Page 31 of My Young Mafia Daddy

‘I don’t think my legs will ever work again!’ I giggle, resting my head on Nico’s strong chest.

‘They’ll have to if you ever want to show your face at the bakery again!’ Nico chuckles. ‘I might be a man that people don’t mess with too often, but I promised Mitch you’d be in bright and early. So don’t let me down!’

We both laugh.

This has been like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

We’ve got the rest of the evening together, and that fills my heart with joy.

I think I might have found my Forever Daddy.

Nico is practically perfect in every way.

But, and you can call me superstitious if you want, I don’t think I’m going to dare say that out loud just yet…

It’s the morning after the wonderful night before, and I walk into East Side Sugar with a swagger that makes it pretty obvious how good a night I’ve just had.

But just seconds later, I can tell by the look on Mitch’s face that something is up…

‘Mitch?’ I say, noting the worried expression on his face. ‘Is everything okay? I’m not late am I?’

‘No, Eddie,’ Mitch replies. ‘Nothing like that.’

‘Is everything okay with your family?’ I ask, wanting to help but also conscious not to cross any boundaries.

‘No, my family are okay,’ Mitch says, getting up from his stool and walking over to rearrange the donut display. ‘It’s… Vance Cold, the landlord.’

Urgh. Vance Cold… pretty much the grumpiest landlord on the East Side.

I should have known Vance Cold has something to do with this…

‘What is it now? He wants another rent increase?’ I say. ‘Oh wait, it can’t be that. We’re locked into a rent-controlled contract. Right?’

‘I wish it was so simple,’ Mitch says. ‘Apparently, Vance has informed the lettings manager that he’s selling the property. But not only that, he’s already accepted an offer from someone. He didn’t even give me a chance to bid!’

‘Oh no, that’s terrible,’ I say, my voice now as full of concern as Mitch’s.

‘It gets worse…’ Mitch says, staring off into the distance. ‘The buyer is some low-down criminal. A guy connected to the damn New York Mob. Goes by the name of Luca Conte.’

‘Wait... no… this doesn’t sound fair at all,’ I say, my brain going into overtime trying to think of a way out of this. ‘Didn’t the landlord promise you that if he ever chose to sell you could have first refusal?’

Mitch nods, but I can tell that there’s a big but coming…

‘Yeah, he did,’ Mitch says, shaking his head. ‘But it turns out that promises don’t mean much to Vance freakin’ Cold.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ I say, stuck for words. ‘This is horrible news.’

‘I’m sad to say, this could be the end of East Side Sugar,’ Mitch says, a tear in his eye. ‘We might be about to bake our last cakes…’

This isn’t good, and it’s definitely not fair.

I want to help.

I feel like I have to try and think of any way I can make this right for Mitch.

I love working at East Side Sugar… there must be a way to make this problem go away – there justhasto be.

Chapter 10

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