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River sat on a chair, her face on one palm and her other hand playing with the crystal seashell paper-weight as Mateo made more calls.

"The place has been taken over by the investigation team and all the employees have been called in as witnesses." Mateo said finally, taking his seat. She didn't look up as she still stared at the paper-weight trying to balance it in a particular position without it rolling off.

"When did you get to know of this?" She asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"Just a minute before you walked in to the room, River. Stop giving me that look!" He defended, putting his hands up.

"But you were planning to hide it from me." The doctor pointed out, giving him a flat look as she sat up straight and folded her arms across her chest.

"I was going to tell you after I processed it myself woman!" He looked exasperatedly at his baby mama. "Stop being so difficult!"

"I am not being difficult. You are just being an arse because you feel embarrassed about your little confession." River huffed and threw her legs over the desk, lying back on the chair.

'Stupid man child!' She thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Little confession? Now you are insulting my feelings? Really?" He was red with anger.

"No, I am insulting you for letting your personal feelings come in the way of this situation." She clarified, narrowing her eyes at him again. To think this dumb-ass will one day be the Boss of the Sicilian Mafia was really appalling to her. She felt sorry for the future of the Mafia.

He clenched his jaw, glaring at her.

"Mateo, whoever did this is a mutual enemy. They killed her and set you up." River said, her voice low and even. "Do you know anyone like that?"

He let out a heavy breath and shook his head. "Not one who has the guts to kill the Russian Mafia Boss' sister."

"Shouldn't we go back?" She asked.

"Not you. You and the kids and your family should stay here. Adam and Alessia will stay with you. I will go." He said.

"Alone?" She asked. "At least take Adam with you."

"Don't worry. Ricardo will join me once I am there. And even Leonardo is flying in from Chicago." Though they were having a rough patch, Mateo informed her everything that was going on because he knew that it was the only way to not make their relationship any more complicated.

River nodded, glad that this man child was not going to deal with the situation himself, because knowing him, he could make things worse by losing his temper or doing something rash.

'We don't get a break, do we?' She thought in her head, sighing again.

"But won't the cops want to question me and Adam as well?" She asked, sitting back up straight, realizing this detail.

"The time of death is clocked around the time you were in the hospital and Adam and Janet were with you, so you guys got an alibi."

"And you?"

"Alessia and I were with Alfredo and..."

"You killed him." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

He nodded. "But he still didn't say who put him up to it. I thought it was Mona but now it could be this new enemy."

River gave him a flat look for which he rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what she was implying with her look. "I know I know, you told me the attack was a distraction!"

She gave him a sarcastic smile. He never listens to her! Not that she ever listened to him, but it was already established though never said out loud that she was the more mature and level-headed one in their relationship, whatever the relationship between them right then was.

"But what I don't understand is how the cops got there and why your employees didn't see her body first." She voiced her doubt again. She was analyzing the whole situation, trying to find the loopholes that could help them get this nuisance off their heads.

"Well, most of them were given leave and only the cleaners and feeders were working. And nobody goes to that part of the ranch where the body was found. And of course the person who set me up would have given away the exact location."

"And the cops aren't even a bit suspicious about whoever informed them?"

"The call was made from a distressed person two days after her death." He rolled his eyes. "And he doesn't want to come out in the open because he is scared he will be killed."

She huffed. "Bloody drama queen!"

"We will do drama as well." He winked at her.

River raised a brow. Then she got what he meant. Oh.

"I mean, why would a restaurant owner like me with two kids kill a Russian woman I don't even know? Especially when my baby mama was hospitalized?"

She nodded. "And what if they did find some connection?" She asked, "You have a plan B?"

"Not yet. But I will formulate it." He said, sounding very confident.

'You better.' She said in her mind and then she realized another thing. 'Wait a minute!'

"Yo, I am not staying here to meet your parents!" She glared at him.

"They need to meet their grandchildren."

"-when their son is around." River pointed out.

"Alessia is here."

"She is not their papa."

"River, you will be fine."

"You want me to have another panic attack?" She raised a brow, giving him a smug look. There was no way he was going to counter that.

"YOU ARE SO DIFFICULT!" Mateo groaned and plopped down on his chair.

"That's why you love me!" She shrugged, biting her tongue when she realized she shouldn't have said that.

"Really?" He looked annoyed but his pink cheeks told her he was just trying to hide his embarrassment.

River sighed and gave him a smile. "You are cute." He looked at her surprised and she burst out laughing.

She knew that she was being kind of mean but she couldn't help it! A big bad alpha male was being a puppy in front of her!

Mateo got up from his seat and walked around the table as River's eyes followed him. He turned her chair to face him, her legs slipping off the desk, and pulled her closer, leaning down. "What do you think you are doing?" She squeaked out, clearing her throat when he smirked down at her.

"Giving it back to you." He shrugged, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Why did you have to go and dig your own grave? Her inner voice asked her. For once in her life, the voice had not appeared because she was stressing out. But her heart rate was definitely going up more than necessary.

"Shut up!" River pushed him back while he chuckled. "Concentrate Capo, we have shit going down!"

Mateo stood up and cleared his throat, squaring his shoulders as if going back to his mafia man self.

"You are right." He nodded. "So you don't want to stay here, I don't want you to come to Wyoming. That means, maybe I will let you go back to New York."

She was nodding away when she suddenly stopped and looked up at him dumbfounded. "I can go back to New York?"

"Yes."

"And work?"

He thought for a moment. "I guess you can, and the kids back to school as well as long as you are protected." He said finally. "Nobody is as crazy as Mona, and I don't think they want to harm you because otherwise, they would have really poisoned you."

"If they are the ones who did it, that is." She pointed out. The possibilities were endless. The danger was unknown.

But one thing, both of them had come to terms with was the fact that there was no use running from it anymore. They had a whole life in front of them and they could not spend it running away from all the problems and dangers that existed as part of the life they were fated with.

"What does your hunch say?" Mateo asked.

"That they are indeed the culprits?" She shrugged. They knew nothing about who was behind it, but her mind insisted that whoever killed Mona was the same one who poisoned her so that they would leave the ranch. There was definitely some connection.

"Then it must be true because you have really good intuition."

She smiled hearing that. Finally, this man agrees that she is awesome!

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"But we never met Nonna and Nonno." Kiara whined as River dressed her up.

"Yeah Mommy, won't they feel bad?" Lucas said from across the room.

"I know baby, but this is an emergency." River pouted.

"But-"

"Yo, I honestly think that you guys should at least stay till tomorrow and wait for them to come before you leave. You really don't wanna anger Nonna." Alessia said. She was perched on the vanity table, surfing through her phone.

River groaned and walked over to her. "But I am terrified of meeting them in Mateo's absence."

"Yeah I know, that's why I am saying all of you should stay till tomorrow."

River dropped her voice and whisper-yelled. "But there's a dead body Alessia, and it was found in the ranch."

"Yeah, but Mateo wasn't officially summoned by the authorities or anything yet, right?"

"Won't it be sus if he acts all unbothered about finding a corpse in his property?" She asked.

"Mommy, we are going to play with Mia!" Lucas announced and turned around to see them running off. She sighed and walked over to the door, watching them take a turn and disappear from her eyesight before closing the door and turning back to her friend.

"Nothing Mateo and money can't handle." She pointed out. Well, as arrogant as that was, she did have a point!

River finally nodded, plopping down on the bed.

"So can I tell Mateo?" Alessia asked. Though it was her own idea, Alessia wasn't very enthusiastic about it either. She was just trying to avoid the drama that her grandmother would cause if things didn't go the way it was initially planned. Abrianna Costello didn't yield according to other's convenience.

River nodded and then looked over at the TV screen.

'So much shit going on! Why does this have to happen to us?' She thought as she stared at her reflection. 'Why don't we ever get a fucking break?'

She just really wished that Mateo and the kids could have more time to spend with each other without the constant danger looming around and the conspiracies that are cooked up against him.

River was eternally grateful to god for not letting anything happen to her children. And she was also glad that they almost instantly forgot about the kidnapping incident and wasn't overly affected by anything else that happened afterwards. And she was so glad that they got their papa, the happiness that outweighs all the other shit that went down these last few weeks.

But she still wished that all of this would get over fast, at least for now, so that the kids could have a normal life. Even if they go back to New York, they would still be watched and they would still have the target trained on them and that was just so unsettling and scary.

Mateo always told River that they would not hurt the kids because it was against the Mafia law but that didn't make it any less scary - they were kidnapped once, weren't they? And they were almost kidnapped again by one of Mateo's most trusted men. And they could have been the ones to be poisoned if she hadn't eaten the cookies first.

"Stop over thinking River!" Alessia's words reached her ears. "You are three thoughts away from giving yourself another panic attack!"

River looked over at Alessia and then at the mirror. Sweat beaded her forehead and she looked like she had just seen a ghost. She sighed.

"License to over think and worry comes free with being a mother." She chuckled.

Alessia gave her a small smile and hopped off the vanity table. She gave her a side hug, squeezing her shoulder in assurance as she did.

"Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day." She said.

"Hopefully."

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"Papa, she should be listening to me right?"

"Why should I, Papa?"

"Because I am older than you. By four minutes."

"So? Papa's older than Mommy but she never listens to him!"

River turned from where she was, putting the kids' things back in the bag and raised her brow at her daughter.

"I know right." Mateo played along, giving her a stupid smug look. "Mommy never listens to me. And Papa is two years older than her. Look what you are teaching our children, River!"

"I would have listened to Papa if anything he said made sense." She scowled at him making him chuckle.

"And Ki, you don't have to listen to your brother if you think what he say isn't fair or right." She turned to her little girl.

"Mommy-" Lucas whined but she shut him up with her 'You know you aren't winning this argument, young man!' look.

"You are such a tyrant, River!" Mateo said, looking all amused and stupid in between the two kids, hundred toys and pillow fort.

'It would be nice if his hair was tied to pigtails and he had kiddie pajamas on.' River cringed at her own crazy imagination. But she couldn't stop herself from visualizing it. She bit her lower lip as she tried to keep the laughter in!

The three kids..., two kids and one Papa, gave her weird looks while she turned around and shook her head to shake off the image.

Focus River, he is the capo of the Italian mafia who freaking killed the person who you hung out with in Wyoming.

River's mood changed instantly when she heard what her inner voice had to say.

But it was not because Mateo had killed Alfredo.

It was because Mateo and she had trusted Alfredo. More than most of the others in the ranch. And he was the one to poison her. And he kept the identity of the assailant hidden till his death. Alfredo was supposed to be loyal to the Sicilian Mafia but ironically, he stayed loyal to the enemy till the end.

She thought about what could have happened to her children if they hadn't accidentally ate the cookies. She tried to shake off her thoughts. Alfredo was the past now. But she really couldn't wait to die and go to hell so that she could make his afterlife hell!

"Mommy?" Kiara called out.

River blinked, breaking out of her negative thoughts and took deep breaths, plastering a crazy smile on her face before turning to face her little family.

"Yep?"

The kids face brightened as soon as they saw she had a smile on hers. Bless their baby souls for not understanding complex emotions and lies.

But Mateo had a worried expression on his face. Poor guy was worried about what she must be over thinking right then.

She gave him a reassuring smile and he nodded, his expression indicating that though he did not buy it, he was going to drop it. For now.

River kissed her little babies good night and left them with their Papa. She had given Mateo the duty of putting them to bed, mostly because she wanted him to spend more time with them.

River decided to just get into bed.

She quickly walked into the room she shared with Mateo and changed into her nightwear and did her night time routine before climbing on to the bed and throwing the woolen duvet over her.

A lot of things were happening.

And between all of it, she had completely forgotten about the new emotions between Mateo and her.

She liked it. She felt weird about it, but she liked it. She felt weird because she knew that this was one relationship which couldn't be just a fling - they shared two children. But what if something happened and they split apart? Wouldn't that be horrible? Especially for the children?

Honestly, this is not something you should be worried about right now. Her inner voice wasted no time in speaking up. With all that's going on, this should be the last thing on your mind right now.

And this was one of the rare occasions when she completely agreed with what her inner voice had to say.

Emotions and relationships and everything else could wait. Everything was going to be put on pause until the whole situation was completely figured out and settled.

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