hung up the phone with ice in my veins.

I didn’t say shit and the atmosphere in the car was volatile. Both Tony and Mikey’s phones were ringing off the hook as we raced through the streets.

We got there in five minutes by breaking the speed barrier and every law in the city ordinance. I give a fuck.

The scene I walked up on was not one that I was accustomed to. Ma looked like she’d been in a scuffle of some sort and my sisters looked scared and pissed.

It was the protective way ma was hovering over my woman though, that drew my attention. “Mouth what the fuck?” I knelt down on the sidewalk beside her, looking her over for any sign of trauma.

“What the fuck happened?”

“I didn’t catch him the little bastard.”

“Didn’t catch who?” Her security team who she had bitched about to the point that I had given in and let her go shopping in a separate car with the girls were in formation behind her, while the boys saw to their women.

“Start at the top.” They all started talking at once and I was barely able to keep up with the ringing in my ears.

“She might need the doctor Shane, she shouldn’t have ran like that. Are you bleeding Arianna?” Ma patted her down.

“I don’t think so, the baby’s okay Shane I promise.”

Ma’s words left me cold and the look of fear in Arianna’s eyes almost ended me. “You hurt baby? Tell me you’re not hurt.” That’s it; she’s never leaving the house again without a fucking regiment.

“I don’t think I’m bleeding or anything but, maybe for the baby...” My kid? I snatched her up and headed for the car. “Get everyone moving now. Take us to Memorial General.” The twins were already in motion.

I held her on my lap and forced her head down on my shoulder. “Shane I don’t think...”

“Shut up Ari, you can talk later after we know that everything is okay.” I couldn’t think about shit else but the baby and what might be wrong. From what little I’d gathered, someone had snatched ma’s purse and knocked her down, and Mouth had gone after him.

I don’t know much about pregnancy, but I’m pretty sure running full out on a busy city street was a no-no.

“I’m sorry Shane, I wasn’t thinking.” I looked at her to let her know I wasn’t mad at her, but I was scared as fuck out of my mind.

As soon as we pulled up to the hospital I was out the car with her held tightly in my arms. I rushed by the asshole nurse that looked like she was about to ask me stupid shit and went in search of the nearest empty room.

“Mob boy, you’ve got to calm down, they have to check me in.”

“Fuck that. Find my dad.” I sent one of the twins on the hunt while a nurse an orderly and security came into the room.

“Sir, you can’t...”

“Shane Flanagan, my father runs this shit, my woman is pregnant and was running, fix it.” I know that shit came out disjointed, but they got it well enough, if the way they sprang into action was any indication.

They wanted me out of the way; I pulled my piece. I was not in the mood for niceties and bullshit. Dad came on the double and took over shit, which is what I’d wanted in the first place. “Put that thing away son and tell me what’s going on.” I didn’t even realize I was still holding my piece. I put it away now and told him what happened. After he was reassured that ma and his daughters were okay he looked at Mouth who’d remained quiet throughout the whole ordeal.

Since he didn’t know fuck all about pregnant women either, he had them page someone who did stat. Mouth was being way too quiet and I was barely hanging on by a thread.

I could hear the others arriving outside the door, but didn’t want to leave her side, so I stayed with a million and one questions running through my head.

Why the fuck, are these fucks messing with my shit now? And why had they gone after ma? This was the first time anything like this had ever happened. Not many people knew my family. Like the Rossis, we tend to shield the women of the family to avoid shit like this.

The OBGY what the fuck marched into the room giving out orders. She wanted me to leave, I told her to get fucked. “Michelle, this is my son and his fiancée, it’s best if you just proceed.” She looked like she wanted to argue, but my ‘don’t fuck with me look soon had her backing down.

She muttered some shit about not being able to do her job properly yadda-yadda-yadda, but that shit fell on deaf ears. She did her thing and looked like she knew what she was talking about. “Who is she?” I whispered the question to dad as we watched her handle Mouth and her shit.

If I was bad, Mouth was worst, she gave that poor woman so much lip that I was beginning to feel guilty for giving her shit when she first came in. Mouth isn’t exactly the most genteel patient if you know what I mean.

“Arianna quit acting like a brat and let the woman do her job.”

“She’s poking me, that shit hurts.” Mouth looked like she was out for blood. I better warn her off before we find the good doctor in an alley somewhere pinned to the damn wall.

“So far she seems fine, but I’ll need to do a full examination to be sure.” She looked over her glasses at me but I ignored her ass. “Dad, ghost.” He grinned and left the room shaking his head.

“Michelle I’m leaving my grandson in your care, make sure he’s okay.”

“Grandson, how does he know what it is? You can’t tell right?” I rolled my eyes when she all but grabbed the poor woman by the lapels of her smock.

“No dear, it’s just a figure of speech I imagine.” She had to get undressed and shit so the doc could do her thing, and I held her hand more to protect the unsuspecting female in the room than anything else.

Mouth’s dander was up and since she hadn’t been able to catch whoever had done the snatch and run, she was looking for an outlet. “You’re a feisty one aren’t you?” I raised my brows when the doc grinned at Mouth after asking her question.

“I can feel you’re strung tight as a bow.” Oh shit. Mouth didn’t even blink and I was trying to figure out how the fuck we were gonna get out of that room if she broke this woman’s neck.

“Figure of speech babe, hey eyes on me.” She was actually looking at this woman like she was trying to figure the best way to do her. There had to be some drug or some shit they could give her that would mellow her ass out until the baby came.

She seemed worse now that the kid was in her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if her hormones were out of whack. That’s all I need, for her murdering ass to become even more of a pain in the ass because her body was going nuts.

“Where’s my kid?”

“Fuck!” her pain in the ass old man was here, which meant so was the uncle and poppy. The three fucks have been incognito for the last day or so thank fuck. Then again I had no idea what fuckery they were up to that I was gonna have to clean up later.

“You better get out there Shane before they disrupt the whole place.”

“I’m not leaving you with a complete fucking stranger, are you bent?”

“Don Carlucci, just stick your head out the door and tell them I’m okay.” She rolled her damn eyes at me, but I didn’t budge.

In the end the doc stepped away from the table and did the honors when the noise was getting to be too much.

“This is a hospital gentlemen, you’re gonna have to tone it down or I’m gonna have to ask you to leave. My patient needs peace and quiet right now thank you.”

She walked back into the room like she hadn’t just scolded three of the biggest murdering fucks this side of the Mississippi.

“What the fuck?” That sounded like the uncle.

“I like it, spicy.” Poppy was on the prowl.

“Dad, I forbid you to go anywhere near any member of my staff.” Wrong move dad, that’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull.