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"Fuck!" Mateo slammed in his fist on the table.

"Should have thought once before saying bullshit to your wife." Adam was glowering at his best friend. On a normal day, he was the one who was scared of Mateo but when his best friend did something utterly stupid like he did a while ago, Adam knew how to be the elder angry brother.

"What do I do now?" He looked up at his best friend.

"Apologize...!!!" Adam exclaimed; it was the most obvious thing to do, wasn't it? He just needed to genuinely apologize and admit he was wrong to say what he did.

Mateo sighed as he played with his phone. "But she refuses to pick up her phone. I even tried to get to her through Victor's phone but she blocked me out."

"Well, the doc is just as short-tempered as you, now isn't she?" Adam rolled his eyes, thinking about how his niece and nephew would turn out in the future considering they were carbon copies of their parents. "Except she handles it very maturely, keeping in mind how it would affect the kids."

Adam emphasized the words 'affect the kids', because he knew that it would really affect the two babies if their parents started fighting again and he also knew that this was not one of those fights which would be resolved too quickly considering the two parties were miles apart.

"I will try to contact her again." Mateo sighed as he got up from his chair, taking his phone with him as he walked out of his office.

He called River one more time but she declined his call before it could ring more than once.

He took a deep breath, deciding to try his luck with Victor again.

"Capo.." Victor answered the call, his voice low and humble with the utmost respect for his leader.

"Where is my wife?" Mateo asked. He and River were not married, but the façade had been going on for so long and the couple treated each other somewhat like how one would treat their spouse so it just came naturally to the both of them.

"Capo, Mrs. Adesso is visiting the hospital. I think she is going to start working today." He said, worried how his superior would react. Victor was to inform him of River's every move but he had been intimidated by River into not calling Mateo to tell him anything about what she was up to. But the Capo had called and asked himself; that constituted a loophole, didn't it?

Mateo was not surprised to hear that. He expected something of the sort because River always busied herself with some kind of work when she was in a bad mood and he thought that there was nothing better for her to do than to go back to the work that she loved the most in the world. He was going to call the Director of the hospital to ask him to do whatever was necessary to make his baby mama feel at home.

But what he really did pay attention to in the simple sentences that Victor had spoken was how he had addressed River as Mrs. Adesso. He loved hearing that. It made him feel so much better, feel that no matter what River was all his, but he knew that his baby mama would not be too happy to hear that though she never raised any objection to others calling her that.

"Alright, make sure you have your eyes on her at all times." Mateo ordered. "And make sure that nobody is tailing her."

"Yes Capo. I will protect her with my life." Victor said earnestly. River was, after all, the wife of their Capo and he saw the opportunity to protect her as an honor.

Mateo rolled his eyes. The Alpha male was slightly annoyed at how his subordinate had earnestly expressed his devotion towards the Capo's wife, putting into words something that was Mateo's to say.

"Sure." He said, his voice clipped. "And address her as Dr. Johnson; that's the identity she worked so hard to make." He said with utmost confidence. He was proud of who his baby mama was, so proud that Lucas and Kiara would always be Lucas Johnson and Kiara Johnson. He didn't think that his coming into their lives should change that because he believed he was nowhere his baby mama stood. Sometimes he thought about adding Adesso to their names, not taking away Johnson from their names of course, but he never had the time to have that conversation with River yet.

"Yes Capo." Victor said again.

Mateo didn't converse with him any longer. He quickly hung up the phone and called the Director of the hospital, Mr. Simmons.

"H-Hello?" The man started stuttering as soon as he saw the caller ID.

"Is my wife with you right now?" He asked, his voice intimidating. He was always going to be hard on this particular man so that he would cover at his feet and do as he wanted when it came to his River.

"He just left Mr. Adesso." The Director's voice was low and filled with obvious fear. "I tried to stop her but she is starting her shift today evening. Trust me Sir, I told her that she can take all the time she wants but she was adamant and I didn't know what to do and I am sure you understand because you know how she is, right? Dr. Adesso is a very stubborn woman and-" The man was blabbering away due to his nervousness but Mateo silenced him with a mere cluck of his tongue.

"Who the hell are you to tell her what to do?"

The question caught Mr. Simmons off-guard.

"What?" He asked dumbly.

Mateo let out a deep sigh out of exasperation. He didn't know someone like this man managed to become the Director of one of the best hospitals in the country, and then he realized that he had married the owner's daughter to inherit that place.

"Let her do as she pleases." He said slowly, making sure that the man on the other end would not miss even a word. "Your job is to make sure she does not overwork and that nobody upsets her."

"Of course Sir." The Director squeaked meekly.

"You know I have eyes and ears everywhere, right?" Mateo asked, but there was an threatening undertone to it; the Capo didn't have to mention the consequences for Mr. Simmons to know what would happen if things didn't go the way Mateo wanted it to.

"Of course I do Sir. You don't need to worry about this matter at all. I will make sure that Dr. Adesso is comfortable here and has no kind of-"

"Her name is Dr. River Johnson and I am glad to see that you have an idea of what you are doing." He shut him up. "But if you continue blabbering like this and give her identity as my wife out, you can say goodbye to your life on earth."

Mr. Simmons gulped, knowing that Mateo Adesso did not bluff.

"I will do an impeccable job, Sir." He was making that promise more to himself than to anyone else. His life was dear to him and he did not want to die by the hands of a made man of the Mafia any time soon.

"Good."

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"What did he do now?" Was the first thing Alessia, who was back from her late night expedition, asked as soon as River walked into the apartment. Lorenzo was sleeping in Alessia's arms and it was the only thing that stopped the orthopedic surgeon from screaming at the top of her lungs how much of an asshole and an idiot Alessia's elder brother was.

"Let's just say he really was out of line this time." Michelia walked out of her room, her phone in hand. Adam had told Leonardo and Leonardo had told his wife what had happened. Alessia would have known sooner but Adam and she were fighting again so he had not told her what was happening.

"You want me to go punch him in the face?" Alessia asked. She didn't really need to know what the reason was. She knew that he must have said or done something really bad for the usually cool and composed Dr. River Johnson to look like she wanted to kill someone.

River paused for a moment, a small smile momentarily appearing on her face when she realized that Alessia had said almost the same thing thing that Adam had asked her via text. The shipper in her started bursting confetti out of happiness, and she started rooting for her even more. It would be so nice if they just accepted that they were meant for each other.

River wanted her good friends to be happy, especially Alessia after all the bullshit that she had gone through in her life. She knew without an ounce of doubt that Adam would always cherish her. She knew that he would never raise her voice or hands at Alessia, not that it mattered now anyway because the Italian woman was capable of cutting off tongue and limbs and putting bullets through brains.

But the surgeon believed that there was still a part of Alessia within all the cold and rock-hard exterior that just wanted to be understood and treated with basic respect.

"I am thinking of doing that myself the next time I see him." River sighed which made the other two women chuckle. These two had a completely different dynamics, unlike any other, didn't they?

"You want me to teach you how to do it without leaving any apparent bruises?" Alessia winked.

River shook her head, chuckling quietly before announcing. "I start my first shift at six in the evening."

"WHAT?!"

Lorenzo started awake and started crying immediately, startled by the shrill disbelieving yells of the two Italian women.

"You woke my little boy up." River narrowed her eyes at them before taking Lorenzo from Alessia's arms and trying to console him.

"Are you serious?" Alessia asked.

"Yep."

"Okay now I need to know what he said." Alessia turned to Michelia who just shrugged.

"My lips are sealed."

Michelia had said that because she believed that if she and River refused to talk about it then the next person that Alessia would go to despite everything would be Adam. Just like River, Michelia was also an 'Adessia' shipper and she hoped that they would talk on the pretext of this incident and will sort out their current fight, whatever it was for.

Michelia gave River a knowing look which she returned with a cryptic wink.

Alessia narrowed her eyes.

"River?" She turned to her friend.

"You know I don't want to talk about this right?" River let out a dramatic sigh and left the living room, going over to the nursery that had been set up for little Lorenzo to put him down on the crib.

Alessia mumbled to herself as she plopped down on the couch, taking her phone out from her phone.

Of course her finger tapped on Adam's name in the contacts, her brain not thinking for a second to call Mateo or Leonardo to ask them what exactly was going on.

And Adam picked up at second ring, thinking that the stubborn woman had finally called him to apologize for the last argument they had had.

"Well well well, if it isn't the daughter of the Boss of The Sicilian Mafia!" Alessia rolled her eyes when she heard the way the asshole had addressed her.

"Yep, and that makes me your boss as well." She said.

"Oh please, even my left toe nail would not take orders from you." Alessia scrunched up her face, wondering what that was supposed to even mean, but then again nothing this dude said ever made any sense to begin with so she wondered why she was expecting it to do now.

"I don't have time for any of your nonsense. Just tell me why River is so moody and looks like she wants to decapitate someone."

"Aww... Nobody told the baby of the house what is going on?"

Alessia clenched and unclenched her fist. It was something Adam had been calling her ever since he joined the Mafia and she did not like it one bit even though most people found it hilarious and endearing.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" She gritted out, trying to keep her voice as even as possible because she knew that she would blow any chance of him spitting it out if she raised her voice at him.

"Well, I will have to go ask wiser people if the baby is allowed to know such things or not." He said. He loved to annoy Alessia and he had not been able to do it ever since their argument so he was having all the fun in the world while he could.

Alessia was now fuming. "You know what? Forget it!" She yelled. "I don't want to know. Especially not from you. I have my own sources."

"Dude, I am like your only source inside the Sicilian Mafia. Sit down." He was so confident with his words that it infuriated Alessia even more. How could someone be so freaking arrogant?

"BYE!" She yelled.

"Byee..." He sang from the other side as she hung up the phone. She tossed it on the coffee table and laid down on the couch, crossing her arms across her chest as she huffed. She decided she would call one of her brothers to see what was going on once she calmed down.

From across the room, Michelia let out an exasperated sigh. She had hoped that the two of them would talk properly and then become friends again but no... They had to continue with their cat and mouse fight like the immature toddlers they were.

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River stared at the duffel bag she had taken down from the storage cupboards in the walk-in closet. It was the same one she had been using for an year now. The one she carried her spare clothes and essentials in just in case she had to stay at the hospital longer than her allotted shift.

"I missed you." She smiled looking at the blue bag. She really had missed being the doctor she was. She had had her vacation and she was glad that she did but her job was a part of who she was and going back was giving her such a good feeling. But then, it was also making her nervous. She was going to walk back in after the dramatic exit she made. She was nervous how people would perceive her now that she was the doctor who disappeared all of a sudden and got back, supposedly married. It was going to raise questions.

Hey, at least Jacqueline was going to be there right? That was a plus point.

She let out another sigh before turning to the closet to find some comfortable clothes to keep in the bag, along with some essentials that she might need. It took her about fifteen minute to do it.

Looking at her phone, she realized that the time was only half past eleven in the morning. She had more than six hours before she could start her shift and she had a feeling that it was going to be the slowest six hours of her life.

Her phone lit up again, showing Mateo's face.

She rolled her eyes. She took her phone, her finger hovering over the decline button but then she decided to accept the call.

"What?" She barked as she placed her phone against her ear.

Mateo was taken by surprise. Though he was glad that she had finally picked up her phone, he had not expected her to and now he had no idea what he was supposed to say to her.

"Did you call to keep mum?" She asked, her annoyance and anger making its way back.

"I am sorry!" He quickly exclaimed, afraid that his baby mama would hang up the phone if he showed any more tardiness.

"Apology not accepted." River said, a flat look on her face. She was not going to forgive too easily for being an asshole. He knew that he could not treat her the way he did but he still did it anyway and now the doctor was going to treat him the way he must be treated for the bullshit he had spewed at her.

"River, listen to me..." Mateo started but was cut off again.

"I am listening." She said without skipping a beat.

"River-"

"You know I have a lot of work today. I am sure Victor and Director Simmons must have informed you already of me going back to work so I have to prep for it, and get stuff ready for the kids also."

"I know I know." Mateo knew that a simple apology over the phone was not enough this time to pacify his stubborn surgeon. She was really really really offended by what he had said. He knew and she knew that it was merely a slip of tongue but Dr. River Johnson was not the kind of woman who let someone treat her any less than she deserved to be treated.

"Talk to you later." She said.

And a bulb lit up in Mateo's head. He smiled to himself as he said, "See you later."

River hung up the phone and tossed him back on the bed, even more annoyed at Mateo for not trying better and giving up as soon as she said she didn't want to hear it. She didn't really mean it. She wanted him to apologize to her even more so that she could give him a piece of her mind and treat him like shit before forgiving him.

Little did she know that he was going to try harder and he meant it literally when he said, "See you later."

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