His Daredevil

24

*Any corrections of the Italian language used are welcome.*

Chapter Twenty Four - Sweet Freedom

"Alright, now leave them on that wire rack to cool down." Madelyn instructs once I've taken the cupcakes out of the oven. "You made the icing yeah?"

"Yes, and it's amazing!" I smirk smugly which makes her chuckle.

I'm in the kitchen cooking some pasta and cupcakes for dinner tonight. Madelyn and Marissa have been popping in from time to time to check on me but so far it's been smooth sailing. I even boasted to Roman, who's out with Romeo, over text that I've made the perfect pasta and cupcakes. My cheeks are starting to hurt from how wide my smile is at the thought of everything turning out perfectly. It seems too good to be true.

"Marissa!" Santino calls before I hear Serafina wail loudly.

"Good lord!" She huffs before handing me the spoon. "Looks great but cook for two more minutes and then it'll be ready."

"Love you!" I hug her tightly before she leaves to comfort Sera.

"Aunt Maddie, uncle Aless is being mean to me!" Ren whines as he runs into the kitchen.

"Oh sweetheart, what happened?" She crouches down and runs a hand through his hair. Poor kid looks like he's almost about to cry as he explains what happened. "Come on, I'll talk to him. El –"

"I'll be fine! Nothing can go wrong now!" I smile widely with a shooing gesture.

She laughs softly at my excitement before disappearing to give Alessandro an earful about teasing his nephew. I hum to myself as I cook the pasta before taking it off the heat. I put it all in a dish before leaving it on the table and turning to the cupcakes. Unable to resist I bite into it while it's still in the process of cooling down.

Only to taste sourness.

Instantly I spit it all out into the bin before chasing it with water to get rid of the disgusting taste. My tongue is overloaded with salt and I whip around to the box I had assumed was sugar. Tasting a little I curse up a storm when I realize I mistook salt for sugar. I groan as disappointment courses through me. I had been so excited only for it to crash and burn. Hell, I wish they had burned instead! At least that would've been less embarrassing.

"Cazzo! Cazzo! Cazzo!" [Fuck!] I mutter to myself as I hide them away while hoping everyone will forget about them. "Ugh what a waste! Good job Elena!"

Roman walks in just seconds after I've covered them with foil and moved to the sink. He wraps his arms around my waist from behind and kisses my neck tenderly. I smile and feel all the stress and worry fade away just from being in his comforting embrace. Turning around in his hold I wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his. He kisses me back equally as eagerly and my toes curl from pleasure.

"How's my chef doing?" He pulls away with a teasing smile.

"Uh...good. I was just going to taste the pasta." I smile as I nervously tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

I walk over to the dish and the small serving I had set aside for me to taste. Grabbing a fork, I twirl the pasta around it before blowing on it to cool it down. It smells heavenly too and I hope to everything that is holy in the world that at least the pasta is tasty.

"I thought you said you were making pasta and cupcakes. Where are they?"

"Forget about that, look at my pasta! How perfect is this?!" I exclaim as I take a bite. "Holy shit it tastes so good too! Rome, try some."