Chapter 17 Guards
Guards
Max
“I can’t believe how much fun I had at work today.
It was amazing. The environment that Fiona created there is so warm and welcoming.
Every person came up, introduced themselves to me, and really tried to get to know me.
It’s like they wanted me to know they wanted me here.
And the food…well, you got to taste it. Isn’t it amazing?
They even have Bisnonna’s biscotti recipe.
It shocked everyone when I didn’t need to refer to the recipe once.
Did you get to taste the ‘Leftover’ cookie?
It’s amazing, right? I brought some home for Sasha and Alex to taste.
” Hope stops mid-step. “Oh no! I didn’t bring one for Alayna.
She’ll be hurt that I forgot about her.” She starts moving rapidly down the sidewalk.
“Maybe I should invite Sasha and Alex over to hang out. You know she’s always working with her mom after school.
Then I could invite her on Saturday to try it out.
What do you think? Or I could just cut up the cookies.
They are pretty big, but you know how Sasha and Alex eat. ”
Basking in the glow of my little girl’s joy was totally worth the worry of the day. “You don’t have to worry about that. They’ll be over to visit today.”
“What? Why? I didn’t invite them. What did you do?” Hope raises an eyebrow at me.
“Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s not a family dinner night. And Nonna didn’t invite Aunt Liliana over. So, you or Nonno invited Sasha and Alex. Did you invite Uncle Aleksei, too?”
The fact that my daughter views Aleksei Kamenev as her uncle always boggles my mind. “No.”
“You aren’t going to tell me why they’re coming over, are you?”
My little girl would lose her mind, and enlist my mother and nonna to her side. “No.”
“I could ask Sasha.” Hope might be curious, but she won’t take advantage and try to get the information out of Alex.
Which impresses me even more. “He won’t tell you.”
Her shoulders sag. “He doesn’t tell me any of the good stuff.”
I’m counting on that. “It’s for your own good.”
“Everything is. One of these days, I’m going to go on a wild adventure.”
“As long as you take your dear old dad. Tell me when and where, and I’ll call the pilot.”
She bumps my arm with her head. “You know I can’t do that. I have to work. Isn’t it exciting?”
So exciting. Though my day got better with every smile on Fiona’s face.
“I love my boss. Fiona is so smart. Do you know that not only does she know every recipe off the top of her head, but also the costs per item, per ingredient, and all the things? It’s like she’s a fountain of knowledge.
People probably underestimate her because she’s so pretty.
Isn’t she pretty? I love her style. That dress she wore today was the perfect dress for a winter engagement party.
I wonder if she has a boyfriend…She isn’t married. I checked for a ring.”
The little meddler takes after her great-grandma. Impressive and also irritating.
“I wonder if she likes football players? She’d be perfect for Uncle Gabe.”
What? “Gabe? Why Gabe?”
“Because they’d look so cute together. Wouldn’t they? She’s tall enough to dance with him without them looking silly together. They’d make the cutest babies ever. Oh, that would make me a great-aunt.”
Gabe and Fiona certainly wouldn’t make the cutest babies. Why would Hope even say that? “More like a second cousin,” I correct absentmindedly. This is absolutely ludicrous.
“I should talk about this with Bisnonna. She’s the best at getting couples together.”
Nonna better set you straight…Except knowing Hope, then she would think it was a free-for-all-meddle-a-thon to try to get Fiona and me together.
Which it isn’t. We need the time to truly get to know each other. To fall in love on our own terms.
Absolutely not because of one meddling old woman and a meddling child.
I should be glad that Hope isn’t trying to play matchmaker again, like she did with Dahlia. Though Dahlia was a good pick. Beautiful, smart, and good with my kid…what more could a man ask for?
Fiona has all those things and more. I wish Gabe hadn’t gotten into my head with that whole letting the nonnas pick. “Do you really want to develop your bisnonna’s habit of meddling?”
Hope stops at our wrought-iron gate and turns to me. “It’s not a habit. It’s a calling. And why not? You’re always telling me it’s important to continue the traditions of our family. Matchmaking is a time-honored tradition. And I think I’d be good at it.”
With the exception of Gabe and Fiona, “You’re good at whatever you set your mind to. Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer to go into computers?”
“That’s your thing, Dad. You know I don’t really have an interest in them, except to game a little.”
I’m not really crazy about the gaming—which is only a little bit hypocritical because I play a MMORPG now and again—but as long as she does it with her cousins, I don’t worry too much. “It could be your thing if you gave it a chance.”
“You just want someone to take over your empire one day.” She opens the gate and heads to the door.
“A father can dream, can’t he?” I mutter to myself.
Hope laughs as she reaches for the front door, which opens before her hand touches the knob.
My dad stands there, glaring down at us.
“Hi, Nonno.” She walks over, pushes up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Is Nonna in the kitchen?”
“She is.”
“Enjoy your secret meeting.”
The little imp skips off.
When she’s out of earshot, Dad asks, “Why is my office packed with teenage boys?”
“I needed help with a serious problem.”
“Willow Street?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. But if one of War’s boys breaks something, you’re replacing it.”
Those boys are menaces. Which is exactly what I’m counting on.
***
“Why don’t we just set an example and beat one of them up for speaking to our women.” Rath pipes in from the back.
Women? We’re talking about teenage girls. Barely girls, children. But then again Rath just turned fourteen himself.
Those boys are barely civilized. They speak four or five different languages, but they rarely remember to wear shoes and are always sporting bruises that they gave each other.
“Or two.” Rift climbs up onto the back of the couch.
Definitely not wearing shoes.
“They will kick you off of Willow Street if you do that.” Maddox is irritating like that. Though I can see his point of view.
“They can’t kick us off Willow Street.” Ruin doesn’t always use his brain, it seems.
I step forward. “They can, and they will if you just start picking fights with the kids there. Now, if you’re protecting one of your sisters or cousins, that’s another story.
You use whatever force is necessary, and I will step in and take care of any blowback. Vincenti women are never disrespected.”
The kids start whispering. “They’d better not try anything.” “We’ll show them.” “They probably don’t even know how to fight.”
And now it seems like I’ve created more of a problem.
Sasha steps forward. “We need to take this seriously. These are our sisters we’re talking about. If we get kicked off of Willow Street, they will be without protection.”
Impressive kid.
“We need to make a schedule so that there is always protection around. Just like our families do. And no one goes in alone.”
That’s a good idea, especially to put someone rational with War’s kids. How did they all end up so much like War and not his completely sensible wife? “That’s a good idea.”
“I’ll make a schedule then. And if you can’t make it, find someone to cover for you or contact me.” Sasha seems more than a little bit invested in this project.
Reck raises his hand. “You said there are lots of teenagers. Does this include a lot of teenage girls too?”
I groan silently. It’s going to be a long afternoon.
***
After what seems like hours, yhe group wanders out of Dad’s office, probably to the kitchen to raid my cookie jar. Like any of them don’t have enough of their own at home.
Sasha lingers. “I’ll need Hope’s schedule and yours so that I can make sure she’s covered.”
“You’re taking this very seriously.” For the scary kid, that’s only semi-concerning.
“Hope is my best friend. I would do anything to ensure her safety.”
That right there should settle my soul, but it doesn’t. Kamenevs are intense, but this feels too intense for children their age.