Gia hurried out to her final table. She and Zander had been waiting and cooking at Kelly's for five weeks. Many of her customers from the club worked in the warehouse district and came in for lunch. They were still good tippers even though she kept her clothes on.
Sammy was doing great in daycare. He loved it and it was cheaper than the nanny was. Zander seemed happy. Without the stress and worry of watching her all night.
She hummed through the breakfast shift. Tiny smiles crept up without her knowing. Tammy, the other waitress teased her about Yuri.
The only down side was she was that she had to see Jason Morgan and his girlfriend Sam every morning. The stupid mob enforcer watched everything she did. Worse one of his men kept hitting on her. She had only seen him once when he was following Emily and she was sure he did not know her. Zander thought it was a set up. She had to agree with him. The bastards were trying to trap her.
They found out she was pregnant that morning. They had not told anyone except Bobbie and Yuri, her new boyfriend. Zander was determined to keep the truth of her pregnancy a secret, as was Yuri.
Yuri did not judge her for what she did. in fact he was very understanding when they spoke about it several days ago.
"It is a difficult world when you are young. You and Zander struggle but you survive. We will wait to see if you are pregnant then we will be married. Sammy and the baby will take my name and we will never tell Mr. Morgan that they are his children unless we must. Everything we do must be for the children. Only they matter." Zander readily agreed to his plan. Yuri was a good man and he made Gia happy. He could take care of her in the way Zander could not.
That night, Yuri talked about his three sisters who died in a school fire in Russia. Yuri still had scars twenty years later. He promised Zander that he would take care of them. They were his family now. The younger man felt lighter at his promise. He loved his sister but they had no idea what they were doing. Their grandmother did not do more than educate them. They spent hours alone. There certainly were no men allowed in the house.
Yuri was thirty-three. His life was hard. He should have been angry at the world but he was not. He said he was until the day at the park. Gia had Sammy on the swings; the boy was just an infant. He watched her from the bench as she sang and laughed with her son. "For many months she was just a whore to me. She took her clothes off for money. When I see her son, I know why she does it. There is nothing more powerful than a mother's love."
Gia smiled again remembering the conversation.
The bell on the door rang.
"Can I take your order?" Gia looked into the soft blue eyes of the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had long light brown hair that begged to be touched. He wore a Peterson's mechanic shirt and blue jeans. Her heart skipped when he met her eyes.
"The special and coffee, please." He gave her a wink aware they were being watched.
"Give me a minute." She hurried off to the kitchen. The breakfast crowd had thinned out and her break was near. She sat his food at the table. "Here you are."
"You should join me." She grinned at her.
"I can't I have to work." She stammered.
"I cannot wait to call Sammy son and have our first really meal as a family." He smiled happily, as he cut into his breakfast. He never broke eye contact as he ate.
"Just a while longer." He nodded aware of Morgan's eyes on him.
"I cannot wait to be your husband." Yuri smiled.
"Soon." She promised. "You are the subject of a lot of conversation."
"Yes?" Yuri took her hand and placed a lingering kiss in it. "This will make them talk more."