Page 122 of Merciless Monster

“Yes, he’s fine. He’s asleep. Where are you?”

“We’re on our way back to the ranch.”

“I’m so relieved, Mia. Are you hurt, my darling?”

“No, Dad. I’m fine. Really.”

“You have no idea how scared I was.”

That makes two of us. I’ll see you soon, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

I roll over in bed to find Dante staring at me.

“Hey,” he says softly. “How are you feeling?”

“Hi. Much better after I got some sleep. How are you?”

“A little stiff from wrestling Franco. But I’ll recover.”

“We’re going to have to have a conversation at some stage, Dante.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“But first, I’d like to get some coffee and Dad’s eggs into my system,” I smile.

“You must be hungry.”

“Starving.”

“Good morning, Mom. Hey, Dad. Wow, you worked really late last night,” Angelo says as he rushes into the room and jumps onto the bed.

“Hello, my sweet boy. Yes, I did. I’m sorry. I’ll never do that again.”

“Good morning, son,” Dante smiles as our baby crawls in between us and snuggles in.

“Grandpa and I had a campout in the bunker. It’s so cool down there, Mom. There’s a big steel door and everything.”

“Wow. That sounds like quite an adventure.”

“Yeah, it was until Splash farted,” he says and holds his nose.

“Oh, ugh!” I laugh, happy that Angelo has no idea how close he came to losing his parents.

“Is that Grandpa’s special huevos rancheros I can smell?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Dante asks.

“Yes, I had some cheerios. Grandpa said it was a special occasion so he let me have some.”

“Special occasion?”

“Uh-huh. He didn’t say what, but I’m sure he’ll tell me later.”

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