Page 26 of Bread in The Oven

I lean down and kiss her, holding her tight.

“I love you, Romano. I don’t want to leave you. But if they try to take Lucy, I won’t let her go alone,” she says softly to me.

I understand what she’s saying. But none of us will let them take Lucy either. As we stand here, more of my brothers and the Mancinis show up.

“Can you take Simone back to the bakery?” I ask Rosaura.

“Of course. Come on, sweet girl. You don’t need this stress.”

I watch them walk away, then turn to her parents.

“I don’t know you, and from what I’ve heard? You don’t deserve to be parents to anyone. So I’ll say this once. Stay the fuck away from Simone and Lucy. I don’t care what rights you think you have. But abusing your children is never an option.”

Simone’s father laughs. “Is that what she told you? That we abused them? We never put a hand on any of our kids.”

What a fucking cocksucker, he really wants us to think that he’s innocent in all of this? That he didn’t terrorize his kids, making all four of them run from him? I want to put my fist through his smug face.

“I’m going to ask you and your wife to leave the area. Your daughter is an adult and it is her choice to talk to you or not,” Salvatore says.

“You can’t make us leave. This is a free country,” Simones father says. I still don’t know the asswipe’s name.

“Actually I can. I am the law here in Lake Renegade. And we don’t allow people like you to ruin our town,” Sal responds calmly.

Asswipe scoffs at him. “This town is a shit hole and it harbors criminals. I want my daughters back. I’ll go to the real police and they’ll help me get her back.”

“Unfortunately sir, both your daughters have already made reports with the Chicago police. There is a restraining order in place and a court date scheduled. I’m guessing that’s why you’re here. Somehow you found out where they were. Which is illegal and I can arrest you for being anywhere near Simone.”

Simone’s father looks like he’s going to explode which makes me want to laugh. He thought he could come here and just take Simone and Lucy away. He’s going to learn that’s not how things work here in Lake Renegade. Even if Simone wasn’t my woman, we would still protect her and Lucy.

“Lucy is only seventeen years old. She’s still a minor and you have no right to keep her from me. You can keep the pregnant whore.”

What Simone’s parents don’t know is that Lucy has been emancipated. It took three months to get all the papers together and we all testified for her. She got her final papers last week. She’s officially free of them. I wish I could blurt that out to them, but it’s not my news to tell.

I take a few steps towards Asswipe. I warned him that if he called my farfalla names again I would make him pay. He sees me coming and starts to back up. That coward is barely five-eight and at my full height? I have at least seven inches and one hundred pounds on him. I will kill the bastard.

“You can’t touch me. I will press charges and you’ll go to jail.” His voice betrays his fear of me.

“He’s not worth a night in jail, Romano,” Sal says quietly to me. “Fuck him. He’s lost everything, and we win. Don’t let him take anything from you and Simone.”

Salvatore is right. But that doesn’t mean it’s not killing me to walk away from the bastard. This isn’t the end, I will get revenge for Simone.

Chapter Thirteen

Romano

It’s been three days since Simone’s parents confronted her outside the bakery. We never did make it to our appointment. And I’ve been worried about her stress levels. Lucy has been really quiet too. Salvatore has kept us in the loop, their parents have gone to the main police station in Chicago to try and get some help. But as of now, they’ve been told they need to wait. They have tried to get onto the property, but every person that takes care of the gates has been told not to let them in.

I hate that I won’t be able to go with Simone to the bakery today. Maeve has classes and this is my job, to protect her. But I know that Raziel will take care of her.

“How are things with Simone’s parents?” Maeve asks me as we head to her first class.

“It’s quiet which is never a good sign.” I sigh.

She nods. “Especially in this family. Maybe they’ll just leave?”

“I doubt it, but it would be the best case scenario.”

Since this morning I’ve had a bad feeling about today. I hate days like this when I just can’t put my finger on what might happen. I call Raziel to check in. I don’t usually call Simone in case she’s in the middle of making something.