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Piper’s eyes finally left my face and flew to Officer Daniels.
“Uh, sure. I’ll just… Carmen?” she called. Her body turned in the direction she was calling, but her eyes were glued to me again.
A moment later, my mum and hers were walking into the hall. I watched as the happiness on Mum’s face fall when she saw me. The moment didn’t last long. No sooner was she over her concern at the state I was in, than she was exhaling in frustrated exasperation. I didn’t blame her. She really ought to have known better by now.
“I’m so sorry, Officer Daniels,” Mum said as she approached the door. “What was it this time?”
“Fighting,” Officer Daniels replied. “Mr Lombardi dealt with it.”
Anger welled in me again. “Couldn’t possibly embarrass the old man again.”
Mum’s look told me in no uncertain terms to keep my mouth shut. You’d have thought that she and Officer Daniels were in on it together. They both should have known better than expecting me to do what I was told.
“What?” I snapped. “He’ll pay my bail but not for the house? It’s not fucking–”
“Thank you for bringing him home,” Mum spoke over me, shooting me one moreshut uplook.
Officer Daniels undid the handcuffs and I stretched myself out. I was plenty used to it by now, but it still stiffened me something shocking. Much like the young woman in front of me, who was still staring at me like I came from another planet or something. What I wouldn’t do to her given half the chance. Maybe putting me under her roof could be a decent idea after all.
“Just in time for dinner,” I said with a wry smirk.
Mum seemed to suddenly lose her appetite for some reason. “Thank you, Officers,” she said again, then turned to Piper’s mum. “I should get him home.”
“Oh, are you sure? There’s plenty,” she replied.
“Thanks, Bree. But I think it’s best if we…”
Piper’s mum clearly thought she knew more than my mum was saying. I wondered just what in the hell these people had talked about while I was supposed to be there and quite clearly not. Then I remembered, they were in book club together. Plenty of opportunities to gossip.
Bree smiled. “Of course. No problems.”
“Thank you for the wine,” Mum said. “We should finish this sometime.”
“When you’re all settled,” Bree said with a warm smile that, disconcertingly, seemed to include me. “It was good to see you, Roman.”
I’ll bet it was. Women usually did like to see me. But I did give her a nod of acknowledgment. Again, not a total heathen.
“Night,” Mum said before grabbing my arm.
Just before we left, Piper looked back at me. My gaze took the whole of her in. The good girl that she was, she wore a simple but classy blue dress, perfect for dinner with the neighbours. It had short sleeves, a fucking cutesy arse collar, and went down past her knees. Her legs were bare, ending in plain, blazing white sneakers that looked like they’d never even heard of the concept of dirt.
In the space of a heartbeat, I took her all in. I drank deeply of that nectar because lord knew I’d never find it anywhere else, no matter how many girls I lost myself in. Piper Barlow was one of a kind. She was the kind of girl you looked at, longed for, but didn’t touch. As fucked up as I was, I knew better than to risk fucking her up.
Then I felt Mum squeeze my arm, then she was dragging me home.
She’d never been one to air her baggage if she could help it, so she didn’t say anything until the door was closed and locked behind us. She nodded for me to sit at the kitchen bench as she went about warming up some leftovers. And by leftovers, I did mean pre-planned meals that we’d brought from the previous house because Mum had suspected that we wouldn’t be ready to cook for ourselves for a couple of days
“What about when Maddy gets here?” Mum asked me. “Is it going to be like this, then?”
“She’s not my kid,” I answered.
“No,” Mum said sarcastically, and she seemed to mirror Rocco’s gratitude on that one. I chose not to take offence. “So, of course it’s nothing to do with you. You couldn’t, for once, help your mother out.”
“Always with the guilt trips, woman,” I said, but softly.
She knew me and she knew I wasn’t being difficult. This time. She sighed and gave me a weary smile. “You said you’d try.”
I nodded. “Yeah. And I will.”
