Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Because it’s where you fell in love,” she said affectionately. “It’ll always be special to you now.”
My heart gave a jolt in fear, afraid Constantine heard that, afraid that I made it so obvious that I was utterly spellbound by this man. “I think it’s special because of you too.”
“Aww, you’re so sweet, Aurelia. I can’t wait for you two to come back for a visit. But this time, stay longer. At least a month.”
“I’d love that.”
“Do you mind passing me back to my son? It was nice talking to you, dear.”
“Of course. You too.” I handed the phone back to Constantine.
He took the phone and put it to his ear. “I’ll see when we can come down for a trip—”
“She’s a lovely woman, Con.” Her voice was loud and clear.
Which meant Constantine heard her comment about me falling in love with him in Taormina. Would he assume she was right? Or think nothing of it at all?
He grinned. “I know, Ma.”
“I like that she works, has her own thing, you know.”
“Yeah, I like her passion.”
“Work is important, but it’s never more important than the people in your life. So don’t neglect her, Con. When she calls, you answer. Doesn’t matter what you’re doing.”
“I know, Ma.”
“All right, I’ll let you go, baby. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
She hung up.
He ended the call, then held the phone between both of his palms. “She really likes you.”
“I have no idea why.”
“She knows you’re important to me. I wouldn’t have brought you to the house otherwise.”
My eyes moved to the side of his face, holding on to what he said. “Yeah?”
He slowly turned to look at me, eyes locked on mine. “Yeah.”
The garden in my stomach bloomed even more. The butterflies grew to the size of dragons. My heart suddenly felt weak. “You said that was a casual thing.”
“It was.” Then a smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “But I still wouldn’t have brought you unless I thought it would be more than casual . . . at some point.”
Chapter 7
Aurelia
Constantine picked me up and took me to the Hassler Hotel. At the top of the building was a spectacular rooftop bar, and we had one of the tables right at the edge, the entire city of Rome in view.
“Wow, I’ve never seen the city like this before.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” He wore a button-up shirt with his sleeves rolled to his elbows and dark jeans. He’d combed his hair a little differently and shaved his jawline, so he cleaned up really nice.
We ordered our drinks, and then we were given a plate of appetizers, warm bread with tomato ragù, green olives, and potato chips. He was relaxed in his chair, the tables behind him full of people who were completely oblivious to the man just as powerful as the president and the pope.
He looked through the glass balustrade and studied the city—as if it was all his.
“What do you like more? Rome or Taormina?”
“What a fucked-up question,” he said with a laugh. “That’s like asking my mom which one of her children is her favorite. It’s me, obviously, but who’s gonna make her say it outright?”
I chuckled. “You really think it’s you?”
“Oh, one hundred fucking percent.”
I laughed, even though I wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not.
He finished off his drink. Took his phone out of his pocket and left it on the table. “Gonna use the restroom, then we’ll head to dinner.”
“All right.”
He left the table and walked out of sight—and I stared at his muscled figure until he left.
How in the fucking hell was this man mine?
I sat there and admired the view of the city, wanting to pinch myself because my reality was every woman’s dream. A man who fought crime with crime, who could have any woman he wanted, but he was satisfied committing to me—
His phone vibrated on the table, and my natural instinct was to glance at it. My phone always went off with texts from clients asking for their photos or asking to schedule a shoot. Even though I knew it was his phone instead of mine, my eyes still went there.
And I would have looked away immediately if it weren’t for the name on top of the screen.
Lila
He put her name with emojis?
And then her message read, Are you free tonight?
I was sick to my stomach. Like, gonna-throw-up-my-drink-all-over-the-table sick. A minute ago, I was living the high life, and now it came crashing down like the meteor strike that killed the dinosaurs. I wasn’t just jealous. I was . . . out-of-my-mind pissed off. Not at him, because I didn’t know the context of the conversation or why her name was decorated with emojis, but it made me irate.
I had to remind myself not to ruin this by throwing out accusations. Needed to give him the benefit of the doubt, because he’d become my moon, sun, and stars. But fuck, I felt low. They were obviously close if she had fucking eggplant emojis around her name, and he obviously hadn’t mentioned me to her if she texted him that.