Page 21 of Bread in The Oven

I giggle. “I love that. And I love you, Romano. I know it’s fast and you don’t have to say it back. But I really do love you. You’re making my dreams come true one at a time.”

He turns to look at me. “I love you, mia farfalla. I am so grateful that you’ve come into my life.”

I turn and look at the clock, it’s three in the morning.

“Do you need to get back for Lucy?” he asks me.

I nod. “I should. I told her I was coming here and she has her phone.”

“Move in with me. I know you just moved into your cottage. But I want you and Lucy her with me.”

I look into his eyes. “Are you sure? You don’t have to do that, knowing you love me is more than I could ask for right now”

“I do want it. I don’t want you far from me and the cottage is too far.”

I laugh. “It’s a one-minute walk.”

“And that’s a minute I don’t get to spend with you,” he says as he pouts at me, then starts nibbling on my neck. Which makes me laugh even more.

“You’re such a goofball.”

He stops nibbling. ‘Goofball huh?” He laughs and tickles me. I’ve always hated when my siblings and I would get into tickle fights. But Romano doing it? I’ll take it. “My girl is ticklish. I love it.”

“Are you?“ I laugh even more.

“Nope,” he says. So I try and tickle him and I get nothing. Well crap.

“That’s not fair.” I pout back at him.

He chuckles and kisses me, sucking on my pouty lip. It makes me want him again, but I’m a bit sore down there and I don’t know if I can. It’s like he can sense my hesitation.

“It’s okay, baby. You need to rest a little before we make love again. Maybe tonight.” He gives me a mischievous smile.

He’s too much, but I can’t stop smiling at him. He makes me feel so happy. And I don’t remember a time when I was this happy. Or this free. For the first time, I feel like I can do anything. I have a job, a new home and Romano. When I dreamed of leaving, all I wished for was a job and a roof over my head. And for Lucy. Maybe one day we will find Thomas and Robin, that would make everything complete. I think about them daily and hope that they’re doing alright.

Romano

I can see the wheels turning in my girl’s head.

“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

“I was thinking that I wish I could find Thomas and Robin. But I don’t know if they’ve changed their names, or what direction they went when they left. It makes me sad to think that I might not ever see them again.”

“I didn’t want to say anything until I knew something solid. But I asked Franco to look into finding them for you. It may take a while. But we’re hoping they kept their names, and if not? We’ll do our best to find them for you and Lucy.”

“Thank you so much. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m so glad I found you.”

“Did your parents let any of you out of the house alone?”

Simone shakes her head no. “We were only allowed to go to church with them. That was four times a week. And sometimes to the store. But never alone.”

“I need you to tell me what made you leave now. What happened to you or to Lucy?”

She takes a deep breath. “Nothing bad happened until Thomas and Robin left. My father never really yelled at us or raised a hand to us. And my mother just made us do things with her. Clean, cook, sew, those kinds of things. But then one day Thomas told us he had to go. That he couldn’t stay any longer. Lucy was only sixteen, Robin had just turned eighteen so she decided she wanted to go with him. As much as I wanted to go too, I couldn’t leave Lucy. Thomas was allowed to work with our father on what he called ‘side jobs.’ They would go to peoples homes and do repair work or even just mow their lawns or pool stuff. So he was allowed to keep some of his money. Before he left, he gave me money and said to hide it really well. So I did. That’s how we were able to take the bus here and pay for the hotel.”

“You said nothing bad happened until Thomas left. What happened to you, mia farfalla? I need you to tell me.”

This time she tears up and my anger is rising. What the fuck did her father do to her? Whatever he did to her, I’m going to do to him twice as bad.

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