Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Valentino
I’m a little nervous bringing Leighton to meet my family. They can be overwhelming. And it’s not just the Bastianinis, we live on a huge piece of land that’s shared with three other families. The Mancini, Nikolaidis and Athanasiou families. The Bastianinis joined the Mancinis on the property five years ago and the Nikolaidis and Athanasiou families came two years ago.
“You live here? Where does that road lead to? It says ‘campgrounds.’”
I chuckle. “The campgrounds are in the middle of the property, with ponds, cabins and RV hookups.”
“Wow! That’s really cool. Can we go there later?”
“Of course.”
I pull into our part of the property and head to the main house.
“Giacomo and Caitríona live in the main house, Celestino and Isabella do too,” I explain to her.
“Is that where you live too?”
I nod. “If you choose to move here, we can either stay in the main house or one of the houses you see that aren’t taken. I just need to be close to Isabella.”
“We?” She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Yes. We.” I chuckle. “I told you, you’re the one I want and I’ll keep saying it until you believe me."
She laughs as I park the cage. I notice that she didn’t say no and that makes me happy.
“It’s beautiful here. Even with all these homes and the campgrounds so near, it’s quiet.”
“It is, and even at peak time when the campgrounds are full, it’s still really nice here. It’s like the trees and mountain absorb the noise.”
“Are there wild animals in the campgrounds?”
“Yes.”
I can’t really elaborate on that one. Are there wild animals? Yes. But that’s also a question that has a flip side to it. Shifters. The Athanasiou and Nikolaidis families are shifters. If Leighton chooses to stay with me, she’ll learn about them soon enough.
The first ones out to meet us are Isabella and Luciana.
“Those are my sisters.” I smile as they come running.
“O. M. G. You’re gorgeous! Way too pretty for Valentino,” Isabella teases as she hugs Leighton. “I’m Isabella.”
“I’m Luciana.”
We head to the barbecue area where everyone’s waiting for us. One by one, I introduce her to them.
“Don’t worry about remembering names right away. It can be overwhelming,” I whisper to her.
“There are more people here than I thought there would be. Are they really all family?”
“To me they are. And now they’re yours and Davis’ family too. Anything you need, they’re here for you—and for Davis.”
“It’s always been just me, Lynton, Levi and Kayla. I don’t even know what it would be like to have so many people to rely on.”
“Well now you will, no matter what you need. From a babysitter to getting a ride somewhere. Family.”
I look over to where Davis is sitting with Grayson and my mam. She looks so happy and Davis is laughing. I wrap my arm around Leighton’s waist and kiss the top of her head. She leans into me and leans her head on my chest. It feels so right to hold her. My mam looks up and smiles at us. We see Isabella walking over to us. I know she wanted to talk to Leighton.
“I hope it’s okay, Bella wanted to talk to you,” I whisper to her.
“It’s okay, I’d like to talk to her too.” She smiles up at me.
“I have a few things I need to do, I’ll be back.” I kiss her and tell Isabella to be nice.
Leighton
There are so many people here. I loved meeting Valentino’s family, his mam gave me a hug just like the first time I met her. And his sisters are so nice, they remind me of my twin. I need to call her and let her know what’s been going on. She’s going to love Lake Renegade. Every time Valentino talks about us living together it makes me feel happy. But I worry that maybe he’s a little crazy. I like him, but living together is a huge step.
I never really thought about settling down, but he makes me want to. But I’m still not sure this is where Davis and I should be. My twin lives close to me now, how will she react if I tell her I’m going to move here? I need to talk to her first.
“So what do you think about moving here?” Isabella asks me.
“To be honest, I’m not sure yet. I love your town, but I have a twin sister and I need to talk to her first. She lives near me now and if I move here—we’ve never lived this far apart.”
“What does she do?”
“Lynton is a third grade teacher. She’s been at her school for two years now.”
“That’s awesome. We need teachers at our school…” she winks at me.
I chuckle. “I’ll be sure to mention that when I call her.”
“Does she know how the test turned out?”
I shake my head no.
“I planned to call her tonight, but Valentino said we were invited to a barbecue. The hard part about me moving here is I don’t know what I would do for work. And I don’t have enough in savings yet, so that makes me nervous.”
“I understand. What do you do now? And is there anything you want to do?”
“I’m a secretary for a small law firm in St. Cloud. And I do enjoy it, but I’ve always wanted to go back to school and get my law degree. I’ve been taking classes and I’m almost done with my Bachelor’s. Then I need to decide if I want to get my law degree. And now that I have Davis, I want it more. I want to give him the best life.”
“I hate to keep pushing you to move, but I want to throw this out there. If you live here, you’ll have a whole support system. There will always be someone to help you with Davis. No matter what. And I know for a fact that Valentino will do anything and everything to help you both.”
I nod at Isabella. “When I came here, I was certain I was going to hate Valentino. But now?—”
“You like him. He grows on you.”
I laugh. “Kayla, Davis’ mom, didn’t tell me the whole story. And I understand why she did what she did. But I hated him. Now I know the truth and I’m just confused. It’s harder because I do like him. A lot.”
Isabella is smiling at me…like she knows something I don’t.
“I want to talk to you about Valentino. He’s a good guy and will lay his life down for someone he loves. He will protect you and Davis with his last breath. He’s not always the best with words, but when he says something? He means it.”
“Has he been with a lot of women? I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”
“I don’t mind, I understand your worry. But no. He’s never brought home a woman. I know he’s not a monk. But no one’s ever meant enough to him to bring home. I’m not saying your friend didn’t mean anything to him. But from what I understand, they both knew it wasn’t serious.”
“That’s what Kayla said in her letter. That she wanted me to meet Valentino and she had a feeling we’d like each other. It’s just scary. I mean we just met, how do you know what to do in such a short time?”
“Sometimes you just know. I think you need to follow your instincts. Honestly, that initial feeling you have is the one to listen to.”
“I wanted to hate him. But I don’t, he’s not what I expected at all.”
“You’ll figure it out, give yourself time if that’s what you need. The answers will come to you. How long were you planning on staying?”
“Three weeks.”
“You should stay here on the property. For one, it will save you money on the hotel. And you can get to know all of us. Even if it doesn’t work out with Valentino, we’d still be your family because of our connection to Davis.”
Isabella hugs me.
“Thank you so much. I’d like to stay here, but where would you put us?”
“You can stay in one of our vacant houses if you want.”
“I’d really like that.”
“I’ll have the guys get your things and you can take a tour of your new house.” Isabella smiles as Luciana joins us.
“Did I hear that right? You’re going to stay?” Luciana smiles.
“I’m going to see how things are at the end of three weeks. But I have a feeling I’m not going to want to leave.”
The twins get Valentino and their brothers to pack up my room and check me out. I offered to help but they said no. At least most of my stuff was still packed. These next three weeks will be interesting. I take a moment to call my twin.
“Hey! So? What’s Valentino like? Did you do the DNA test?” she blurts out as she answers.
I laugh. “Yes, we did the test and he is Davis’ father. Valentino is nothing like I thought he would be.”
“Holy shit! You like him!” she squeals.
“Oh my god. Shush. If you yell any louder someone will hear you.”
“Good. Cause I bet you haven’t told him you like him.”
“I don’t know if I like him.”
“Please. I can hear it in your voice. So when should I come visit?”
“You can come anytime you want. The family is letting us stay in one of their houses and it’s incredible. They also asked if I would consider moving here to Lake Renegade. I told them that I needed to talk to you first.”
“Leigh, I want you to be happy. Do you like it there?”
“I do like it here, but I don’t want to be so far from you. There’s an elementary school here and Isabella, that’s Valentino’s sister, said they’re looking for teachers.”
‘’Why don’t I come up this weekend? We can talk and decide together.”
“I would love that. That’s a long drive, though. I can help you pay for a plane ticket if you want.”
“A plane ride would be faster, plus I’ll have more time with you and Davis.”
“Okay, use our joint account and book your flight. I’ll pick you up at the airport. Thank you Lyn, I really appreciate this. If I move, I want it to be both of us.”
“I understand, sis. But there may come a day where we might have to move away from each other…”
“Shush. Maybe one day. But not today. Book your flight and let me know. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
After we hang up, I check on Davis and he’s still napping. He must be comfortable here. I hear a car outside and go down to help them bring my stuff in. I only have a few bags.