Chapter Ten
“That’s a pretty good picture, kid,” Roman said. He hadn’t quite mastered the art of knowing who was called what. If he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if he was any good with kids, but he had five of them around the table with him.
It had been three days since he brought up adopting them completely with Alex. His dad had told him to find any means necessary to win Alex over, and this place seemed like a solid plan. There was also a tiny slim part of them that was starting to adore the kids and enjoy their company.
He never thought he’d enjoy dealing with a bunch of screaming brats, but he did. They were a lot of fun to be around. Growing up, he never had the luxury of sitting there and coloring in pictures or drawing.
However, at the ripe age of thirty-five, he was finally getting the chance to do that. What he wasn’t doing was drawing what he knew. The kids didn’t need to see death, blood, and destruction. All they needed to know was rainbows and houses, and well, he drew a big fuck-off rainbow with every single color he could get his hands on.
The kids loved it, and he was rather impressed with it.
Antonio, Marlo, and Cash took it in turns to escape, to return to the harsh reality of what was going on outside. To many, nothing had changed. Liam was on a warpath, and so far, he had tortured and killed many enemies.
The Smirnov Bratva was a pointless lead. The only thing that had survived of them was their insignia, which could be inked anywhere. He knew in his gut his father wasn’t responsible.
It just didn’t add up.
And now, the family was starting to get suspicious as he and Alex had missed multiple events in the past few weeks, including an engagement party. Their presence was being missed.
His dad had already talked to him, and in a couple of weeks, he and Alex were supposed to make a big entrance at another party. One to celebrate Lucas and Liam’s union. The plan was to use him and Alex as bait, but also to see if anyone showed any signs of wanting her dead.
It was a risk.
He didn’t like it.
Hated it.
But Liam had also agreed to it.
The event would be heavily guarded. It was the party of the year, and they were supposed to show a united front. He’d told Antonio, Marlo, and Cash about it, but he had yet to speak to the woman herself.
Not that he was afraid to tell her. He had no reason to be afraid.
She couldn’t turn him down, and if she did, her father would get involved. Damn it, he didn’t want her father to get involved. This was already bad enough.
“Ice cream,” Alex said, calling out to the kids.
All coloring was forgotten as the kids ran toward the kitchen. All except one. Stuart, who approached him.
“What’s up, buddy?” Roman asked.
Stuart stared at him and then, much to Roman’s surprise, he crawled up into his lap. For the longest time, they just stared at each other.
“I like you,” Stuart said. “You make Alex smile.”
Roman didn’t know what was happening.
“I like you too.”
“Do you like Alex?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“She’s an angel,” Stuart said.
The little boy startled him further by throwing his arms around him and hugging him tight before climbing off and leaving.
Roman wasn’t sure he’d lived it until he looked up to see Alex approaching. She held an ice cream cone. “I thought I’d save you one,” she said.