Page 6 of Bread in The Oven
Romano
Today is Simone’s first day here at the bakery. And luck has it that Francesco was planning on staying with Maeve today. So I told Caitríona that I would come to the bakery with her and her bodyguard, Connor ‘Azrael' Byrne. Our women never go anywhere alone, same with the Mancini women. Gráinne and Rosaura Mancini, the other two owners of Precious Risings Bakery are the wives of Enea and Leonardo Mancini. Enea is the head of the Chicago mafia and Leonardo is his consigliere. They have a triplet brother, Antonio, who oversees all the businesses.
“You need pastries this early in the morning?” Azrael asks me.
“Don’t we all?” I laugh.
Azrael keeps staring at me. Okay, I don’t usually go to the bakery this early. Nosy bastard.
“Okay, I’m ready to go. Gráinne and Rosaura should be there already. We have a wedding to get prepped for. And we’re training our new baker today,” Caitríona tells us.
I try not to grin too much, but I can’t help it. Just the mention of Simone makes me smile. I never thought my heart would want to get to know someone again. But here I am thinking about a woman that I saw crossing the street. Amara and I had talked about it, what we would do if one of us was lost. She told me that she would want me to be happy and find love again. I told her I want her to love me forever and no one else. Okay, I was joking…kind of. But truthfully, I would want Amara to be happy if I was the one that was gone.
We get into one of the cages we own and head to the bakery. Again, my smile comes out as I see Simone waiting outside the front door. She’s early.
“Hi! Morning! I was so excited I couldn’t wait to start.” She smiles as she sees Caitríona.
We all smile at her. She’s fucking adorable.
“Morning, Simone. This is Connor and Romano, you’ll be seeing Connor here every day. Romano comes by a lot, but this morning he wanted pastries.” She chuckles.
“It’s nice to meet you both.” Simone smiles and shakes Connors hand, then takes mine. I swear when I touch her hand I hear a voice say she’s mine.
“Morning,” Connor says as he shakes her hand.
“Morning,” I say as I hold her hand. She’s not trying to take her hand back and I’m pretty sure everyone is staring at us.
“We should head inside,” Caitríona says as she gives me a look that tells me she knows something’s up.
I look at her and try to keep my face neutral. But if there’s one thing I know about Caitríona, she knows all of us really well. She knows when we’re covering shit up. Even though it hasn’t been that long for me? She knows me, and sometimes that’s a little scary. Simone gets to work with Gráinne after meeting Arturo and Seamus, their bodyguards. Caitríona comes over to me.
“You like our new baker,” she says. She’s telling me, not asking me.
I look at her and sigh.
“There’s something about her. But she’s looks so young, how old is she?”
“She says she’s twenty-one. I don’t think she’s lying, she didn’t hesitate when I asked her.”
I nod. So she’s five years younger than me. That’s not so bad, when I first saw her I thought she was maybe eighteen. I would never touch her if she were younger than that. I really hope she’s not lying about her age. I will still protect her no matter what her age.
“What do you think she’s running from?” I ask Caitríona quietly.
“I don’t know. Maybe an abusive ex?”
I frown, that thought makes my blood boil.
“You do like her. That look right there is my confirmation.” She smiles at me. “I know we said we’d never push you to tell us what happened to you back home. But know that whatever it is, we will always be here for you.”
My head drops as I look at my hands. I think it’s time to tell someone about what happened.
“I lost my family,” I say softly.
Caitríona puts her hands over mine. “I’m so sorry, Romano. Can you tell me what happened?”
I take a breath and look into her eyes.
“My wife and three children were on their way to my oldest’s football game. A driver came out of nowhere and hit them head on.”