Page 23 of Bread in The Oven

“I’ll be back,” I say to her as Forza calls for church.

The clubhouse is filled because this barbecue is a mandatory one. That means every chapter associated with the Cimaruta MC is here. Including the European chapters. First we have our council meeting to catch up with all the chapter clubs. Nothing new is going on right now and that’s such a relief. In the last year, our club has gone through a lot. There’s been kidnappings, old grudges coming back up and we almost lost a few members.

“I’m glad to hear that no one is having any major issues right now. After the year we’ve had? This quiet time is welcomed,” Giacomo ‘Forza’ Bastianini says. He is the president of our club, and we are the mother club. The original Cimaruta MC.

The room gets quiet as each chapter president updates us on what’s going on. This process takes about an hour to get through everyone. After we’re done, the other chapters head back out to the barbecue and we stay to have our meeting.

“You all know that we have two new women living on the property, Simone and Lucy __TK__. And you also know that Simone is Fantasma’s woman. We all saw earlier that he’s asked her to be his wife. So I wanted to take this time to congratulate him.”

All my brothers get up and give me a hug.

“Grazie. I have one request. Now that Simone will be my wife, I would like to ask for someone to be her bodyguard. You should all know her story, and she’s given me permission to tell you.”

I tell everyone about what Simone and Lucy have gone through. The room is dead silent as they all listen. My brothers think like me. No man should lay a hand on a woman. especially not a father.

“I will be Simone’s bodyguard,” Brennan ‘Raziel’ Doyle says. He is the club chaplain.

“Thank you.” I nod to him. “I have one more thing to say, Simone is pregnant.”

All the guys start cheering.

“Damn, that was fast,” Hollis ‘Cavallo’ Taylor, another enforcer teases.

“Are we going to go after her asshole parents?” Bestia asks.

“In time, I think we will find them and make sure they stay away. Right now, I don’t know if Simone or Lucy could handle it,” I say to him.

“I agree, we need to make sure the girls are okay before we find their parents,” Forza says.

We wrap things up and head back out to the barbecue. I head straight for my baby, she’s standing with Rosaura.

“Congratulations, Romano.” Rosaura smiles as she hugs me.

“Thank you.”

“I told Rosaura about the baby. I couldn’t wait.” Simone giggles. I love how excited she is, I lay my hand on her belly. I can’t wait till she’s showing.

“I told the club too.” I chuckle. “Also, Raziel will be with you when I can’t.”

Simone looks at me. “I get a bodyguard now? Why?”

“Because you’re going to be my wife and you’re pregnant with our child. That’s how it works in this family.”

“Okay,” she says as she hugs me.

“Thank you for not arguing with me about it.”

“I know that anything you do is good for me, the baby and Lucy. I’ve been controlled before. You’re the opposite of that.”

I hold her tight. When she’s ready, I will be paying her parents a visit. They have to be taught a lesson, and they will learn.

Chapter Twelve

Simone

Time feels like it’s flying by really fast. It’s been four months since we found our new home. And three months since Romano asked me to marry him. We’re getting married next month. He wants me to carry his name before our baby is born. And today we get to see our baby in an ultrasound. We’ve been trying to decide if we want to know if we’re having a boy or girl. I kind of do, but I kind of don’t. Romano says maybe we should wait, we still have time to decide.

Every morning, Romano, Lucy and I have breakfast together. Then Lucy heads over to Luciana’s house, she’s been helping her study for her GED. She’ll be taking it in two months. Lucy’s so excited and she says after she’s done, she wants to be a veterinarian. Maeve Bastianini, Franco’s wife, is studying to be one. She’s specializing in exotic animals, specifically sea otters. Lucy says she wants to choose to specialize in another animal. Maybe horses or another exotic animal. I’m so proud of her.