Cruel Betrayals (Savannah Sharks Hockey and Mafia #3)

Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

ALEXANDRA

It’s been an extremely quiet six weeks. There has been no word from Giuseppe Rossi or any of his men. The Emerald City Reapers also seem to be under the radar at the moment.

It feels almost too good to be true, almost like we won the battle, but we still have to fight the war.

Francesca’s cousin, Angelica, has been monitoring the Rossi residence in New York, hoping to get a clue about what is going on. She hasn’t seen or heard anything since the guys attacked the Rossi estate down here.

Something big is going to happen. I can feel it in my gut. I just hope it doesn’t happen today because Joseph and I are going to find out the sex of our baby, and then we are going to attend our baby shower.

“Alexandra?” the medical assistant calls from the doorway.

Joseph and I stand and follow her to the ultrasound room.

“You can get comfortable. I’ll let the doctor know you are ready.” She leaves and closes the door behind her.

“Thank you.” I say as I climb up on the bed with Joseph’s help and lie back.

He drags one chair closer to my side. “Do you need me to get anything? Are you comfortable? Thirsty?”

I chuckle and grab his hand. “I’m fine, Joseph.”

His phone chimes with a text.

“If that’s your sister, tell her we don’t know the gender yet. Geez, I’ve never met someone so persistent.”

“My cousin Angelica is practically Francesca’s twin. She will probably come down for Franny’s wedding. You’ll get to meet her then and see for yourself.”

He glances down at his phone. “It’s Spencer, letting me know that the community center is completely decorated from top to bottom and guests will be arriving in thirty minutes.”

“How did they decorate it so fast?”

“I would assume Francesca and Savannah recruited the entire team and directed them to what they wanted.”

That would make sense. They are a force to be reckoned with.

Joseph’s phone chimes in rapid succession. He spins it around to show me the pictures Spencer had just sent.

There is a giant pink, blue, and white balloon arch in front of the community center’s double doors. Inside, there are balloons and streamers everywhere. Food, drinks, and desserts cover three rectangle tables, and in the corner is a present table that is already stacked high with presents.

“Oh my God. Where am I going to fit all those presents? My tiny condo will be full of baby stuff.”

“There are plenty of rooms at home. If you would give it a second thought.”

I sigh. I really don’t want to have this conversation again. “I like my condo. It’s my own place, and it’s right on the water near your uncle’s restaurant.”

I moved out of Arturo’s apartment two days after my date with Joseph. He begged me to just move into the house with him, but I felt weird about things. I needed to get my own place, somewhere that is in my name.

That way, no matter what happens, no one can ever take it away from me. I’ll never be homeless again because my condo is paid in full.

He stands and leans closer to me to look me in the eye. “Like I told you a dozen times before, I’ll never disown you or the baby again. You and the baby will always have a room at my house. I am so sorry for making you feel like you can’t trust me. I’ll never forgive myself for putting you through that.”

“I know that, Joseph, but it’s your father’s house.”

“And? He’s head over heels with the baby already. He started renovating one of the guest bedrooms with its own ensuite for the baby.”

“The baby won’t need its own bathroom for several years.”

“I guess he figured if you stayed in there while the baby was young, you’d use it.”

“Yeah, I guess that-”

A knock on the door cuts our conversation off.

“Alexandra?” The doctor opens the door and shakes Joseph’s hand. “Are you ready to see the baby?”

I grin. “More than ready.”

She checks my folder before glancing at both Joseph and me. “You are right at twenty weeks pregnant. Are we finding the gender out today, or is it going to be a surprise for later?”

I look over at Joseph. “Are you wanting us to find out alone or with all our friends and guests?”

His expression softens, and he squeezes my hand. “That is entirely up to you. I will support the decision either way. At most, we will have to wait like an hour, or we can find out right now and share the news with our guests later.”

I press my lips together for a few moments before saying, “Let’s find out now. Just the two of us. This is your first ultrasound, and I want it to be special for you. Our friends can find out in an hour.”

He gives me a smile before pressing a kiss to my temple. “That sounds perfect to me.”

I lift my shirt over my growing baby bump and tuck it into the band of my bra before pulling the hem of my leggings down to expose my entire stomach.

Joseph looks confused, like he’s trying to figure the ultrasound out. “It’s for the ultrasound. She will squirt some gel on my belly and use that wand to see the baby.”

Joseph glances at the wand in the doctor’s hand. “Oh, I thought they had to do the ultrasound internally.”

The doctor chuckles. “Not this late in the pregnancy. We usually only do an internal ultrasound in the very beginning to find the heartbeat, but don’t worry, the wand for an internal ultrasound is way smaller than this one.”

The doctor and I laugh at Joseph’s relieved look.

If he thinks my vagina would be permanently stretched out from an ultrasound, then what does he think happens after giving birth?

“Now, shall we see how big your little peanut has grown?” She gets up and grabs the tube of gel. “I warmed it up for you.”

“Oh, thank you. It’s more enjoyable when the gel is warm.”

The doctor concentrates as she checks on the baby’s heartbeat and organs. She pauses for a few moments to let Joseph listen to our baby’s heartbeat.

He stares at me with love in his eyes. “It’s even better in person.”

The morning after our date, I shared all the ultrasound pictures with him. We listened to the baby’s heartbeat, and I showed him the 4D ultrasound. He didn’t really like that one, saying it was creepy seeing our baby like a clay monster.

“Alright, here we are.” The doctor pauses for a moment before clicking a few keys on the keyboard. “Congratulations Mommy and Daddy, you have a very healthy, very active baby boy.”

A boy.

Joseph stands up and leans closer to the screen to see our baby. “Are you sure?”

She shows him the baby’s legs and right in the middle, without a shadow of a doubt, is our baby boy’s junk. She laughs. “Yeah, I’m pretty confident you are having a boy.”

My eyes water as I imagine a baby Joseph growing up and running around, causing trouble with his friends the way Joseph does now. He turns to face me and presses his lips to mine.

“A boy. We are having a boy.” He says as if he’s going into shock. He sits back down and stares at the screen, showing our baby.

“A little boy who you can teach to play hockey.”

A grin forms on his face before falling. I know what he’s thinking. ‘If I continue playing hockey.’

I squeeze his hand reassuringly.

The doctor helps clean me up before handing me an envelope with today’s ultrasound pictures and a pop up card showing the baby’s gender.

After we make a follow-up appointment, we rush home to get ready for the baby shower.

I change into a cute maternity dress, and Joseph stays in his jeans and fitted t-shirt. I don’t mind because he looks sexy as hell and all I can think about is jumping his bones.

“Stop looking at me like that, Alexandra, or we will be skipping the baby shower.”

“I can’t help it when you look the way you do.” I admit.

He stalks toward me and pins me to the wall. One hand wraps around the back of my neck and the other hand gently cups my baby bump. “How do you think I feel? Seeing you pregnant with my child is the biggest turn on of all time. All I can think about is burying my cock in your pussy.”

I moan at the thought. At this rate, with the way Joseph is staring at me, I’m going to be pregnant constantly.

His lips press against mine as his hand lightly grips the back of my neck. Our lips move together as our tongues duel. I press my body against his, needing to be closer to him.

He backs up a few steps. “I don’t want to squish our baby.”

I chuckle. “You won’t. There’s plenty of cushion protecting our baby. He is only the size of a banana.”

Joseph cocks his head. “A banana, huh?”

I nod. “That’s what my book says.”

He shrugs. “If you say so. Come on, let’s go. Our guests are waiting.”

I guess our moment is over, but there will be more. Even if I have to pull him into a closet for a quickie, I’ll get some relief today.

He tucks a gun into the back of his jeans and at my questioning look he says, “We always have to be prepared. We don’t know when Giuseppe will pop back up and with a huge event like this, we need to expect the worst.”

“Didn’t we hire extra security?”

“Yes, but Rhett, Spencer, Gage, and I are still going to be strapping since the event location was leaked to the community.”

“Can we limit it to just one gun? I don’t want all of our baby shower pictures to look like an NRA endorsement.”

He frowns and starts to protest, but concedes. “Alright, fine. Just one.”

I kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”

We are silent as he drives to the community center. His expression is hard, and he glances at the rearview mirror every couple of seconds.

“What’s going on? Are we being followed?” I spin around in my seat and look out the back window.

“I don’t think so, but there is a white van that’s been three cars back for the past mile and a half.”

A few seconds later, the van turns onto a side road. As soon as we park at the community center, Joseph pulls the guys to the side to let them know about the van.

Savannah and Francesca walk over to me. They pull me into a hug and ask, “Is everything alright?”

“Just another day in the mafia lifestyle.” I sigh and rub my bump.

Francesca offers me a sympathetic smile. “It should get better with time. Times are just rough right now. So what are you having?”

Joseph and the guys join us. Joseph offers me his hand. “I was just about to announce it to everyone. Do you still have the card?”

I nod and hand it to him before following him to the front of the room, where a special table is set up for the two of us.

Joseph clears his throat to silence the crowd. “Thank you for being here to share this wonderful moment with Alexandra and me. As most of you are aware, we just came from an ultrasound where we found out the baby’s gender.”

Francesca yells, “Tell us already. Am I going to be an aunt to a baby girl or a baby boy?”

The crowd laughs. I scan the room for Arturo, not finding him. I lean in close to Joseph and whisper, “Where’s your dad?”

He scans the room and discreetly nods to the far corner where Arturo is standing with Alvin.

He holds up the card and says, “I am so proud to announce that we are going to be the proud parents of a baby boy.”

He opens the pop up card that reads “It’s a BOY!”

The crowd cheers and congratulates us. After being passed around to all our guests, Joseph presses his lips to my temple and whispers, “I’m going to have a chat with my father. Get some food and make sure you rest.”

I narrow my eyes at him, but nod. Now is not the time to get into specifics on what is going on. There will be plenty of time later when we are alone.

Francesca and Savannah join me at my table. They add a third chair and scoot closer to me.

Savannah glances around before whispering, “The FBI agent, Tyler Smith, called me this morning.”

“Wait, what? Why?” Are they still trying to get information on Arturo and the Marino family?

“He asked if I’ve seen Emily recently. When I said no and asked why, he told me she was an undercover agent and has gone missing.”

“She’s an undercover FBI agent?” My head spins. Is that why she was so scared when Joseph, Rhett, Spencer, and Gage came for me?

Savannah waits until people are out of earshot to continue. “According to Mr. Smith, the last time he heard from her, she told him she uncovered something important and it would lead to an all out war if people knew the truth.”

“What could it be?” I glance between Francesca and Savannah. We all have the same questioning look on our face.

“Whatever it is,” Francesca whispers, “is enough to amplify tensions more than they already are and that’s going to cause everyone to come out and try to get their hands on the information. It will not end well, that’s for sure.”

“Who all knows? Just us and the guys?”

Savannah shakes her head. “The three of us and Spencer. I begged him not to tell anyone until after your baby shower. I thought we all could get together and talk.”

Francesca nods and glances around the room, looking like she’s about to throw up. “Good idea.”

“Are you okay?” I ask, giving her a once over.

“I’m not feeling very well. I think it might be food poisoning. Rhett and I tried a new restaurant downtown last night, and the food tasted a bit off, so we left. I think I just need some fresh air.”

“Take your time. I’m going to get some food and then we will open presents.”

Savannah and I head to the food tables where Spencer and Joseph are deep in conversation as Rhett meets up with Francesca and they head outside.

Joseph smiles as I wrap my arm around his waist. “You should try the strawberry shortcake. It’s delicious.”

He feeds me a bite and I can’t help but moan. The sweetness of the strawberry burst on my tastebuds.

“Who made this or where did it come from? It has to be the best cake of my life.”

Spencer and Savannah laugh. “We made it.”

My eyes get wide. “You have to teach me. It’s incredible!”

Arturo’s voice cuts in as he gives me a side hug. “Congratulations, Alexandra.”

“Thank you, Grandpa. Oh, remind me to show you today’s ultrasound pictures. I left them at the condo, but I’ll make a copy for you.”

“I would love that. Thank you.”

Joseph pulls me into his chest. “And he’s Nonno, not Grandpa.”

“Nonno.” I repeat. “I like it. It suits you.”

“It’s grandfather in Italian.” Joseph explains before feeding me another bite of cake.

That makes sense.

Loud popping noises outside get all of our attention. The guests are still eating, laughing, and chatting as if no one heard anything.

“Maybe it was a car backfiring.” I whisper to the group.

We stand frozen. Joseph places his plate down and reaches for his gun. Spencer does the same before pushing me and Savannah behind them.

“Don’t make a scene.” Savannah whispers to Spencer.

He glares at her and whispers back, “Your safety is more important than a party. Sorry, Alexandra.”

“I understand.” I just hoped trouble wouldn’t find us today.

The main doors to the community center slowly open. Time seems to still as I try to prepare myself for what we might see.

Are Rhett and Francesca coming back in from getting air?

Are they coming in shot and bloodied from an unexpected attack?

Will it be a security officer looking for Arturo to tell him Giuseppe was just here and what we heard were their bullet shots?

My heart races as I peek over Joseph’s shoulder at the open doors.

Instead of Rhett and Francesca walking back in, two masked men walk through the open doors holding guns. As soon as guests notice them, screams and panic echo through the building as people jump up from their spots and try to run away from the entrance.

The gunmen look our way before lifting their guns and pulling the triggers.

Time returns to normal as Savannah and I are thrown to the ground. She pulls me behind the cake table, shoving me against the wall as gunshots ricochet.

“Sorry.” She mouths when I wince.

Women scream in fear.

Men shout at each other.

I peek around the table and immediately feel as if I’m going to lose the contents of my stomach. The pastel decorations on the tables and walls are splattered with blood. Blood drips on the floor, pooling up in spots.

Bodies lie limp on the ground or hunch over tables. Groans can be heard from people who were hit by stray bullets.

What was supposed to be a happy, fun-filled day has turned into a nightmare. My vision blurs as I think about my son’s future.

I don’t want this life for him. I don’t want his girlfriend or wife to constantly live in fear, wondering when the next attack will be.

But the fact of the matter is, it’s too late. He is the heir to the Marino mafia, and there will always be people coming for him and his throne.

Want more sexy, irresistible hockey players who risk their lives for organized crime?

Continue the Savannah Sharks series and find out what happens in the aftermath of the baby shower with Gage Robert’s story,

Devious Lies .