I don’t know what Alexa’s fucking thinking, but I’m not playing any games with her.

I’m being open about what I want. She knows I want her and the baby, and it’s up to her to figure out that I’m what she needs. I can take care of both of them, and the more I get to know her, the more I know I want that badly.

But of course my fucking father has to get in the way. I know how his office can be. It’s full of old-timers, people living and dying with Buddy Weaver. Some of those people probably came with the damn building, and any whiff of scandal means you’re dead to them. Unless you’re the mayor, of course. Buddy’s a saint, he can get away with fucking anything in this town and still get elected.

His luck’s probably running out, though. It’s late when Marko shows up at my shop. I’m in the back working on a repair job, trying to get these bikes finished and back to their owners. This is pretty much all I do since those mafia goons flipped my shop, getting up early and going to bed late and working in between it. That is, except when I’m trying to see Alexa.

“Hey, Elias, how’s it fuckin’ going?” he asks, strolling into the room like he owns it.

I stand up, wiping my hands on a rag. I stare at him for a second, not smiling. He stops midway through the room, head cocked.

“What’s the matter?” he asks.

“You serious?”

“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ serious, what’s your deal?”

I take a deep breath and let it out. “Your mafia friends shook me down the other day. Did some fucked up damage to my shop.”

He doesn’t look surprised. “Shit,” he says.

“Did you know?”

“No,” he answers forcefully. “I swear I didn’t. They wouldn’t tell me about that.”

“I thought you were some big, bad captain,” I say.

“Look, they know we’re friends, okay? If they were planning on hurting you, they wouldn’t fucking tell me.”

I take a breath and let it out again. I know he’s right. I wasn’t even mad at him until he showed up. He’s done nothing but try to warn me about my father’s bullshit, and sometimes he’s even tried to protect me. Frankly, he’s the only one in this town that can even begin to help.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “Okay. I’m just pissed, all right?”

His grin returns. “And lashing out at me.”

“Yeah, lashing out at you.” I sigh. “Want a beer?”

That’s the closest thing to an apology he’ll get and we both know it, so he just nods. I go over to the refrigerator and grab two, cracking mine open and handing over his.

He opens the bottle and takes a long drink. “I heard you’ve been working late,” he says. “Didn’t know why, though.”

“Yeah, you heard that?”

He shrugs a little. “Got a girl near here. She keeps tabs on you.”

“Jesus, Marko,” I say. “What the fuck?”

“It’s not like that, relax. I’m fucking her, sure, but she’s just making sure you’re okay now that the shit’s hitting the fan.”

“Guess she missed the fucking shakedown.”

“Yeah,” he says, grunting. “Guess I’ll have to talk to her about that.”

“Also, don’t tell me about the chicks you’re fucking behind your wife’s back, okay?”

“Whatever man,” he says. “I’m a fucking gangster. She knows what she signed up for.”

I can’t help but laugh at that. Marko’s got a point. He’s as good as they come in the mob, but he’s no fucking saint. He hurts guys when he has to and he fucks around on his wife all the time. He’s still a good father and husband, but he’s got a darkness to him,

I guess I do too. But I’m trying to get better, for Alexa and the baby.

“So what are you doing here?” I ask him.

He looks a little nervous and puts his drink down. “Look, I’ve been hearing shit about your dad.”

“They finally gonna kill him?”

He meets my gaze. “Probably.”

That surprises me. It shouldn’t, but it does. I always thought Buddy has infinite do-overs and that he’d be forgiven anything eventually. Even this didn’t feel insurmountable.

But if you add it all up… it makes sense. Buddy’s more of a liability to them than anything else.

“He’s the mayor,” I say. “How the fuck can they murder the mayor?”

“They’ve got ways,” Marko says, looking away. “Make it seem like an accident or some shit.”

“Fuck,” I drink half my beer down and lean against a workbench. “When?”

“Don’t know,” he says. “The decision hasn’t been made yet, but it’s a strong possibility, you know?”

“Sure,” I grunt. I don’t love my father, but I also don’t want to see him killed. “What now?”

“Now you really gotta skip town,” he says. “I don’t think they’ll kill you too, but they’ll definitely hurt you. Maybe steal all your shit, as payback, I don’t know. Sometimes that sort of thing goes bad.”

He gives me a meaningful look and I know what he’s saying. If I’m around when they come to shake me down again, some asshole psycho like Jimmy might blow my brains out by mistake, or maybe just for fun.

“I can’t go anywhere,” I say.

He sighs. “I knew you’d say that.”

“No, it’s for a good reason this time.” I hesitate, not sure if I should tell him, but I go forward anyway. I trust Marko. I have to. “I got a girl pregnant.”

He looks surprised. “No shit?”

“No shit,” I echo. “Her name’s Alexa. She works in my dad’s office, actually.”

“Huh.” He shakes his head and laughs. “All the bitches you’ve fucked and this is the one you knock up, now of all times?”

“Apparently it was a one-in-a-million chance,” I say. “She got in some accident, doctor said she could never have kids.”

“And now she’s pregnant.” He shakes his head again. “Fuck. Bad luck.”

“Maybe, or maybe it’s good luck.”

“What the hell do you mean?”

I shrug a little. “Look around here, man. What do you see?”

“A sick ass shop run by a baller entrepreneur.”

“I see a lonely garage full of motorcycles and no joy.”

He groans a little bit. “You think becoming a family man’s gonna make you happy?”

“No,” I say. “I don’t. But I think being with Alexa and trying to be a better father than Buddy was might.”

He watches me for a second. “Yeah, well, still fucked up timing.”

“Yeah, fucked up timing.”

We both drink in silence until our beers are done. I can feel the weight of that conversation now, hanging over my head.

“I can’t change your mind?” he asks.

“Sorry,” I say. “Can’t leave her.”

“What if you convince her to come, too?”

“Maybe. But I doubt she will. She wants to put the baby up for adoption, and I’m convincing her to keep it.”

“This shit’s all sorts of fucked,” he says and stands up. “Speaking of that, I better get home.”

“Wife doesn’t know you’re out late?”

“Sure, she knows, just not where.” He grins and winks at me, and I figure he was just at his girlfriend’s place. “I’ll keep my ear to the ground for you, but man, you better play it safe. Got it? If they come… give them whatever they want. Don’t fucking fight.”

He stares at me as he says those last words. He knows me so fucking well. If all this happened before Alexa, I would fight, no matter what. I would never let some guys try and come take what’s mine.

Except now the only thing I really want is her and the baby. So they can have my bikes, my money, my life. I don’t give a shit about that, as long as I can have her.

“I won’t,” I say.

“Good. See you later then.” He nods and leaves the shop without another word.

I stand there, watching him go, and sigh to myself. Of course this is all so much more complicated than I ever wanted, but that’s just how shit goes for me. People think being Buddy’s son is a blessing, but it’s really a fucking curse.

I’ll just do what I’ve always done. Work hard and find a way to get what I want, no matter what.