Page 32 of Cold

ChapterEleven

ROMARE

I feltlike I was walking on air. Every step felt lighter than the one I took before it, and I knew deep in my heart that Vito Bianchi was the real deal. He was supposed to be my Daddy and I wouldn’t stop until I made him mine.

Vito was still in bed, his snores making me smile as I looked in on him. I wanted to climb into his lap and do it all over again. The way he’d fucked me and then held me after? It wasn’t what I was used to.

But it’s what I deserve.

Sergei’s face flashed in my mind and my stomach dropped. I turned away from Vito and made my way back to the kitchen. I couldn’t kill him. I wouldn’t! But my body and my mind still belonged to Sergei. I was being mentally ripped in two.

I sat a pan on the stove and looked into the fridge. I wasn’t much of a cook, but I could do something simple. My mother always made the best grilled cheese sandwiches that she spread herb and garlic butter on before they were cooked. I grabbed a few cans of soup and sat them on the counter as well.

“Not exactly breakfast food,” I muttered before I glanced up at the clock. “But it’s almost lunchtime. It should be okay.”

Uncertainty filled me and I tugged my bottom lip hard. What if he doesn’t like it? I grabbed the spare pacifier and popped it into my mouth. Once the panic began to quiet, I pushed back my shoulders and got to work. Even if he wasn’t happy about it, I wanted to make him smile. He never did, but it was worth it to try.

The knocking on the door made me jump. My heart raced until I reminded myself that if it was one of the Ivanov brothers they wouldn’t be knocking. They’d come in with guns blazing.

I quickly took the pacifier from my mouth and popped it into a drawer. After Vito fell asleep, I hadn’t bothered putting on clothes; I just draped one of his shirts over me. I buttoned it and padded to the door. When I peeked through it I saw a familiar face.

“Amadeo!” I smiled as I opened the door and he frowned at me. “Come in. Vito is…” Post nut napping. “Um, I’ll get him!”

“You shouldn’t be opening this door, Romare,” he said. “It’s dangerous.”

“I saw it was you before I opened it. Sorry.”

Ama smiled a little. “It’s fine.”

I peered around him and frowned. There was a guy standing right behind him that I didn’t recognize. And another man behind both of them with short hair and a passive face.

“Who are they?”

Ama nodded toward them. “That’s Six, my boyfriend.”

“Yo,” Six grinned.

“And that’s Riccardo. It’s been a long time huh?” Ama asked.

I tilted my head. Riccardo. “Yes, I remember him. He used to read to me.”

Riccardo frowned. “No, I didn’t.”

I nodded. “Yes, you did! There was a pirate book, the, uh…” I searched my brain for the memory until it came to me. “Treasure Island! You always had the best fantasy novels.”

Ama raised a brow. “Really, Ric?”

He growled. “The kid is nuts.”

I smiled. He was just like Vito, cranky. But I remembered each and every story that he told me. I was always lonely when my mother took me along to her cleaning job at the Bianchi’s. But they all did things with me. Amadeo taught me how to shoot so I could hunt, Gabriele taught me how to steal sweets and lie my way out of trouble, and Riccardo read to me. They had been my family before I forgot all about them and the life that I’d had before.

“Romare, go get Vito,” Ama said. “Is something burning?”

“Shit!” I ran into the kitchen and took the pan off the stove. I’d heated it up but I hadn’t even gotten the chance to start on food and already the apartment was gathering smoke. “Shit,” I sighed. “Of course I fucked this up. Ow!”

I ripped my hand off of the handle and sucked on my finger. The handle was hotter than I thought it would be.

“Move.”

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