I stop my bike outside of Alexa’s apartment and for a second, I think I might be making a mistake.

She hasn’t responded to me in a couple of days now. I’m not sure why, but I can probably make some guesses as to why she’d stop talking to me so abruptly. I hate that she’s suddenly deciding to ditch out on me, but I’m not going to take it just lying down.

Plus, I need to make sure she’s okay. After those two fucking mafia goons tossed my shop, I know shit’s heating up. Alexa is involved in this, or at least she’s related to me somehow. If Raymond’s people saw me with her, they might make the connection and go after her. I can’t let them use her against me.

But most importantly, she’s pregnant with my baby, and I need to make sure I take care of her. That’s all there is to it. She’s mine and so is her baby, and she has to come to grips with that.

I head over to her building and go to ring her bell, but one of her neighbors steps out. I smile at the old guy and grab the door before it can shut. I slip inside and head down the hall, up the steps, and stop outside of her apartment door.

I knock loudly then wait. She takes a minute before she answers, clearly surprised to hear someone knocking. She’s wearing yoga pants and an old beat-up t-shirt, and her hair’s pulled back into a messy little bun.

“Oh,” she says, blinking.

I smirk at her. “Surprise.”

“Elias.” She looks nervous for some reason, and I’m suddenly even more suspicious. “What are you doing here?”

“You haven’t been answering me.” I shrug a little. “So I showed up.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.” She looks out her door, glancing both ways down the hall.

“Nobody saw me,” I say to her softly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She takes a breath. “Come in. Hurry.”

She steps back and I follow her in. Her apartment’s this tiny little thing, and I don’t know how she can even fit herself in here. I feel like a giant shoved into a closet.

She walks over to her tiny kitchen, frowning. I follow, arms crossed.

“What happened?” I ask her.

“Nothing,” she says, not looking at me.

“Alexa. You’re clearly freaked out. Did some guys come by here?”

She meets my gaze then shakes her head, “No, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” I say, changing the subject. If it’s not the mafia bothering her then I don’t want to put that in her head. I don’t need her stressing about that on top of everything else. “What’s going on?”

She looks away from me. “Look, you see where I live, right?”

I glance around. “It’s cute.”

“It’s cheap,” she retorts. “I can’t afford better right now. I’m drowning in debt and my job is the only thing keeping me going.”

“Okay,” I say softly. “So this is about work. What did my father do?”

She finally meets my gaze. “Someone saw you dropping me off the other day.”

I nod slowly. “He heard about it.”

“Yes, and he wasn’t happy.”

I sigh and clench my jaw. This isn’t the first time my father decided to fuck with my personal life, just because he can. He’s the mayor of Providence, but he acts like the fucking king of the whole goddamn world. My anger keeps growing as I think about it.

“Did he threaten you?”

“Not exactly,” she admits. “He said you’re trouble, and I’m no good for you.”

“That fucker,” I breathe.

“I can’t risk that job, Elias,” she says. “I know you want to be in my life, and in the baby’s life, but you can’t, okay?”

“I’ll talk to him,” I say. “I can help you.”

“No,” she says firmly. “You’ve helped enough.”

I ball my fists. “That’s my baby,” I say softly. “And you’re mine too, you get it?”

Her eyes go a little wide. “I’m… what?”

“You’re mine, and that baby’s mine. And my fucking father isn’t getting in the way of what I want, you hear me?”

She’s speechless, and I can’t blame her. I’m so angry that I’m not really thinking straight, though. I just turn and leave her apartment, letting the door slam shut behind me.

I hear her hurry to the stairs as I go down. “Wait, Elias,” she calls out. “Stop!”

But I can’t stop. I go out to the street, get on my bike, and pull away. If she follows, I don’t see her, and I don’t care.

I know where he’s going to be. It’s after five, which means he’ll be drinking down at The Albert. My father co-owns the joint, and he named it after my grandfather. It used to be nice until my father stopped pumping money into it, and now it’s just a hole in the wall place where he goes to get wasted with his little pack of followers.

It takes me five minutes to get there. I park out front and head right inside, right into the familiar dim smokiness, the floors sticky, the walls reeking of gin. The bartender looks surprised to see me, and I’m about to ask where my father is, but I spot him at the end of the bar with a pint in his hand.

I walk right up to him. “Why are you fucking with Alexa?” I ask him.

Buddy slowly lowers his drink. “Nice to see you too, son.”

“Don’t give me that shit,” I say, leaning toward him. The whole place is looking at us, and I don’t think I care. A few of these guys are likely connected, maybe dangerous, but I’m too angry to censor myself.

“Sit down,” he says sharply. “Don’t make a scene.”

I pull myself together enough to listen. I sit and I take the beer that the bartender puts in front of me.

“Now, why are you here?” he asks.

“You told Alexa to stop seeing me,” I say to him. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

“I saved the poor girl from you,” he says, laughing. “And I saved you. She’s a nobody. You can do better.”

I clench my jaw. “Fuck you, Buddy. Do you hear that?”

His laughter dies. “I don’t know why you’re so ungrateful all the time. Really, I’ve given you everything.”

“You’ve given me nothing,” I snap. “You’re nothing but a fucking problem I have to solve. Who do you think used to peel you up off the sidewalk when you were too drunk to get home back in the day? That was me and fucking mom.”

He glares. “Don’t talk about your mother.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I forgot you pretend that she was a saint and that you loved her. You were a piece of shit husband and an even worse dad.”

“The fuck is your problem?” he growls at me. There’s the famous Buddy temper, peeking its ugly head out. I know I got that from him, but I can’t help it.

“Leave Alexa alone,” I say to him, staring him down. “Right now, I think I’m the only person in this world that can keep you aboveground.”

“What?” he snaps. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know you owe the mafia eight hundred thousand dollars.”

That shuts him up. His angry smile suddenly leaves his face completely and he turns to his beer. He sips it slowly, not saying anything, and I watch him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Buddy at a loss for words before, but he’s clearly struggling.

Finally, he speaks. “That was a mistake,” he says. “I’m clearing it up.”

“You’re not clearing up shit. They tossed my shop, trying to shake me down for cash. They’re serious this time, Buddy. I’m the only person that gives a fuck enough to keep you alive, but you’re going to ruin that.”

He looks at me, and I think I can see a sadness there that I’ve never noticed before. “You care?” he asks. “Thought you hated me.”

“I do,” I growl. “But you’re still my father, you dumb fuck. So listen to me. Leave Alexa alone.”

He sighs. “You turned out pretty good, huh? I wasn’t so bad.”

“You didn’t do that. Mom made me what I am.”

“Maybe. I helped.”

“Leave Alexa alone,” I repeat. “Do you get it?”

“What’s with this girl, anyway?” he asks, head cocked.

I finish my beer and stand. “She’s pregnant with my baby. Leave her the fuck alone.”

I walk away, and I don’t bother looking back. He can be staring at me, jaw on the floor for all I care, but he better fucking listen.

I wasn’t lying back there. I’m the only person that cares about him enough to try and keep him alive. But if he can’t help himself, and stay away from Alexa, then I’ll let the mob have him. He can rot in the river, for all I fucking care.

Maybe there’s hope for Buddy, but that thought makes me smile. There’s no hope for Buddy. There’s only hope that his selfishness will win out over his stupidity, and he’ll survive another day.