Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
It was one of the exceptionally few times when we didn’t make love before bed. Constantine was still mad as hell about my line of questioning, and I wasn’t sure if even an apology would defuse his rage. I wasn’t sorry for what I’d asked, because I believed Rocco couldn’t have done anything that egregious. They were just two stubborn men playing a game of emotional chicken.
When Constantine took his nightly shower, I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and quickly found Rocco’s number. I typed a message to him from where I lay in bed. Hey, it’s Aurelia. I know you and Constantine aren’t talking right now . . . but I wanted to let you know we’re having a baby.
I expected to see three dots pop up right away when he saw my message come through, but there was nothing. I put my phone on the nightstand and waited for it to vibrate with a response, but that didn’t happen either.
And when I woke up the next morning, there was still nothing.
Constantine was in a better mood the next morning, but not quite himself just yet.
I got ready for the day and headed downstairs to grab my purse. I released a heavy sigh because it was the first time I actually didn’t want to go to the restaurant. Isabella was a piece of work, and I wasn’t sure if I could look at her face and be kind. That made me dislike Beatrice even more too.
“What’s on your mind?” Constantine asked when he heard me sigh.
“Oh, just not excited to go to work.”
“Then don’t go.”
“I have to.”
He came to my side, his hand gently grabbing my elbow. “You never have to do anything. Don’t go.”
“No. I should be there.” It would make me look weak if I stopped showing up after that confrontation. And how would I explain to Sofia that her daughter’s best friend was a damn cunt?
His eyes shifted back and forth between mine like he spotted something in my gaze. “Something happen yesterday?”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed as if whatever he found became more obvious. “Don’t lie to me.”
I didn’t know how he could read me so well, didn’t know what he saw to make him so confident in his assessment. “When I was there yesterday . . . Isabella came by.”
His fingertips released my elbow, and the accusation in his eyes started to fade. His anger faded and was quickly replaced by unspoken frustration, like he already assumed that the interaction had been a shit show. “What did she say to you?”
“It was unpleasant. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Aurelia.” He pressed me just by using my name, a name he hardly ever said.
“I tried to be kind to her, and she was hostile to me. Told her I’d love it if we could get along, and she basically called me a bitch and the other woman. I called her out on her nastiness, and that made it worse.”
“Good. I’m glad you put her in her place.”
“Well, at this point, it’s infinitely more hostile than it was before . . . and your sister will never like me now.”
“Beatrice needs to be put in her place too,” he said. “Fucking brat.”
“Don’t confront her about it. It’s not going to improve the situation, and it’s just—”
“You don’t come into my family’s restaurant and insult my future wife and the mother of my child. I don’t know who the fuck she thinks she is, but I’m going to tell her exactly what she is.”
“I don’t want to make this worse.”
“She can give me shit all she wants, but she crossed a line when she insulted you. There are consequences to our actions, and she’s about to feel the flames of my wrath.”
“I really don’t want this—”
“Then you can thank her for that. She came into my fucking restaurant and insulted my family, and she thinks she can get away with that. Nope. I don’t fucking think so.”
Chapter 12
Constantine
After I dropped Aurelia off at work, I headed to Isabella’s apartment. She lived in the same place as far as I knew, and when I got to the front door, I pounded on it so hard I felt the hinges strain from the force.
She might be at work right now, and if she was, then I’d head there next. Put her on blast in the back room just the way she put Aurelia on blast in the middle of the fucking kitchen.
But then she unlocked the door and stepped aside, wearing athleisure with her hair in a high ponytail, like it was her day off. Her family ran a couple of gelato places in the village, and she intended to take over when they were ready to retire.
Looking at her face somehow pissed me off even more.
Her eyes were wider than usual, like she felt sheer panic at the sight of me. She showed no confusion about why I was there, so she knew exactly what she’d fucking done.