“It would be a shame,” Elise said, her voice surprisingly emphatic. “You know what else would be a shame?”
“What’s that, dear?” his mother said in her most saccharine voice.
“It would be a shame for me to file a restraining order against the two of you,” Elise said. “And I’m sure Rome would file one as well. I’m very familiar with your role in his past, and unless he indicates to me that he wishes otherwise, you’re not going to be in our lives. I’m good friends with the law officers in this town, and I’m sure they’d love to come down and ensure that you stay at least a hundred feet away from Rome at all times.”
Rome was surprised—and proud—of the steel in Elise’s voice.
“Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?”
“Actually, what would be extreme,” Elise continued, ever so boldly, “would be me taking all that money you think I have and hiring the best lawyers I can find. Then, we could reopen Rome’s old case and bring it back to court and have you somehow prove that it wasn’t your drugs that sent your son to prison. That would be extreme. And that is precisely what I will be doing with all my money if you don’t get out of my shop—and out of our lives—in the next two minutes.”
Goddamn.
His baby was stone cold.
That was so f**king sexy.
Rome couldn’t stop grinning as he heard the scrape of chairs when his parents stood up and rushed out of Elise’s tiny office. A moment later, they were shocked to see him standing in the doorway of her shop, smiling his fool head off and clutching a cup of coffee.
“Mom, Dad,” he drawled. “You were just leaving?”
His parents looked like they always did: a little rough around the edges, dressed in leather, and as if they’d spent the last twenty years partying hard. Which, they had. His mother scowled at him and his father looked as if he would spit nails.
“Hi, baby,” Elise said. “Your parents are here. Did you want them to stay?”
“Nope,” he told her. “The restraining order sounds pretty good to me.”
“You piece of shit,” his mother began.
Elise put her phone to her ear. “I’m calling the cops,” she told them in a polite voice. “I suggest you leave.”
They practically shoved him aside in their haste to leave. As soon as the two motorcycles roared away, Elise put her phone down and bit her lip. “How much of that did you hear?”
“Enough to make my dick hard with how ferocious you were,” Rome said, grinning. He moved to her, handed her the coffee cup, and then gave her the longest, most possessive kiss he could. She was panting with need by the time his mouth lifted from hers. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” he murmured to her, brushing his fingers over her beautiful face tenderly. God, he loved her.
“It was handled,” she said breathlessly.
“I’ll say. That was magnificent. I’m glad you weren’t going to give them money.”
She grinned. “Please. I recognize a shakedown when I see one. It was clear they weren’t here to see you. They came in and started exclaiming over how nice everything was, and how expensive it must be to start my own business, and how well we must be doing.” She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“I’m sorry, too,” she told him. “I wasn’t sure how you’d feel if I ran them off. I know they’re your family.”
He shook his head. “They stopped being my family the day I went to prison. I realized that they’d known exactly what was going to happen and hadn’t cared.” Rome wrapped his arms around Elise’s waist. “All the family I need is right here in my arms.”
“Well, eventually we might want to expand things,” Elise said with a smile. “Eventually. I’m pretty happy with how things are right now, though. Just you and me.”
“You and me,” he agreed, kissing her again.
Yep. Things were pretty damn perfect, the way Rome saw things. Decent job, decent house, incredible, impressive woman who amazed him at every turn and loved him for all his flaws.
Things were pretty damn good, indeed.