Page 48 of Unbroken (Russo Mafia)

My phone rings bringing me out of my troubled daydream. Glancing at the number I can already tell it’s not going to be good.

“Hello.”

“Hello, this is Mrs. Baxtor. I’m calling for Mr. Russo.”

“Speaking.”

“I’m calling about an incident at school involving Adelaide and another student.”

“Was she hurt?”

“Oh, no nothing like that, but we don’t tolerate bullying.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure where this conversation is headed. If Ada isn’t hurt, then what’s going on?”

“Your daughter has been caught bullying another student Mr. Russo. I understand that she’s in kindergarten therefore we can’t suspend her or hand out punishment. I felt like you should know.”

Is this bitch for real. The only way Ada would be picking on another child is if said child was a complete douchebag to her or another child in the first place. I raised her to be a protector of other children. I may be a fucking corrupt man, but I do have some morals.

“I’ll be there shortly to pick her up. Have her ready to leave, please.”

“Yes, right away. Again, I’m very sorry to have to call and tell you this. Especially so early in the school year. I do hope we don’t have to repeat this.”

I hang up. I don’t need to be hashing this shit out over the phone. I’ll wait to talk to Ada. I send a text to Anna to inform her I’ll be dropping her off in a little while.

Once I reach her school, I’m trying not to be steaming mad when I walk in. Another student is sitting in the office waiting.

“Hello, Mr. Russo.” The secretary says to me.

I give her tight smile as I look for Ada. Not seeing her yet, another parent walks in, heading straight to the student sitting. He grips the child tightly on the arm, shaking him roughly.

“What did I tell you about getting into fights at school?” he hisses.

“I’m sorry, Daddy.” The little boy cries.

I want to say something so bad, but Ada comes in looking sad. “I’m sorry, Daddy.” She looks over at the boy currently getting mad handled, narrows her eyes.Fuck.

“Hey! Get your hands off him. You’re hurting him. Don’t you know you shouldn’t bully people.” She storms over to the man getting in his face.

He stops, glares at her. “Excuse me? Little girls should mind their own business.”

“And you should get your hands off your child before I solve all our problems,” I said in a low, fierce voice.

When he finally looks at me, fear crosses his face. So, he recognizes me. Fan-fucking-tastic. It’ll make my job easier. Inclining my head sideways, I narrow my eyes keeping my poker-face on. I want to see him cave.

“Shit, I didn’t mean anything by it. I swear,” he pleaded.

“If I find out, you’ve touched your kid again. I’ll find you. I’m sure my daughter only took the blame, so your son didn’t end up in the office.” I look at both kids and they bow their heads. “That’s from raising a child with love. Maybe learn something asshole.”

I reach for Ada’s hand. I turn and smile at the secretary who looks like she’s about to shit her pants.

“That was amazing Daddy, I feel sorry for James, everyone picks on him. He finally had enough and stood up for himself and got in trouble, so I told the teacher I did it all. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know baby, you did the right thing. But next time tell the teacher about the bullies. His dad doesn’t seem like the understanding type.”

“He seems like dog water,” she huffs.

Stay out of the way of this five-year-old when she’s mad. She’ll come after you. Once I get her back to the house and settled in with Anna, I head back to the office. It was simpler when she wasn’t in school. I’m going to hate it when she is in high school and gets into real fights with the boys.

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