Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Leighton
Several days go by and we don’t hear from Loraine again. It’s a relief because I don’t want to deal with her. Lynton and I have decided to stay here in Lake Renegade. She got the position she wanted and has already put in her two weeks back home. I need to go back to St. Cloud and pack up. Plus, we need to break our lease there. Thankfully we only have a few months left. And we have enough in our savings to pay it off. We’re headed back this weekend to pack up. Davis will be staying with Caitríona so that Valentino and some of his brothers can come with us. We want to get it all done over the weekend. Lynton will pack her stuff up and leave in two weeks.
“Are you sure your mam doesn’t mind watching Davis?”
“Are you kidding? She may not give him back to us when we get back.” Valentino laughs.
This is the first time I’ll be leaving Davis with anyone. But I know that Davis will be safe. He’ll be with his grandparents. It’s so weird to say that because he’s never had grandparents. And now he has two sets of them. The Bastianinis and the Mancinis. Both insist that Davis will call them Nonno (Italian for grandpa) and Maimeó (grandma in Gaelic). It’s what all their grandkids call them. Davis is a lucky little boy and I can’t wait to see him grow up.
My bodyguard is Hollis ‘Cavallo’ Taylor. He’s an enforcer for the MC, just like Valentino. Hollis is married to Lila, and they have four kids. A girl, Madeleine, and three boys: Blake, Kyler and Parker. I’ve talked to Lila and she’s really nice. She told me how Maddie is her daughter, but the boys are Maddie’s half brothers. Earlier in the year, Maddie’s biological father kidnapped her. When he was caught, the boys were going to be put in foster care. But Hollis and Lila decided to adopt them. Lila said it wasn’t the boys’ fault that her ex and his wife did what they did. And they’re Maddie’s brothers. This family amazes me more and more every day. The way they all step up to do what’s right, even though it might hurt them.
“Will you be coming with us to Minnesota?” I ask Hollis.
“Yep. It’ll be me, Ombra, Amante, Fantasma, Bestia, Sebastiano and Georgios,” he says.
I laugh. “I still can’t remember all your club names.”
Hollis chuckles. “You’ll get to know them in time. There’s a lot of us, so if it’s easier, first names work too.”
“Don’t all of them have someone to guard?” I ask.
“They do, but it’s only for a few days, so they’ll all bunk together. Plus there’s other brothers to help out until we’re back,” Hollis explains.
“I feel bad that I’m taking all of you away from your families and your work.”
“It’s not really work. I mean, it is, but it’s family so it doesn’t really feel like work.”
“I get that. And thank you for being my bodyguard.”
“It’s an honor to be chosen to guard one of the family. There’s nothing we won’t do for any of you. When I came into the Cimaruta family, I was lost and didn’t really know what I was looking for. But they gave me a family and a home. I don’t really keep in touch with my bio family. Well, except my baby sister, Aurora. She lives in London and comes home when she can. But we talk weekly.”
“Aww, what does she do?”
“She’s a model.” He smiles proudly.
“Oh wow! That is so cool, do you have a picture of her? Maybe I’ve seen her?”
Hollis pulls out his phone and scrolls around.
“This is Aurora.”
“Holy shit, she’s gorgeous! And I have seen her. She was in a commercial, right? It was for Star Coffee. I swear that was her!”
He smiles. “Yup, that’s my baby sister.”
“Damn. That’s so awesome. I hope I get to meet her one day.”
“She’s coming for Christmas and she’ll be staying with us for two weeks. Lila and the kids are so excited.”
“I am too.” I chuckle.
“What time are we leaving?”
“As soon as Valentino gets home. I think an hour or so?”
“Okay sounds good. When he gets back, I’ll head home for a bit to say bye to Lila and the kids.”
I nod at Hollis. I still haven’t gotten used to having him around all the time. And I’m sure he’s not used to it yet either. Yesterday he brought Lila with him and that made the day go by faster. I love watching them together, all the men in the family love their women so much. And they treat them like queens. Valentino treats me that way too. Now I know where he learned it.
Valentino
I’m really excited to get Leighton and Davis packed up and back to Lake Renegade. I know leaving Davis is hard for her, but he’s in the best hands possible. My mam is so excited to have time with him.
Yesterday and today I had to go back to my normal duties, which is being with Isabella. She’s almost done with school, just one more year. Amante and I spend a lot of time standing around watching people. There are some strange ones on campus.
“You sure you’re okay coming with us this weekend?” I ask Amante.
“Of course. If there’s more of us, it’ll go by faster, that’s always a perk.”
I chuckle. “I appreciate it. I know Leighton is having issues with leaving Davis. But Mam is so excited to take him for the weekend.”
“Yeah she’s been hinting to me about babies. Charmaine says she’s ready if I am.”
“And are you?” I ask him.
“Yeah, I’m ready whenever it happens.” He smiles.
Amante and Charmaine got married a few months ago. He smiles more since he met her and now I get why. Because I’m pretty sure I’ve been smiling more too.
“So when are you going to ask Leighton to marry you?” Amante laughs.
“We’ve only know each other for a week. Too fast?”
“Nope. You should know this by now.”
“I want her to get settled in first. Then I plan on asking her.”
“That’s what I thought.” He smiles.
“Yeah, yeah.” I laugh.
We see Isabella and Luciana coming out of their classes.
“Ready to head home?” I ask them.
“Missing Leighton?” Isabella teases me.
I roll my eyes at her and start walking to the cage we bring every day. Traffic sucks and it takes us a little longer than usual.
“Are you guys going to be gone till Sunday?” Luciana asks.
“Depends on how long it takes us to pack all Leigh’s things. If we can finish faster, then we’ll head back sooner. I’m wondering if we should leave someone back with Lynton. I don’t like that she’ll be left alone.”
“Talk to Papa. I’m sure he’ll agree and ask someone to go and stay with Lynton too.”
“I’ll talk to him when we get home.”
“We’re really glad you found Leighton. We like her a lot and she’s good for you.”
“Well that’s nice to know and I plan on keeping her around.” I chuckle.
I go and look for Papa as soon as we get home. I find him in his office, so I knock.
“Come in,” Giacomo calls out.
“Hey, Papa. You got a minute?”
“Of course, Valentino. What’s up?”
“I was thinking that I’d like someone to stay with Lynton when we leave. I don’t like that she’ll be alone for two weeks.”
Papa nods. “I’ll have Brennan go with you and then stay with Lynton.”
“Thank you, Papa. I really appreciate this.”
“Lynton is family now too and with the situation with the Moss family, she needs someone with her.”
“I really hope they just let all of this go. They have no claim on Davis and it’s making me crazy.”
“Grief does weird things sometimes.”
“But they disowned Kayla before Davis was born and they’ve never even met him.”
“Guilt could be why they’re doing this too.”
“Guilt over treating their daughter like crap? That’s tough shit for them.” I frown.
“I know, figlio. We’ll get them to stop.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Papa.”
As I get home, Raziel is pulling up to our house.
“What time are we leaving?” Raziel asks.
“Hour or two? You need to pack?”
“Yeah. I’ll be back in a few.”
“Thanks for doing this.”
It takes a few hours before we’re all packed up and ready to leave. Saying goodbye to Davis was the hardest part.