Page 79 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings
“But—”
“But nothing. You heard me.” I turned to her, gripping my mug in my hand.
“We don’t even need a nanny! When we were in Chicago, me and Saga knew how to take care of us! I don’t want her here!” she screamed, leaping from her chair.
“We were doing what we had to do in Chicago. Things are different here, so that means how we move is different. You might not understand that yet because you’re still a child, but it was never you or Saga’s responsibility to do what you were doing. I’m your father, and it’s up to me to make better decisions for you.”
“I want Mommy here!” Tavi whined, storming out of the room.
Glancing Saga’s way, he just shrugged and went back to scooping food into his mouth. She’d talked about being a family with all of us before, but it wasn’t something I could entertain. Nadia and I weren’t the same people we were ten-plus years ago. She didn’t even like Piaget and Rogue and barely acknowledged them as my kids. I couldn’t be with a woman on that type of time. Tavi was a child and couldn’t understand it though. All she knew was that she wanted her parents to be together. I heated up my plate and joined the boys at the table. Rogue happily swung his legs and stuffed his face with the last of his waffle. He had a fork and butter knife, yet he still chose to use his hands.
“Morning, Daddy!” he greeted me with his mouth full.
“Chew your food, Rogue.”
“Where were you last night?” Saga wondered.
“I was working,” I answered, bringing a forkful of waffle to my mouth.
“Ma was trying to call you. She said you weren’t picking up.”
“Because I was working,” I repeated. “What she want?”
“She said she needed to talk to you about some things and wants you to call her right away,” my son said with a half shrug.
“I’ll check in. Make sure you two get dressed so we can head out when the stores open and get this shopping out of the way. I have a meeting tonight, and I want you all in bed at a reasonable time for school.”
“I hate that we have to wear a uniform,” Saga grumbled with a furrowed brow.
“You’ll be fine. We can still get clothes and shoes for you for weekends and stuff like that.”
“Whatever.” He snatched his plate as he got up and walked it over to the sink.
Cambrie’s breakfast was on point, and I sat wolfing it down while Rogue remained seated, asking for some of my bacon. Piaget went back to her room to get dressed, and when I finished eating, I carried my plate to the sink. I loaded everything in the dishwasher, not wanting to leave a mess for Cambrie to clean up before I went to get ready for my day. After a hot shower, I brushed and flossed then stepped into my walk-in closet to find something to wear. I decided on a two-piece, olive-green Nike jumpsuit with a pair of matching Jordan Retro 4s. While I was placing my Marek medallion chain on, my flip cell phone vibrated against the dresser top as I studied my reflection. Sighing at the sight of Nadia’s name once again, I decided to pick up and get this conversation out of the way.
“What’s up?” I greeted her, reaching for my beard comb after running some oil through it.
“Nice of you to call me back, Staten,” she huffed.
“I’ve been busy, Nadia. What’s going on?”
“For one, I want to talk about the fact that I had to hear from my kids that you moved them from Chicago back to Oak Bluffs. It would have been nice to have a discussion about that decision.”
“I’m their father,” I pointed out.
“And I’m their mother.”
“Aight. You got it.” I wasn’t about to sit here arguing with her about this shit. “In all fairness, I just made the decision, and I was going to let you know once I got them settled. I’m taking over as the head of Marek Industries.”
“I never thought you’d go back home.”
“Yeah, I know.” I picked up my iPhone off the dresser and tucked it in my pocket. “Shit changed, and this is where I need to be.”
“What about this nanny you hired?” Nadia insinuated.
“What about her?”
“Tavi says she doesn’t like her,” Nadia quipped. “You just hired some strange woman to take care of our kids?”
