Page 162 of Romeo

He didn’t have to offer her his cut.

But he did. Before this threat.

Why?

Because his real panic began when he found her gone. After she moved back to Manning Grove.

He had been and still was afraid of losing her.

Christ.Who the fuck was he? How could a lone female make his life do a complete one-eighty?

“Now… My ol’ lady invited you to dinner.”

He opened his eyes.What the actual fuck?

One minute the man was threatening to reduce him to a pile of ashes, the next, inviting him to share a fucking meal?

This whole damn thing was messed up.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Never in hisgoddamn life did he think he’d be sitting around a table and having dinner with the parents of a woman he fucked.

Like this was normal. Like they were normal.

None of them were normal.

Not a fucking one.

Despite his broken ribs, leg and arm, he had a hard time sitting still.

He might have escaped being cremated long before it was his time, but he was still paranoid about this dinner invite. This whole thing had to be a damn trap, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Fury members stormed in at any goddamn second, dragged his ass out and buried him out in one of their fields, never to be seen again.

He glanced at his still full plate, then up at Maddie sitting across from him. She chewed away unbothered like Romeo shared dinner with them every night.

But no one was saying a damn word.

Shade sat at one end of the dining table, Chelle at theother. Romeo sat along one side next to Jude, while Maddie sat next to her sister Josie.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Maddie’s adopted brother asked him.

Maybe because a few hours ago he was only a cunt hair away from being turned to ashes.

Or because both he and Maddie were being closely watched by Shade.

Or because Maddie’s younger sister kept giggling under her breath. Most likely from the awkwardness from this whole fucking situation.

He told Maddie he wanted to take her to dinner. Only, he didn’t expect it to be at her family’s house.

“You don’t like the chicken?” Shade’s ol’ lady asked him.

Romeo glanced at Maddie’s mother, then again at his plate. He picked up his fork and knife, cut off a small piece of the roasted bird and shoved it into his mouth. “It’s great,” he answered Chelle as he chewed, not even tasting it.

He had to gulp down some water just to swallow that small piece since his throat was tight.

Across the table, Josie giggle-snorted and elbowed her older sister.

“Stop,” Maddie whispered, not finding this situation as entertaining as her sister.

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