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"Mommy, please?"

"No means no, Ki. How many times do I have to tell you?" River knelt down in front of her, pulling her in for a hug.

River had also turned paranoid on the whole situation.

She had informed her mother about what Eric had told her. It was so scary that she didn't think it was right to keep it solely to herself. If something was to happen to her, there should be somebody around to help her out and she knew that she could let only her mom into this. Her mother and she had to figure it out.

River could not even include Sebastian. He had a lot on his plate and she refused to scare him with this. Also, he was married now and had a child. Letting him in on this situation meant putting his wife and child in the danger involved along with him and she really could not bring herself to do something so selfish.

She would let him in on everything that was going on when this was all over. She knew that her best friend slash brother was going to have her head for not telling him while Eric was involved but it didn't matter more than his safety.

Susan and River were keeping Lilith, the twins and Mrs. Marley in the dark but the two women were catching up on the tension. It was not very easy for the lawyer and the surgeon to keep their masks up at all time, not when they both came home exhausted, their whole mind swirling with thoughts and tension.

The two of them were paranoid. They were scared. And all of these feelings just got stronger and stronger since River met up with Eric two days ago and had that conversation with him.

River had been feeling like she was being watched at all times. It was unnerving and hence she kept herself busy at all times. And Jacqueline too was catching up on her changed behavior.

Every passing minute, the knot in River's chest tightened and tightened and she was finding it hard to breathe.

She was so helpless.

What was she to do?

No matter what they thought, one thing remained. If something bad was to happen, the two women were going to find it difficult to tackle it. Her mother said she had back-up and Eric was more than willing to be with her but River still wasn't convinced because though she trusted Eric with her life, she didn't trust him with her kids' lives. And she didn't know who was helping from her mother's side

"Are you okay, Mommy?"

River looked up through her little princess' hair to see her brave prince looking at her worried, wiping away a treacherous tear that had leaked out of her eye.

"Just grown up problems love." She said, pulling him into the hug. "Mommy will figure it out, okay?"

"Of course you will Mommy. You are superwoman." My doll clapped.

"That I am." River said, laughing along with them.

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"Alright spill!"

River jumped at the shrill voice of her best friend.

"Jackie, you scared me!" She clutched her chest as she closed the door of the locker room behind her, pocketing her phone and stethoscope.

"Exactly." She said, giving her a cold look. "My best friend is not one to get easily scared."

"Jackie-" River started, but was cut off yet again.

"Don't even try. Because from what I hear, a huge tattooed person had coffee with you last Tuesday and coincidentally you have been acting like someone might pop up and kill you ever since." She said and then lowered her voice. "River, does this guy have anything to do with your past? Because if he does, rounds or no rounds, OP or no OP, we are personally going to the cops right now and filing for a restraining order."

River smiled and hugged her. River was going around hugging everyone who was close to her these days. And honestly, she knew that it was because she needed the hugs more than they did. But she didn't care. Hugs calmed her for however long they lasted and she was grateful for those small fragments of peace.

River was kind of determined when Eric first dropped the bomb but the more she thought about it, the more she realized there was nothing she could do about the situation and if something was to happen and honestly, that sucked. And the thought was so scary. Knowing that something bad could happen to her children, her and the rest of her family and if it did, there was nothing she could do.

River had told her mother everything that Eric had told her. She had told her everything without skipping any detail. But her mother still refused to confide in her about her shady client. The only thing she did say was, "It's better you don't know honey. You will be in more danger if you did."

If that shouldn't creep her out, then River didn't know what should.

She pulled back and sighed. But then smiled.

"I will give you one more day to get your shit together Johnson, or else we are going to the cops. No question about it."

"You think a restraining order is going to stop them if they wanted to get to me?"

Her smile vanished as quickly as it came.

"So there is a threat?"

"Not from the tattooed guy but there is." River nodded, pursing her lips. She hadn't told Sebastian anything because unlike Jacqueline, he wouldn't listen to reason. Of course she wasn't going to disclose everything to her but she still would tell her that there indeed was a threat.

"Threat?" The duo turned around to see Valerie walking towards them. River put on a fake smile and Jacqueline followed her. Nobody needed to know about this.

"Doc, is someone threatening you against helping a patient?" She asked. "Should we inform the authorities?"

River brain-stormed for a convincing reply.

"I was just telling Johnson here that we should send threats to our friend to prank him." Jacqueline covered up.

"Ohhhhhh.. You know this one time," Valerie started. Here we go, another one of her flashbacks. "When I was in college, it was our friend's birthday but we decided to prank her and replaced the cream in Oreo with toothpaste. It was hilarious!!" And she burst out laughing.

Okay, why is she laughing like a maniac remembering a time when she killed perfectly good food? The inner River did not like anyone messing with food.

"You don't want to know the kind of pranks River used to pull in college." Jacqueline gave her a smug look while her eyes widened as she shook her head frantically. Those are stories best hidden in River's family house' attic.

"Yeah?" Valerie looked excited and curious. "What did she do?"

"A story that can wait until after rounds and OP?" River gave her the 'I am the senior here, remember?' look and she immediately slipped back into her curious and zealous intern mode.

"Okay rounds time."

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"Trust me babe, I asked the doctor to come see you two days ago." Leonardo was explaining to a very moody Michelia who was rocking their son in her arms.

"Then why isn't she here?" She scowled. "Maybe you should go remind her again because obviously, unlike you, the nice lady has a job to do."

Mateo wanted to intervene but he was keeping mum. He did not want to rile her up. She was going through her baby blues.

"I will go and ask her-"

"Request, Leo, request!" Michelia glared.

That was a bit too loud and had Enzo waking up and wailing.

"Okay how about you both handle my nephew?" Mateo got up from his seat. "I will go find the doctor."

Michelia nodded while trying to calm her son while Leonardo gave him a grateful look.

Mateo Adesso made his way out of the room and into the elevator, only after telling the men to make sure nothing happened to the three of them inside that room.

He reached the first floor and as luck would have it, the first person he came face to face was the last person he wanted to see in the hospital.

"Mr. Adesso, looking for Dr. Johnson I presume?" She mused; a smirk plastered on her face.

"Hey you!" Before Mateo could reply that it indeed was the case, a woman bulldozered in and stood facing the five-foot seven Barbie doll in front of him.

"I don't know what your problem is, but leave Johnson be, okay?" She snarled. "She's already going through a lot and the last thing she needs is you adding baseless rumors after rumors into the gossip mill."

"Excuse me? You can't talk to me like this!" Bianca squeaked out, though she looked genuinely scared of the other nurse at that moment.

"Or what?" Jacqueline took a step forward, folding her arms across her chest. "You gonna shove your tongue down the Director's throat to make sure I get fired? Then do it. But for now, get lost!"

The brunette nurse was dumbstruck and scattered within no time. And the rest of the onlookers seemed as if they never knew the nurse in question was capable of such a stunt.

She turned to me and lowered her voice, "I know you both slept together but I just don't want all the nonsensical talk about what happened last year going about right now."

He raised his eyebrows. Did something happen? Was she in trouble?

"Is she okay?" Mateo asked, wondering why he worried just as much about her as he did an year ago.

"I hope so." Jacqueline replied, more to herself than anyone else and walked away.

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Mateo stood at the entrance of the cafeteria, not making any movements. His eyes were trained on a curly-haired brunette. She sat on a stool, staring at the streets through the glass wall. Her coffee and croissant sat forgotten on the counter in front of her.

Mateo got himself a coffee before he walked over and sat down next to her.

"I miss my kids, Jackie." She said as she turned to him. Her eyes widened and mouth parted slightly when she saw that she wasn't her friend, Jacqueline.

"Mr. Adesso." She said.

"That's not what you were screaming in my bed that night." He smirked at her.

'Well done, Adesso.' Finally in an informal setting after a whole year and that's how he started the conversation.

Mateo was starting to think that Alessia was right when she said that her dear older brother didn't know how to talk to women.

She rolled her eyes, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she turned back to staring at the street below. "How's it going?"

"Except for a few bruised ribs and my cousin's emergency delivery, I think I am pretty good." He replied, staring at her. She looked exhausted. Just as he remembered her.

She turned to him again, looking serious and doubtful. "What do you do for a living, Mr. Adesso? Are you a gangster or something?"

Mateo couldn't help but laugh out loud.

How was he going to tell her that he was not some measly gangster? He was what gangsters called god.

"Something like that." He chuckled, not caring about disclosing that detail to her.

She just nodded.

The two of them sat there in comfortable silence. It was like they had been doing this forever. There was no tension and no other negative feelings. It felt good.

Too bad the peace and calm were short-lived.

"RIVER!!"

The duo turned to the source of the sound. Jacqueline Meyers were running toward them like her life dependent on it. Her face was etched with worry, fear and dread.

River felt a sudden ache in her heart. River got off her stool. "What's going on? Is there an emergency?" She asked, hoping with all her heart that it was the case.

"No no.." She was panting. "Check.. Your.. Phone." She handed the iPhone to her. "Sebastian called. He didn't.. tell me what was going on."

River quickly tapped it on to find 56 missed calls.

She looked through the call log and dialed a number which said Shane.

"Hello?"

Her expression morphed from confusion to shock.

"What?"

Tears trickled down her eyes.

'What the fuck is going on?' Mateo watched as he saw one of the strongest women he knew was just reduced to tears.

"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."

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