Chapter 21
Kennedy
It was a Monday, but thankfully, it was over. I’d been working extra hard the past couple of weeks. I wanted to get ahead of all my projects before it was time to go on maternity leave.
My manager, Keith, had graciously been super nice about the news. He was happy with the work I was doing these past months. He’d already promised me that I could take as much time off work that I needed, and then I’d have my job waiting for me when I was ready to come back.
It was nearly six and the office was pretty much empty by now. I’d already texted Nico and told him I’d be an hour late returning home. These days, if I didn’t let him know of my whereabouts, he always got anxious. It was like the closer my due date got, the more worried Nico was getting.
It was sweet. I could sense that he was going to be a good, protective father, but now I was beginning to worry about him too. It seemed like he was bringing his work troubles home more often these days.
“Don’t work too hard,” Keith rapped on my cubicle window before he walked away.
“I promise you I won’t,” I replied with a laugh as I started putting my things away. When I looked up, I saw that my office floor was entirely empty. I was the only one left now.
“Your mommy is a busy bee, isn’t she?” I was speaking to myself, as I rubbed my belly. I could feel the baby growing inside me. I was speaking to it more often now…dreaming about what it was going to look like.
I deposited all my things in my purse and looked around for my phone. It wasn’t on my desk.
“Where is it!” I exclaimed aloud and yanked open the top drawer of my desk. My phone was lying there neatly, even though I was certain I’d not put it there. I lifted it up with my brows crossed, and when I did; I saw the note underneath it.
“What…” I whispered and picked it up.
It was a small piece of paper, with a typed up message in the middle of it.
We know about the baby.
That was all it said. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and a sudden chill ran down my bones. I felt like I was being watched.
I swiveled in my chair to look. There was still nobody there on the floor. My breathing was harsh. My throat was dry. I was imagining hearing approaching footsteps.
I tried to get my phone to work but I saw that it was drained of its battery.
“Shit. Shit. Shit!” I mumbled as I threw it in my bag and lifted up the office landline on my desk. I dialed Nico’s number and he answered immediately.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said. I could sense he was driving.
“I need you to come and get me from the office. Right now. Right fucking now, Nico!” I screamed.
“Kennedy, what is going on? Stay where you are. I’m coming over. Five minutes!” he growled and I hung up the phone.
I looked around again. There was nobody there. Those footsteps I’d imagined had disappeared too. Was I going crazy? Was this just a hallucination? That note was still there on my desk. It was as real as I was.
The next five minutes passed by painfully slowly.
Nico came running out of the elevators and found me cowering at my desk.
“Kennedy! What happened? Are you okay?” I was in his arms within moments and finally I felt like I could breathe again. I nodded my head but kept my face buried in his shoulders.
“Tell me what happened,” he said and I looked over at the note on my desk. Nico pulled away from me and picked up the note. I watched as he read it and then balled it up and threw it to the floor. His face had darkened. I could see the rage in his eyes.
“What does it mean, Nico? What’s happening?” I asked, with tears brimming in my eyes. Nico caught my hand and grabbed my bag and started to lead me away.
I followed him. We didn’t take the elevator this time, and instead rushed down the stairs. I was still choking up, but grateful for his presence. As long as Nico was here, nothing would happen to me or the baby, I thought.
What was happening?
I’d ignored Nico’s pleas for so long, because I just thought he was overreacting. I assumed he was just being an overly protective father. That he was tired of his life in Seattle and wanted to move and start afresh. I’d never expected this. I didn’t think our lives were in any real danger! Even Ava had stopped warning me about the Rossi family by now.
We burst out of the office building and ran to where he’d parked the car. Once we were sitting inside, Nico looked at me. He still had that anger bubbling inside him.
“Are you okay?” he asked and I nodded my head.
“I’m fine now. I was just in shock I think. I thought I was being watched,” I said.
Nico punched the dashboard with his fist and startled me. I gasped and clutched my throat in shock. I wasn’t expecting him to do that. I’d never seen him take out his anger like that before.
“Sorry, Kennedy, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just…” he said and let out a growl of frustration.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked at me. Nico’s eyes were bloodshot. He looked like a man who was capable of anything. Was he carrying a gun? He could be armed. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? Why hadn’t I tried to get to know that part of his life?
All these months that we’d spent together…that we’d lived together, and I’d ignored his other life. It should have been my duty, a part of my responsibility to share his burden. Instead, I’d continued living blissfully unaware of all the things he was involved in. I didn’t know he was going through this alone.
“Nico, please tell me, I want to know now,” I said.
He fixed his gaze on me, clenching his jaws tightly.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Someone threatened my baby. I need to know!” I snapped.
“My father…our family. The Rossi family, has pissed off a lot of people,” he said.
I crossed my brows and shook my head.
“Pissed off? Doing what?”
“It’s not just a simple construction business that we’re involved in, Kennedy. We launder money and practice extortion of cash. That’s how the Rossi family’s made all its money and gained its power. My father is somewhat of a criminal mastermind,” Nico was speaking, but his voice sounded like a buzz in my ears.
“Extortion? In a violent way?” I asked.
Nico simply stared at me, he didn’t reply. But that was all the answer that I needed from him. I looked away and out of the car window.
“People want revenge,” I said.
I felt his hand on my knee.
“I’ve been trying to change my father’s mind. I want the business to go legit and stop all the vengeance and the bloodshed. But he is not the kind of man who considers other people’s opinions,” Nico continued.
I looked at him with my nostrils flared. I hated this man already. I hated Nico’s father even though I’d never met him.
“He’s power drunk,” I said and Nico nodded his head.
“We’ve been receiving threats like these for several months now. They’ve already killed a few of our associates. I know they’re going to come after us hard, it’s only a matter of time. I was trying to keep you a secret, keep our baby away from all this. I figured that if they didn’t know I was going to be a father, they wouldn’t be able to hurt me that way,” Nico explained.
His words were like poison to my ears. All this time, even though I knew that the Rossi family didn’t deal in a clean simple business, I’d refused to think about what exactly it was they were involved in. I believed that Nico would keep us safe. Ava had said it herself; Nico was a reasonable man.
Now I knew that it was out of his hands. His father had already decided his fate for him.
“Kennedy, I’m sorry. This was why I didn’t want to start anything serious with you. I was afraid for your safety,” Nico said and I caught his hands in mine.
“I’m ready to leave Seattle. I’m ready to go whenever you are,” I said.
Nico gulped as he stared at me and then nodded his head. I could see that he was relieved.