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CHAPTER FIVE

Paxton

I want to punch Marc. Then I want to throw him out of the store and Wintervale. I’ve never known anyone like him, I don’t know if he’s serious or really thinks the restraining order is fake. But he looks like he’s serious. It’s making me want to wrap Piper in bubblewrap so that he can’t hurt her.

Sebastiano: Hey bro, so we’re on our way. Zio Enea, me, Giacomo, Lorenzo, Francesco, Celestino, Noah, Eros, Kostas, Artemis, Isabella and Giovanna. You’ll need to pick us up at the airport tonight. We’re headed to the airport now

Paxton: Are you sure you can all take time off?

Sebastiano: Family. See you soon

We met the Mancini, Bastianini, Nikolaidis and Athanasiou families earlier this year.

Some of them were on a road trip and stopped in Wintervale.

I never thought they would become part of our family, but that’s exactly what happened.

It still amazes me. They showed up on the five year anniversary of losing our parents.

And during that time, we gained more family than we could’ve imagined.

There are secrets about our new family that sometimes makes me feel like we’re in a movie.

The Mancinis are the head of the Chicago Mafia.

The Bastianinis are the founders of the Cimaruta MC.

And the Nikolaidises and Athanasious? Well, they’re the coolest. They’re shifters, real life humans that turn into animals.

I never would’ve believed it if I hadn’t seen them shift with my own eyes.

The families have come to help us twice now.

The first time, Emmanuelle, Lukas’ wife, had an ex that decided he wanted to start trouble.

We found out he was part of the Russian mafia.

Then Emiko had trouble with Seth’s parents, and again, our new family came in to help us.

And this time they’re on their way to help me and my girl.

Every time they come to help, they show us what family really means.

Family means that no matter what, we always have each other’s backs.

I hope this time we won’t really need them. Even if I told them that, they’d still come. I feel better having more help with this situation. But at the same time, I wish they were just coming to visit and meet my Piper.

“You can’t make me leave. This is a public space and I’m not doing anything wrong.”

“Sir, I’ve told you, I have the restraining order in my hand.” Officer Taylor pulls his cuffs out and cuffs Marc.

“I’ll be back soon. This is all a stupid misunderstanding,” Marc says to Piper.

No one is saying anything, mostly because I don’t think any of us knows what to say. After Marc is gone, we all look at each other.

“Holy fuck, he’s nuts.” Rhett frowns. “Maybe we need to call our Lake Renegade family and see what they can find out about him?”

“One step ahead of you. They’re on their way here now,” I say to him.

Rhett nods at me. “That’s good, I have a bad feeling about Marc and this whole situation.”

“Me too. At least they can hold him because of the restraining order.”

“So you haven’t seen him at all in the past year?” Rhett asks Piper.

“Nope. I can’t say for sure that he wasn’t around. But I didn’t see him, and he didn’t contact me. Until now.”

“You need to move into the house with us. I don’t want you in the rental by yourself,” I say to her.

“Okay,” she says, without a fight.

I hate the worried look in her eyes. I take her in my arms.

“Marc won’t touch you. I promise you that.”

“Who’s your Lake Renegade family?” she asks.

“They’re our extended family, they always come to help when we need it. They’re going to love you.”

“I don’t know how they can help. Even with the restraining order, he’s still here. What can they do?”

I wish I could tell Piper who my family is. But I need to talk to them first.

“Trust me, they can help us,” I say as I kiss her head.

Piper

I wish I felt better knowing that Paxton’s family is coming to help us. When I took the restraining order out, it was because I was starting to get scared of Marc. But then he backed off and I thought he had moved on. Now he seems even more unhinged, and I have no idea of what he’s capable of.

“You’ll see, the Lake Renegade family will help you figure out what to do about Marc,” Emiko says.

“Have you met them?”

“I have. I should probably tell you what happened. When I moved here to Wintervale, Seth’s parents decided they wanted to take Kaito and Miyuki away from me.

They went so far as to sue me for custody and said I was a horrible mother.

They even tried to kidnap the kids. Rhett’s ex helped them by lying about me too.

She wanted him back and thought that was the way to do it.

Our Lake Renegade family came here and helped us.

Lorenzo went to court with us and we won.

Now they’re never going to come near us again. ”

I had no idea that Emiko went through all that. And now I feel like an even crappier best friend.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to help you. I should’ve been here.”

“You didn’t know, it’s okay. You’re here now,” she says as she hugs me.

I hug her back and hold back my tears. She went through so much and I wasn’t there. And now she’s here for me. I’m a lucky girl.

“I agree with Pax, you need to move into the house with us. I don’t want you to be alone either.”

“After we close up, we can get your things,” Paxton says.

“We’ll all help.” Rhett nods.

It’s almost closing time and we’ve cleaned up my table. I ended up selling fifteen books. And I’m shocked. I never thought I could sell that many with a signing that was such short notice.

I’ve been sitting with Paxton in the lumber section when we see Officer Taylor come in.

“Hey, so today was a little crazy.” He laughs. “Was Marc like this when you got the restraining order?”

“No. I was worried because he kept following me. But he was never violent or this delusional. Today was really scary. Like he really thought it was no big deal.”

“He did think it was fake. At least that’s what he kept saying to us. We told him that he needed to leave Wintervale. That if he chose to stay and we catch him anywhere near you, we will arrest him again. And the next time he’ll be sent to Great Falls for his trial.”

“Do you think he’ll listen?” I ask.

“I think so, he did look a little worried when we kept saying he would go to jail. One of the other officers made sure he left town. And we’ve told all the hotels in the area to let us know if he checks back in.”

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate all your help.”

“This is what we’re here for. If you see him or he contacts you, let us know right away.”

“I will,” I say as he says good night to all of us.

“Okay, why don’t we close up? It’s slower tonight anyway, and I want to get your stuff out of the rental,” Paxton says.

“Will your brothers mind?” I ask.

“Nope. We were just coming to say we’re ready to close. Emma and Emiko are at home with the kids, so we’ll help you. Plus we need to pick the guys up at the airport in thirty minutes. Then we’ll have even more help,” Lukas says to us.

“Thank you. I really appreciate all of you.” I sniffle.

As Paxton holds me, Rhett and Lukas hug us both.

“One of the biggest lessons our parents taught us is that family is the most important part of our lives. No matter what any of us needs, we’re there. Good and bad. And you’re part of our family now,” Lukas tells me.

I miss my family back in Maine, but being with Paxton and his family helps so much. It takes us fifteen minutes to lock up. They each check a different section of the store before we all meet at the main doors to lock them.

“I think Rhett and I should head to the airport. You and Piper go to the house and get her stuff packed. We’ll meet you there,” Lukas says to us.

“Make sure you check the house and if anyone is there, call us,” Rhett says.

“I will. Maybe we should ask Jared if he could meet us there?” Paxton asks.

“That’s a good idea.” Lukas nods.

Rhett calls Jared and asks if he could meet us at the house. Just in case Marc hasn’t left town.

“He’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Please don’t take any chances,” Rhett says to Paxton.

They give us a hug and we all get in our cars.

“I’m sorry that I’ve caused these problems,” I say to Paxton.

“Baby, this isn’t your fault. You did everything right, some people are just crazy. You just happened to find one of them.”

He takes my hand as he drives to the rental.

“Yay, me.” I sigh.

When we get to the house, Jared is already there.

“I did a check around the outside, let me go in first and you two wait on the porch.”

It takes him a few minutes to search the house.

“Let me know if anything is missing. You never know if he came in before.”

I nod as we head inside. I work as fast as I can throwing everything back into my suitcases. The good thing is that I had just started to unpack. So a lot of my things are still in boxes.

An hour later we’re almost done and we see two cars pull into the driveway. I watch as they all get out of the cars.

“Holy shit, those guys are huge.”

Paxton laughs. “Yeah, they make us look small. Come one, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

We head out onto the porch. I watch them all hug each other.

“Piper, this is Enea Mancini. His kids, Lorenzo and Giovanna. Giacomo Bastianini and his kids, Francesco, Celestino and Isabella. Noah Mancini, Kostas and Artemis Nikolaidis and Eros Athanasiou.”

I smile at each of them as they all grab me and hug me.

“They like hugs. You’ll get used to it.” Rhett laughs.

“Thank you all for coming to help me.”

“We’re family.” Giovanna smiles.