Page 15 of Playful Summer

What the fuck. I show the text to the guys.

“This asshole reminds me of when we helped Ciarán’s wife, Emilia. She started getting texts from an unknown number and it turned out to be the shitbags twin. Not that the shitbag wasn’t a shitbag. But it wasn’t him that was stalking her,” Celestino says.

The guys nod.

“Tell me it all turned out okay, that Ciarán and Emilia are happy and safe,” I say to them.

“They are and you’ll meet them tomorrow. I told you before, there’s been a lot of turmoil in our family. But we’ve all come through it just fine. And stronger as a family,” Enea tells me.

“I just want Rhett and Emiko’s day to be perfect.”

“It’s going to be as perfect as we can make it. And if Marc shows up? We’ll deal with him too.”

If there’s one thing I know for sure is that our new family isn’t just talk. They’ll back us up as much as they can. All I know is that I need Piper to be safe. And I’ll do anything to make that happen.

“Should I answer whoever this is that’s texting me?” I ask.

“No. Let me see if I can trace the number,” Sebastiano says. “If this is Marc, let’s hope he’s stupid enough to leave a trail for us to follow.”

“We can hope, and after today, I think he’s either really good at faking it or he really is crazy.”

My brothers and I fill everyone in on what happened last week with Marc.

“It sounds like maybe the officer that was helping you convinced him to leave?” Giacomo asks.

“I hope so, but Marc was pretty adamant that the restraining order was fake. Jared said he made sure to fully explain what could happen to him if he comes near Piper again. Which is why I keep saying I hope he’s gone.”

“I suppose he could be hiding somewhere. We’ll take a look around town tomorrow while everyone is arriving. Will it be okay to use some of your cars while you’re at the store?” Enea asks.

“Definitely. And we’re closing the store on Saturday for the wedding. We’ve already made sure that the town knows about it,” Lukas says.

“Sounds good. Let’s get some rest, I have a feeling the next few days are going to be non-stop fun.” Lorenzo chuckles.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Paxton

By lunch time, the rest of our family from Lake Renegade is here. Things are busy, but I know that Piper is safe when she’s not with me. She’s spending the day with all the women, helping Emiko get ready for tomorrow. They’re also planning a girl’s night for her. As for the guys, we’re just going to hover around and watch our women.

“So I started a paper trail for Marc. And it looks like he’s left Wintervale. I can see his spending and the trail has him in southern Montana.”

“That’a a relief. But I have a feeling he’s going to come back. The way he looked at my Piper…” I say to him.

“We’re going to keep monitoring him. But we need to figure out who the text is from,” Sebastiano says.

“The number was from a burner phone. So I’m looking for who bought it and where,” Francesco Bastianini says.

“Do you think Marc is working with someone?” I ask.

“I don’t know. I mean he must be if he’s in southern Montana. Unless that’s him doing it from there.”

“Whoever it is, I want to know how they got my number.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Tonight is for celebrating Rhett and Emiko, though.”

“Definitely. Are we still doing dinner and drinks?”

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