AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Luca’s only dangerous to would-be rapists,” I snapped. “You earned every bruise he gave you.”
“Don’t be a cunt, Luna. It’s my time with the girls and you can’t have them. I might even talk to Stella about restricting your access if you’re gonna be bringing this guy around them.”
My growl ripped through the silence that followed his words. “Don’t you fucking test me, you asshole. If I’m willing to fight you about one thing, it’s the safety of those girls. You’re the only one who’s dangerous to them.”
Rodney scoffed.
“If you try to keep me away from my nieces, I will shred my whole fucking life apart to stop you. You don’t want to see who will come out on top.”
He looked at me with something I had never seen in his eyes before. Respect. It lasted for only a moment before he opened his mouth again. “Fine. You’re such a drama queen.”
Luca’s grip tightened on me. “If me being here is the issue, I’ll leave. I was just walking my neighbors dog and ran into Luna.”
I ignored what Luca was saying in favor of butting heads with Rodney once more. “Why haven’t they had breakfast yet?”
He shrugged. “I’m short on groceries. Stella always did all that shit. I haven’t quite sorted out a schedule yet for myself.”
“Well, figure it out. Your kids are depending on you. You can’t fuck around with their health like this.”
“Jesus Christ, all right. Do whatever you want with them, but I’ll let the courts know you’re fucking with my custody arrangement.”
I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have a custody arrangement. You have to actually be proactive and involve lawyers for shit like that. What you have right now is Stella trying to be nice and let the girls still see you. She doesn’t have to do that when you’re out of the house and you’re not divorced yet. I’ll bring them back later, but if your fridge isn’t fucking full when I get there, I’m gonna report you for neglect.”
His gaze flipped to Luca. “That pussy must be world-class for you to put up with her being such a fucking bitch all the time.”
I sensed the snap in Luca and stepped between the two men before he could clock Rodney. As much as he deserved it, I didn’t want Luca to get in any trouble.
I walked right around Rodney, pulling Luca with me, scooping Rory out of the swing, and motioning for Nova to follow us. Rodney didn’t try to stop us as we all left the park. Luca stood guard while I got Rory in her car seat and Nova in her booster seat. My hands were shaking by the time I finished and I tucked myself into Luca’s arms. I knew it was stupid to do in front of Nova, but I couldn’t drive with how close to panic I was.
Luca cupped a gentle hand against the back of my head. “I’ll drop Bagel off if you want to send me the address to wherever you’re heading? Unless you don’t want me to come to breakfast, which is totally fine.”
“Of course I want you to come to breakfast. Besides, Nova has already seen enough. I don’t have it in me to hide right now.”
“Okay.” He kissed me softly, out of direct eyesight of the girls. “I’ll see you soon.”
Luca and I parted ways, and once Nova picked where she wanted to go for food, I sent him the name and address of the restaurant.
We ended up at a 24/7 diner. Luca sat on one side with Nova, and I sat on the other with Rory, cutting her baby pancakes into bite-sized pieces and making sure she didn’t smear syrup in her hair.
“Are you super duper sure this guy isn’t your boyfriend, Auntie Luna? I’ve never seen you with a boy in my entire life.”
“Well, maybe I’ve never hung out with a boy who was as nice as Luca. People can hang out without dating, you know.”
Nova stuffed her mouth with a piece of waffle, chewing thoughtfully before rendering her decision. “Mommy says fibs are bad.”
“Your mom is right. But you still shouldn’t be prying into people’s personal lives. It’s not polite.”
“But you’re not a people; you’re my auntie. That’s totally different.”
I hid my laugh behind my hand. “Nova, you eat your waffles and stop asking invasive questions.”
She pouted but did as she was told.
We got her talking about school, and she gave me the latest gossip on her classmates. Once she had consumed her own food, she looked pointedly at a piece of bacon on Luca’s plate. “You gonna eat that?”
“All yours.” Luca nudged his plate toward her, offering the bacon with a smile. I had never seen Luca around children before, but I wasn’t at all surprised that he was as sweet with them as he was with everyone else.
I was jolted out of admiring him when Rory let out a shriek, smacking her little hand down on a fork, sending a syrup-soaked piece of pancake into my hair. Before Rory could cry, I kissed her sugary cheek and moved her cutlery out of reach. “All done with the pancakes, little light?”
