The Mafia's Heirs

23. So There Is A Threat?

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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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