Page 60 of Knocked Up by My Dad's Mafia Boss

“Why me? I don’t even know what to get!”

Sofia reaches into her purse and presses a wad of cash into his hand. “Get five, all different brands.”

“And ice cream,” I pipe up. “Fudge mint.”

“This is like five hundred dollars,” Reese marvels, as if he hasn’t heard either of us.

“Keep the rest, I don’t care.” She waves at him dismissively. “Just go.”

He just stands there, gaping down at the money in his hand. “Reese!” I nearly yell. “Go!”

“Alright alright, don’t get your panties in a twist,” he mutters, looking slightly shell-shocked when he looks up at me. He walks right back out the door and Sofia closes it behind him before focusing on me.

“Come here,” is all she says, but I burst into tears. She pulls me close, patting the back of my hair. It’s nice, but it makes the tears flow more. “It’s going to be okay,” she assures me, and her voice sounds warm and earnest, like she really believes it.

“But what if it’s not, Sofia? What if I really am pregnant?”

She draws in a long breath. “Well, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

I nod, sniffling.

“We should go downstairs to wait for Reese.”

“I can’t see Dante!” I exclaim.

Sofia sighs. “Honey, if we hide upstairs and Dante starts asking questions, Reese will crack in five seconds.”

She’s right. Dante scares Reese to no end. “Fuck. You’re right.” I’m starting to hyperventilate and Sofia grabs me by the shoulders, shaking me gently.

“You have to get it together, Sammy.”

I hitch in a breath, breathing in deeply through my nostrils like Dante taught me that night, breathing out slowly through my mouth.

After about half an hour, I’m no longer crying and I’m breathing normally.

Sofia loops her arm through mine and I lean against her as we walk downstairs. I hope against hope that Dante has gone up to his room, but he’s still on the couch, reading one of his beat-up paperbacks.

“Whatcha reading?” Sofia asks idly as we sit down on the opposite end of the sectional couch. Dante looks up, eyes widening slightly in surprise.

“A Western,” he answers.

I blink at him. “You likeWesterns?”

He frowns. “Yeah. Why not?” He sounds almost defensive.

“IsTombstonelike your favorite movie?” Sofia says in a teasing lilt. Dante snorts out a laugh.

“Not exactly, but it’s up there.”

A mobster who’s into the wild west. Who would have thought? I swallow hard, trying to think of something to say, but luckily, Sofia keeps going. If she weren’t here I think I’d blurt it all out to him.

“Reese went to get us ice cream. You want any?”

Dante shakes his head. “No thanks. Don’t have much of a sweet tooth.”

The silence after that is deafening. I’m about to open my mouth and say something stupid when the intercom buzzes again. Reese is back. I hurry to the button, pressing it

and standing near the door.