The Mafia's Babies by Kaycee Romano (rocket ebook reader txt) 📖

"River, what's wrong?" Jacqueline asked her, dreading whatever she was going to say. Did something happen to the twins? Or Susan? Or Lilith?

River didn't reply as she just listened to whatever Sebastian was saying on the phone, crying.

"I will be right there." She croaked out before hanging up.

"River, what's going on?" Her best friend asked her again while she just looked between Jacqueline and Mateo, dazed.

"River." Mateo took a step closer to her cupped her face. "What's going on?"

"My kids. They kidnapped my kids." She croaked out. "I gotta go."

She shoved his hands away and ran out of the cafeteria.

Her kids were missing.

Mateo grabbed the nurse by the arm when she was about to take off after her bestie.

"Do you have the children's photos?" He asked her. He could help.

Jacqueline looked at the Italian with doubt. She wasn't going to give away the children's pictures to some random stranger, no matter what his history was with River.

"I can help." Mateo said, sensing her reluctance. "For all I know, I could be the only one who can help. So please, let's not waste any more time."

Jacqueline thought for a moment. Maybe she was going to regret this decision for the rest of her life, but River had confided him in about the twins going missing. If she trusted him, maybe she could too?

Jacqueline nodded, taking out her phone.

"This is my work phone but there are pictures on her Instagram." She said, tapping on her phone.

"What's her ID?" Mateo asked, taking out his own. For a whole year, Mateo had refrained himself from searching her up online, but now the situation made it inevitable.

"Just riverjohnson, all lower case and no space." She said.

"Private account." He muttered. Of course, you idiot!

She showed me the page. And then she tapped on a picture.

"He looks like me." Mateo blurted out as soon as the picture with River holding two kids on her hip popped up on the screen.

'But that wasn't possible right? They looked five-six years old while we fucked just last year.'

"What do you mean?" She turned the phone back to herself.

Of course no one could see much similarity between the Mateo now and the kid in the picture. Puberty and Mafia life did some serious rearrangement of his facial features.

But the child in the picture looked just like he did when he was around his age, the only difference being the boy's wildly curled hair, something he must have surely inherited from his mother.

"Who is their father?" Mateo asked the Jacqueline who looked extremely confused, though the prominent emotions on her face were sadness and fear and concern. She looked up, a look of doubt passing her face before she replied. "He's not in the picture."

"Does he have a name?" He asked her, feeling his patience running out.

She sighed. "I don't know."

Mateo glared at her. "What if I tell you, I think they are mine?"

She looked shocked and just stood there gaping at him.

'Useless piece of trash.' Mateo thought to himself. True, even he didn't completely believe them to be his kids. But the resemblance was uncanny and he remembered that he did find her familiar the first time they met in his hospital room. Was this merely a coincidence or was he indeed their father?

But even if it wasn't the case, he would save the twins. Because they were River's children and he was going to protect her and everyone close to her.

He would worry about them being their kids or not later.

Mateo pulled out his business card and shoved it into her hands. "Send the picture to the number ending with 0627."

He quickly made his way out, dialing a number.

"Alessia, we have a problem."