SE7EN: A Single Dad Mafia Romance

by Ann, Bry

  I lean against the railing and start rattling off the story of Cinderella to her. This girl needs less reality in her life. More fairytales. Sometimes we all need less reality.

  I’d give anything to be in front of my Kindle right now.

  Seven slips out of my apartment a few minutes later and closes the door behind him. He looks pissed, but he’s hiding it. Or trying to. Every muscle in his body is coiled.

  Without a word, he leans down, scoops Nia up, and brings her into his chest. She looks so small curled against his vast chest. It immediately makes desire smack me square across the face. Sexually, but also something else. Something that scares the heck out of me.

  I mean, I’m not kidding. I physically jolt at the sensation, flying back into the railing.

  “Isla, Isla, are you okay?”

  I shake my head, trying to breathe.

  “I’m good,” I squeak. “Thanks for checking.”

  I sprint forward toward my front door, desperate to be alone, but Seven’s free hand snakes out and wraps around my middle, stopping me.

  “You can’t go in there.”

  “Let me go, Seven.”

  I squirm against his rough, tan arm. He tightens his grip so much that I’m thrust against his black t-shirt.

  “No.”

  “You’re not my keeper.”

  I duck down out of his hold and he loses grip since he’s holding Nia.

  “Isla, you missed things, hun. You missed things.”

  I freeze, shaking my head.

  “No.”

  “I’m so sorry. We gotta take you somewhere safe.”

  “What about Danny?!”

  “Isla.” He glances at Nia. “Not now.”

  “Where am I supposed to go?” I scream. “Get out! Get OUT! I’m done.”

  Seven whispers something in Nia’s ear. She nods and he sets her down. She stands by a hall wall, in view, while Seven slowly approaches me. Like a deer caught in headlights, I start to scramble backward.

  Slowly, Seven reaches out and catches a hold of my arm. I should scream. I should scream. Why aren’t I?

  His brown eyes dig into me.

  “I don’t want to make this worse for you, but if I don’t tell you, I fear you’re gonna get yourself killed.”

  “Please, don’t say it, Seven. Please. Please.”

  He sighs. “Isla, under your covers was a picture of you. Changing. With a knife stabbed in the center of it.”

  I’m unable to look away from his stern, but sad, brown eyes as mine once again fill with tears. Will it ever stop?

  “I’m so sorry, Isla. I’ll fix this.”

  “I don’t feel good.”

  My name being frantically screamed is the last thing I hear before my world goes black.

  Chapter Eight

  Seven

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  The sound of the IV giving Isla much-needed fluids and electrolytes beeps next to us. After Isla fainted, I scooped her up, got Nia by my side, and rushed back to the mansion. Nia immediately went to her friend, Alex, knowing I needed time to work and help Isla. God, she was so worried about her. The whole time, her eyes were darting around wildly, wanting to do something to help Isla.

  She’s such a good kid. I need to spend more time with her.

  Boss looks down at Isla’s form as she softly breathes. Even in her sleep, she looks distressed.

  “This is such a mess,” Boss sighs.

  “I know, Boss.”

  I swallow the lump of guilt in my throat. Boss side-eyes me.

  “I don’t blame you, Seven.”

  I ignore him. I blame myself.

  “Any suggestions on how to approach this, Seven?”

  “We need to start with Danny.”

  “Danny,” Boss scowls. I can tell he really doesn’t give a fuck what happens to some random dude right now, but he respects me enough to let me continue.

  “From what I’ve gathered, Danny is Isla’s weakness. With Danny in danger, she won’t do anything we say. Create a plan to keep Danny safe, and she’ll work with us.”

  “Alright. We need her to cooperate with us, Seven. Not just so we can keep her safe, but I need to know who’s threatening you. A threat to you is a threat to all of us.”

  “I know, Boss.”

  “I know you like her, Seven.”

  My gaze swings to him. He’s smiling a little. “She’s kind, beautiful, and she has that same gut instinct to protect children at all costs that you do. I get it. You know I get it. But we can’t let dicks, or dear God please, hearts get in the way of this. With the threat to my kids last year, and now yours, I have a bad feeling. You have so much self-control, just please, hold off. Keep things professional between you two ‘til this case is over. No matter what I ask of you.”

  I can’t hide the scowl from my face.

  “I don’t have feelings for her, Boss.”

  He snorts. “Yes, robot. I’m just getting ahead of a situation I see occurring.”

  “Yes, Boss,” I grit out. He slaps my back.

  “Back to Danny.”

  “I have an idea, but it’s—”

  “Ughh…” We both snap to the left when we hear Isla groaning. Boss jumps to his feet.

  “I’ll be back in a minute. I don’t wanna scare her more than she’s already gonna be.”

  I nod. My heart is dreading what’s coming. She’s gonna be so afraid. My brain fights to go back to that day.

  The day I woke up, chained with men in black masks surrounding me. I squeeze the flesh on my thigh as hard as I can to ground myself as I count to ten in my head.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  I’m here. Safe. I’m good. I’m good.

  I open my eyes to help the woman who’s about to experience very similar feelings to the one in my nightmares.

  “Ugh, I feel like I cracked my head open.”

  She didn’t crack it open, but she did smack her head hella hard on the railing before I caught her.

  “Danny.”

  I squeeze my eyes. She’s gonna flip.

  “Danny?”

  She slowly opens her eyes. She lifts her arm to rub her probably throbbing head and freezes when the IV tugs at her skin.

  “Don’t panic, Isla.”

  She stills like she’s playing dead and if she doesn’t move, I won’t see her.

  “You fainted, Isla. You had severe dehydration and low electrolytes. Your blood pressure fell too low from that and the stress of everything.”

  “Where am I?” she breathes, closing her eyes and slowly lowering her arm.

  “In a safe place.”

  She shakes her head wildly, which has got to only make the pain in her head worse.

  “Isla, I promise. Our doctor took a look at you and—”

  “I AM A DOCTOR!”

  She sits up, wobbles a little, but pretends she doesn’t, and proceeds to rip the IV out of her arm as if to show me she’s qualified to do that.

  “Isla.” I place my hand on her little thighs. “Please, look at me.”

  She continues to glower at the ground, biting her lip. She’s actually adorable when she’s being stubborn.

  “Anyone told you that you work too much?”

  “Anyone told you to stay out of other people's lives?”

  I cock my head. “Since it was my daughter threatened, I feel I have a place in all this.”

  She winces, but I see her resolve weakening. Her lip starts to shake, her tell, and her eyes become shimmery.

  “You can cry, Isla. You’re safe, but it is scary waking up somewhere unfamiliar, in pain and confused.”

  She nods her head, fighting so stupidly hard to get herself under control, to not cry. I’m trying to conjure up some new form of comfort or the right thing to say when Isla, literally, face plants into my chest. It throws me so off guard that I stiffen for a moment before slowly, tentatively, wrapping an arm around her tiny body heaving against me.

  She’s hysterical. She grips on
to me for dear life, tucking her legs up so the entirety of her is curled up in my lap in a little ball.

  “Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

  I rock her a bit, like I do Nia when she has nightmares she can’t talk about.

  “Nothing’s gonna happen to you or your friend, okay?”

  She cries harder.

  “Shh, hun. Shhh.”

  I stroke her back until her hysterical crying turns to sobs, then sniffles. When she pulls away from me after a good amount of time spent curled up against my chest, she looks at me, eyes red rimmed and swollen, cheeks streaked with tears and makeup, and with wild hair from her fall. As she stares into my eyes and is brought back to reality, her cheeks start to flame.

  “Oh… God. I’m so… I’m such an idiot,” she rambles, tumbling over her words, but yet, not moving from her spot on my legs. “I didn’t mean to literally… tackle you.”

  I snort. Yeah, really, all 110 lbs. of her really took it out of me. She glances down at my shirt and starts to frantically wipe at it.

  “I got snot all over you. I’m so gross. I’m so sorry.”

  Wipe. Wipe. Wipe.

  I snatch her wrist and harshly bite out her name to get her attention. “Isla!”

  She freezes, looking up at me with those clear hazel eyes that stop me in my tracks. It’s in this moment, my hand on hers, her eyes boring into me, vulnerable and afraid, that Boss walks in.

  “Oh,” is all he says, raising an eyebrow at me. Before I can do anything to fix how this looks (or is?), Isla is tumbling backward off of me onto the carpet. I try to grab her, but like a scared animal, she crawls backward and smashes up against the wall behind her.

  “My daughter’s in the hall, Isla,” Boss continues, like Isla isn’t on the floor, a shaking, huddled mess. “She heard we had a new woman here. She’d love to meet you.”

  Isla stops shaking and looks up at Boss with snot dribbling down her chin.

  “Really?”

  He nods, forcing his eyes to be soft when I know he’s not feeling it right now.

  “My wife, too. You’ll like her.”

  Isla slowly starts to stand, wobbling a bit. He gives me a chin lift and I already know what to do. I grab my phone and start texting the chef to bring water, Pedialyte, and a well-balanced meal up here for Isla.

  “If you’re sure it’s okay,” she mumbles.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Can I get cleaned up first?”

  Boss smirks a little, because she’s looking down and can’t see him.

  “Of course. Do you need anything?”

  Isla glances around, sees the bathroom, and shakes her head no.

  “No, thank you,” she whispers.

  “Okay, I’ll send them in in a minute.”

  Boss heads for the door and turns back.

  “Isla, you really are safe here. I’ll handle everything. Just do as Seven says and it’ll all be over before you know it. Back to normal.”

  With that, he leaves, and I swear I see Isla look down, confused and disappointed. Like she’s unsure if she wants her life to go back to normal.

  * * *

  Thump. Thump. Thump. My knuckles rap on the door of Danny’s apartment. I hear laughing before the door is thrown open by a skinny guy in a rainbow-colored t-shirt. Danny’s arm is wrapped around him with the biggest smile on his face before it dies when he sees me.

  I’ve been having that effect a lot lately.

  Danny throws the kid, must be Frank, off him and scowls at me.

  “What the fuck are you doing here? Where’s Isla?”

  “I don’t know. I assume at home.”

  I cock an eyebrow as I begin to spin the web of lies Boss and I created to keep Danny safe and out of Isla’s way.

  He grumbles. “I don’t want you here. I know you had something to do with what happened to Isla. I’m not an idiot. That’s my girl,” he snarls.

  “I get it,” I say simply. “Truly do, but we need to talk.”

  “I have nothing to say to you. Get off my doorstep before I call the cops like I should have done in the first damn place.”

  I think he’s done, but then he riles himself back up again.

  “If it wasn’t for how scared Isla is, I would have called the cops on you and those bastards yesterday.”

  “I get it, Dan.” Somehow, I doubt he’d be pleased with me calling him Danny. “I get it.”

  “Stay away from her!”

  “Fine. Can I talk to you now?”

  His lips pull together in a tight-lipped smile.

  “Oh yeah, come on in. I’d love to have you.”

  His sarcasm is obvious. So, obviously, this guy Dan has a darker side he doesn’t show the people he loves.

  “What?” he barks the second I walk in, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “They threatened you.”

  “What?” he hisses.

  “The men who hurt Isla threatened you. I’m here as a courtesy.”

  He doesn’t look at all afraid. He looks… concerned.

  “How did you find out? Did they contact Isla again?”

  He’s already reaching for his phone. Witnessing his concern for her makes my heart do something weird. Nia fills the hole in which that jealousy used to reside.

  “Danny, wait. Don’t call Isla. You’ll scare her.”

  Danny’s hand pauses over the phone. He shakes his head and sets it back in his pocket.

  “Alright, I’d prefer not to die.”

  His boyfriend, Frank, looks closer to a panic attack than Danny does. Sensing it, Danny pulls Frank into his side and wraps his arm around him. He plants a kiss on his forehead before turning to me.

  “So, what, you’re some kind of criminal?”

  “I’m ex-military.”

  Not a lie. Just not the whole truth.

  “I adopted my daughter recently. She comes from a pretty shitty background.”

  “Aw shit, man, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s alright, but I need you to listen to me. To keep you and Isla safe, I need to get her out of town. Off the grid. I can show you my badges and medals if you’d like. If Isla’s gone, they won’t fuck with you. It’s only if she’s here, because they know you’re her weakness.”

  Danny doesn’t like it. I can tell.

  “Can’t abandon Isla, man. It’s simply not an option. It’s always me and her, and this being the scariest time of her life…” He shakes his head. “When I met Isla, she was literally raising herself. Her dad threw her the odd paycheck once in a while for food, but it was rare. He was an alcoholic, but Isla’s still in denial about it. Her mom left her. I won’t leave her too. Not after what happened to her. I won’t do it. I don’t care if it’s dangerous for me.”

  Wow… he’s a great guy. Frank swoons next to him. Fuck, if I were gay, I’d fucking swoon, too.

  “Get it, man,” I whisper, “but this is her life on the line, too. They trashed her apartment.”

  He freezes. Eyes firing up. I didn’t want to tell him this, but he’s gonna need more convincing than I anticipated.

  “Excuse me,” he hisses. “When?”

  “Last night.”

  “I TALKED TO ISLA LAST NIGHT!” he roars.

  “You were threatened. She lied to you.”

  “Fucking hell!” he screams, spinning and yanking on the ends of his hair. “I have to see her. I have to see her, man. That’s my sister.”

  “Hey!”

  I grab him by the shoulders.

  “I need two weeks. Two weeks to keep you both safe.”

  “I can’t abandon Isla.”

  “I’ll tell her I talked to you. Trust me, she’ll be relieved you’re safe. She’s freaking the fuck out.”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  I straighten up and meet his eyes.

  “Because you both will die if you don’t.”

  Chapter Nine

  Isla

  My face is cleaned off, snot gone, hair brushed. My eyes
are still swollen. The makeup’s gone from my cheek, so the blue and purple swelling there is out in the open, but that man everyone calls “Boss” swears that his wife and daughter won’t be bothered by my appearance, so I stand here, fidgeting.

  The door is pushed open without so much as a sound, and in walks a woman with dark blonde hair and steel grey eyes. She’s covered head to toe in black and has a nervous but certain look on her face. Next to her is a wad of curls, big eyes, and the biggest smile in the world. Her daughter is beautiful.

  “Hi, my name is Lacey. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  Lacey extends a hand that’s shaking a bit. Before I can shake it, the little girl pipes in.

  “And I’m Rose!”

  She beams at me.

  “You’re Iwsa.”

  I crouch down.

  “It’s so good to meet you, Rose.”

  She skips my hand altogether and wraps me in a big hug. I glance at her mom. She’s giggling lightly.

  “Rose, maybe it’s a little soon for a hug.”

  Rose lets go and huffs at her mom.

  “I’m being nwice.”

  “I know, but Ms. Isla wasn’t ready for a hug.”

  I’m always ready for a hug, but I’d never interrupt a parent’s lesson. Not to mention the doctor in me is having the hardest time not asking about her lisp. I don’t know her age yet, but she should be past it.

  “Ugh, Mom,” she grumbles.

  I raise my eyebrows.

  “How old is she?”

  “Nine. Ten this year. It’s crazy. I-I can’t believe it.” Lacey looks at her daughter, sentimental. “Time flies. Luckily, my son is only a year, so I still have one baby.”

  “Aww, what’s his name?”

  Lacey beams. “Wulfric. We all call him Wulf or Wulfie.”

  “Oh my gosh, that’s adorable.”

  “Actually,” Lacey says carefully, “he’s out in the hall with my friend Sage. I’d love for you to meet them, but absolutely no pressure. I was thinking either we or all of us could watch some Netflix, and I think Seven is having some food brought up for you.”

  “Oh.” My cheeks heat. “You guys don’t have to do that. Trust me,” I laugh, “with my work schedule, suppressed hunger cues are a regular thing.”