The Mafia's Babies by Kaycee Romano (little readers TXT) 📕

To her, none of the men and women who pined over her mattered. She was a fuck and flee sort of person and she never cared. But talking about Mateo, talking about his feelings for him in such a casual way, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, Jacqueline realized that her best friend also felt something for the father of her children to some extent.

"You like him." She grinned. It was her Chesire cat grin again. River wondered if her cheeks didn't hurt from grinning so wide.

River gave her a flat look. Her best friend had gone cuckoo.

"I know I like him. What is there to not like about him?" River rolled her eyes as she continued to devour her muffin. She would have moaned out loud if she hadn't controlled herself - it was that good.

Jacqueline shook her head. That was not the kind of emotion she was talking about.

"You, my dear friend, feel something you have never felt before, towards that Italian work of art."

River narrowed her eyes at her best friend.

Italian work of art? Is that what Jacqueline and probably Alison were calling her baby daddy?

River didn't know the feeling that gnawed at the pit of her stomach when she heard her best friend address Mateo the way she did but she did know that she did not like the feeling at all.

"I don't know what you are talking about." She said. "Nor am I interested in this conversation."

It was Jacqueline's turn to roll her eyes and she looked sideways, her heart picking up rate when she saw a man that she swore she saw when River had come in the afternoon to finish off the paperwork.

On any other day, Jacqueline wouldn't have thought too much into the matter but since Mateo Adesso coming into her best friend's life and all the drama that followed, she really was not going to take anything for coincidence.

She scooted closer to her best friend and then whispered as she stared at the street below. "There's a man right behind us who I saw at the hospital this afternoon."

River took a peek and smiled. It wasn't some suspicious guy. It was just her bodyguard, Victor.

"Oh well, it's not like this hospital belongs to us." River was in a playful mood and she planned to mess with her best friend for a short while.

Jacqueline looked over at the orthopedic surgeon disbelievingly. One would think that she learnt her lessons from all that had happened in the past couple of months. Then again, wasn't River a very careful person who never fell prey to anything that easily?

Then why the hell was she acting like this?

Did being with Mateo and the security he provided make her lose some brain cells?

River, on the other hand, could not let the façade going for any longer. She knew to lie when necessary but this was her best friend and the expression she was making was way too hilarious. So the orthopedic surgeon burst out laughing, much to the confusion of the nurse.

River turned in her seat and gestured to Victor to come over.

"Victor, this is my best friend Jacqueline and Jacqueline, this is my bodyguard Victor." River lowered her voice as she introduced the two people.

"Nice to meet you Ma'am." Victor was a gentleman, and he made Jacqueline's heart skip a beat.

"Same goes for you... Victor." She said bashfully.

River raised a brow - this was the first time she had seen her best friend so nervous around a man after her break up five years ago.

She made a mental note to add these two to her potential couples list along with Adam and Alessia. A smile made its way to her face when she realized that the two pairs were bound to end up together because well, the surgeon was never wrong about anything.

.

.

.

It was half past ten when his over-excited twins went to sleep. And Mateo was the happiest man in the world. He was so glad to be back home. Home where his children and River were.

He was so angry at himself for what he had told River, and he knew that no matter how nice she behaved with him, River was going to hold a grudge for a long long time and she had every right. He was willing to be on the receiving end of her anger because he knew that he deserved it. He had crossed the line in his fit of rage and jealousy, and he knew that he had hurt the woman he loved in the process.

He knew that the relationship between him and River were progressing and it was only a matter of time before he got what he wanted - a complete family with River.

He was going to make her his lawfully wedded wife. And he was going to be the husband of the most amazing woman he had met in his life.

He just hoped that the pig-headed orthopedic surgeon felt the same way for him, because he knew that as much as he would respect her decision, he would be the happiest man on earth if she felt the same way towards him, and somewhere in his mind he knew that she indeed had feelings for him.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Michelia said as she sat down next to him on the balcony couch, handing him a glass of mixed fruit juice while sipping on her own. It was a moonless night, the sky embedded with a million stars, shining like the city lights below.

"You are going to get a cousin in law soon." Mateo smiled as he gratefully took the drink. How times had changed! Michelia had always been the kind to bring out beer for any occasion and now she had resorted to fruit juice, because that's what she could drink while she was feeding her little boy.

Michelia returned her good friend's smile when she heard that.

She absolutely adored River Johnson and she would be one of the happiest people alive when the two of them finally got married.

Mateo sighed and then said, "She doesn't want to concentrate on our relationship now. There is too much on our plates already."

Michelia nodded in understanding. There really was too much on everyone's plate right now.