Ryder opened his eyes and blinked. He rubbed them and squinted, but there was so little light in the room. He could barely make out anything, and his head throbbed with pain. He pushed himself up from the cement floor where he’d been sleeping and realized that his entire body ached, too.

 

Pain shot from his chest, his stomach, his hips. His face felt swollen and just blinking too hard hurt. They’d beat him good. Assholes. Barge in on a man lying there naked with no protection and give him no chance to defend himself. Nice. Cowards.

 

As soon as he had that thought, his next thought was Pia. Where was she? Had they hurt her in any way? And if they had, someone would pay. He’d make sure of it. That baby better be just fine, too. He’d already decided to kill these people. Now he had a reason.

 

“Morning, sleeping beauty.”

 

Ryder craned his neck slowly up and recognized Lorenzo.

 

“You stupid idiot,” Lorenzo said, laughing. “How could you think getting involved with the boss’s daughter was a good idea?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Come on. We found you in the hotel room with her, naked. You’re really going to try to deny that you fucked her?”

 

Ryder didn’t say anything. They had him cornered. He couldn’t lie his way out of this. They had caught him almost literally in the act.

 

Lorenzo shook his head. “Man. I’ve never seen Matteo so pissed.”

 

“That so?” Ryder tried to blow the whole thing off like it was no big deal. Didn’t want to show the fear building in his gut.

 

“We had to talk him out of killing you. You’re lucky that so many of his guys look up to you. Don’t know why, but they seem to like you.”

 

He’d done a lot for all of those guys, that was why. But Lorenzo didn’t need to know that. They were all like a team. Despite what Lorenzo said, he didn’t really believe Matteo wouldn’t kill him. He would always be looking for that, expecting that.

 

“What’s the plan, then?” Ryder asked. Better to get it over with, right?

 

“The plan is you’re going to end things with Pia, then you’re going to stay very far away from her.”

 

Ryder huffed, but his stomach dropped. That was not an option for him. But it did sound like maybe they didn’t know about the baby. That was a good thing.

 

“Matteo has agreed to let you go and not kill you. But you’ll be out of work, I guess. Better than dead, right? Honestly, you should count yourself lucky. No one ever gets out of the mafia alive. But, you got to bang the boss’s daughter, then get away with it, and get out of the mob without being killed. Pretty lucky, indeed.”

 

Lorenzo crossed his arms and looked down at Ryder.

 

“Yup.”

 

Lorenzo’s phone buzzed and he looked down at it. “Oh good,” he said to himself. Then, he turned to face Ryder head on. He reached down and yanked him hard to his feet.

 

Ryder used the momentum to push up. Lorenzo was strong, but not strong enough to lift him if he didn’t help.

 

“So, what’s it going to be?” Lorenzo asked. “If I take you in there to see her, are you going to end things and stay far away from her? You’d have to leave town, stay far away from all of us. Or else Matteo might cross your path and change his mind.”

 

“Why in the world would I agree to that?”

 

“If your life isn’t that important to you, you should know that Pia is promised to another man. The name Paolo Solano mean anything to you?”

 

It did. Big time. Solano was a huge name in the mob world. Known for being a complete asshole, too. And Matteo was going to give his daughter to that beast? The man known for slapping women around, for sleeping around, for killing ruthlessly, and for being all around rude.

 

The rage tore into his chest. Good thing Matteo hadn’t come to do this himself. Ryder might have ripped his limbs from his body. Maybe that was exactly why he wasn’t here. He knew Ryder could overpower him, could kill him easily if he tried. Even without his guns and knives.

 

But Ryder didn’t react to Lorenzo’s words.

 

“You know, the big mob boss?” Lorenzo asked. “So, let me paint this picture for you. If Solano finds out you’ve been banging his future wife, he’s not going to be too happy. Matteo might let you live, but no one’s going to convince Solano to do the same. Not only that, he might take out his anger on Pia. I don’t think she can handle much physical abuse, if you know what I mean.” Lorenzo patted him on the shoulder. “It’s really for her safety that you’re doing this. I’d hate to think little Pia would face the wrath of Solano all because of you.”

 

Ryder’s head was starting to spin. It wasn’t all from what Lorenzo was saying, though that was hard enough. His injuries were severe and standing too long hurt. He needed to sit down. Maybe put his head between his knees to stop his ears from ringing.

 

“I might add, too.” Lorenzo leaned in to whisper. “If Matteo knows that you messed up this thing with Solano, he’s not going to be too happy with either of you. And he didn’t want me to tell you this, but he told me he’d take Pia out because he couldn’t have the shame of having a slutty daughter who was rejected by such a big mob name.”

 

How could a father honestly do that to his own daughter? Something was seriously wrong with this man. Ryder didn’t even have a baby, just the promise of one, and he already felt so protective of this child that he was willing to risk his life. Yet, here was Matteo, ready to off his own daughter out of shame. What a monster. If he’d been wavering before, he was sure now. He would kill Matteo. No matter what happened with Pia, he would take him out for her sake. Her life would be better without such a horrible father who didn’t love her like he should.

 

Ryder thought he was actually going to puke. He was going to have to make it look like he was ending things with Pia. Which meant it would have to be believable. If it wasn’t, Lorenzo would know. But this would keep her safe, he reminded himself. No matter how badly it hurt to say the words he was about to say, he had to do it and do it well. It would only be temporary.

 

He didn’t know how temporary, but he would kill who he had to kill and come get her and they would be safe and be together. He just hoped that she would realize what he was doing. That she would know in her core that he wouldn’t leave her like this. That he would never end things. That he wouldn’t abandon her and their child. Never.

 

But if she didn’t believe him, would Lorenzo? It was starting to make his brain hurt, and his stomach was so tight he wasn’t sure he could walk. He didn’t want to have to look in her eyes and say what needed to be said. But he also saw no way around it.

 

It would be okay, he told himself. Even if she believed him, whatever pain it would cause her would only be for a short time. Then it would all be over. She’d be relieved to have him back and know he never meant it. And then they’d be happy.

 

Lorenzo took out his gun and pointed it at Ryder’s head. “We’re going in there and there are two ways this is going to go down. Either you’re going to break up with her and everyone lives, or you decide to do something even stupider than what you’ve already done, and you end up dead. Got it?”

 

Ryder nodded once.

 

“Okay.” He nudged Ryder’s shoulder with his gun. “Walk.”