The Mafia's Heirs

31. All Of Us

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River sighed and stretched, groaning a bit when her back throbbed in protest. "First, I thought this was about my mom, but the way things are getting all tangled up, I think there is much more in to it. This got something to do with-"

"Me."

River scrunched up her face. What did he have to do with any of this?

"Because I saved your life a year ago or because my mom's defending your informant?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"No, it's because-"

The door was pushed open and Susan Johnson walked in, with a bag of what must have be the muffin and the small box of chocolate milkshake in her hand.

"Mr. Adesso." She smiled as she walked over, setting the food down on the coffee table.

River could already smell the muffin. Yum.

"Where's Valerie?" She asked, looking around.

"She had stuff to do." River's voice was grave. She wondered if Michael had managed to get his hands on that little shit.

"Okay, so-"

"Mommy, we both need to talk. You should go home." River cut her off, keeping her voice emotionless.

"Everything alright babe?" Susan asked, her voice dripping with concern. She didn't think she could ever forgive herself if anything more happened because of her taking up that case. Little did she know that this situation was going in a completely different tangent.

"I am not sure, mom." River said honestly. "I will ask Shane to pick me up in the evening."

She nodded and went ahead to pick her coat up.

"Take care." She kissed her daughter's cheek, her eyes filled with concern and unanswered questions. But she trusted her daughter more than anyone else in the whole wide world, and had complete faith in her; whatever it is, River would handle it. And she also knew that her daughter wasn't someone who shied away from asking for help when she was stuck, so Susan knew that there was nothing that her kid couldn't handle. But still, she was her mother and she was always concerned for her little one and her little one's little ones.

"I will." River murmured, placing a kiss back.

Susan nodded at Mateo and walked out, glancing at River one last time before closing the door behind her.

Mateo went over and locked the door, the tension increasing ten-fold.

"How are you involved?" River asked him, feeling the dread begin to consume her. It wouldn't be a surprise if she had another panic attack from all the stress again.

If it had something to do with the bad guys River ended up putting behind bars a decade ago, she had a good chance at escaping with the kids if she moved cities. She was willing to even go live in Cambridge with her mom's parents. But if it had something to do with the mafia, there was no way out. Until death. At least that's what the myth was.

"Who is the kids' father?"

"He's not in the picture." River said without missing a beat. She was habituated to saying that when asked about the twins' dad. It had become more or less a reflex.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, as emotionless as she was being. "Do you know who he is?"

River wanted to say yes and that it was none of his business. But the way he looked at her was how one who knew the truth looked at the other person, challenging them to lie.