“Alex?”
“Shit,” Antonio said.
Another fist to the gut. He went to hit him again, but Antonio shoved him hard and quickly put distance between them.
Roman was already up on his feet. He was an expert in dealing with pain, and staring at his friend, his enemy, he was ready to go a hundred rounds with him if he had to.
“Yes, I’ve seen Liam and I’ve seen Alex. I’ve seen all the kids as well.”
He’d been banned from seeing the kids, and Roman hated to admit how much he missed the little shits. The cock-blocking, moaning, constantly-eating, and saying-dumb-shit little kids he wanted to protect as well.
“Have you?” he asked, looking to Marlo.
He shook his head.
“What about you?” This time he looked at Cash.
“No, man, I haven’t.”
“Mr. Greco asked me, okay? He asked me to be the peace offering for us.”
“What did you do?” Roman asked.
“I … I helped Alex pick out a car that will help her take the kids to school. They’re already going to a school now. She had them enrolled within weeks of her moving to the house. The signs have all been taken down, and it is no longer registered as an orphanage.” Antonio dropped his hands.
“You took them to school?”
“No, I took her to go and find a decent van or a bus. She settled on a mini-bus. One that will take fifteen. Alex is training to drive it. Millie already has the right licenses to drive it. Turns out before going to work for Liam, she was a school bus driver.”
Roman snorted. He could see that about Millie. He stumbled back, sitting on the arm of one of his chairs. Alex, the kids, driving them to school.
For the past two months, he’d been sniffing out all the traitors Phillip had garnered. Some of them were lowlife crooks. There were a few capos who’d been more than willing to accept Phillip as their boss for a price. It was his job to take care of them all. That was what he’d been doing today. Torturing. Killing.
He nearly had every single person who would have turned their back on his father.
Roman didn’t care about the death he caused. They had it coming, but when it came to Alex, she had his attention, always.
“How is she?” Roman asked.
“The bruises are all gone. She’s happy. She loves being a mommy to the kids.”
“And the kids?”
“Oh, they’re doing fine. They are part of a family now. Alex’s family.”
Roman gritted his teeth. He never cried, not for anyone. Crying only got more beatings, and he’d stopped getting them when he was a young boy.
Tears were for the weak. For the foolish.
“Do they ask about me?”
Antonio sighed. “I only saw them once, Roman. A couple asked after you. They wanted to know where you had gone.”
“What does Alex say?” Roman asked.
“She says you’re busy. That you’ve got a lot to deal with right now.”
“So she hasn’t told them I’m not coming back?”