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)
I kept my eyes on my coffee, even though I could feel his stare pierce me like bullets.
He stood there for a while, staring at the side of my face, before he pulled out the chair his mother had occupied a moment ago.
My heart raced with adrenaline. My fingers felt numb and sweaty the second he was in my space.
“Sweetheart.”
My eyes stayed on the coffee.
“Look at me.”
“I just want some space, okay?”
“Well, that’s too fucking bad, isn’t it?” He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone was sharper than broken glass. “Because you’re my woman and you’re carrying my baby and I’m not letting the two of you sleep under someone else’s roof.”
“It’s your mother’s—” I raised my chin and looked at him.
“You’re my responsibility. Not hers.”
“She said she doesn’t mind.”
“Of course she doesn’t mind, but that’s not the point,” he snapped. “We resolve our issues at home. We don’t run from each other.”
“I said I need some space,” I said calmly. “Just a day. You really can’t give that to me?”
His furious eyes burned white hot into my face. “Just a day.” He repeated the words, clinging to them like life rafts filled with hope.
“I understand nothing happened. I believe everything you say. But I’m still disappointed . . . and I need time.”
He sank into the chair and stared at the painting on the wall for a beat. “You do realize that I used to sleep with Isabella every day? Used to tell her I loved her every day? That I wanted to marry that woman. Bought a fucking ring. None of that bothers you at all, but Gina, a woman I don’t even know, is enough to push you over the edge.”
“You obviously don’t get it, Constantine.”
“Then explain it to me.”
“It hurts me because it’s the last thing I expected you to do. You aren’t a pushover, you don’t concede a fight, but you spent time with this woman and let her believe you were available. She’s sitting there thinking she just won the fucking lottery and that you might be hers, but you’re supposed to be mine. It feels like a betrayal.”
It was the first time he winced, like my words had actually cut him.
“And you knew this was a situation beforehand and didn’t tell me.”
“Because I assumed it would go away if I dodged it enough. And then the lunch was literally on the spot, and Tommaso guilt-tripped me hard. Believe me when I say I felt like shit for being there, but it was just a means to an end. Sweetheart, you know you’re the only one for me. You said yourself that I make you feel loved every single day.”
“I know that, Constantine.”
“Then forgive me and let’s go home.”
My eyes moved back to the coffee.
He released an irritated sigh at my reaction.
“I forgive you and I love you and I want to spend my life with you.” I stared at the coffee for another moment before I raised my chin and looked at him again. “But I’m still so angry with you.”
His eyes hardened like armor, wanting to protect his heart from the bite of my words.
“I just need some time.”
He inhaled a deep breath, his chest rising and expanding, and then he let it out in a painful whoosh. He didn’t say a word before he left the chair and walked out of the dining room. A moment later, I heard the door open and close—and then he was gone.
His mother cooked us dinner, cacio e pepe with a side salad and fresh garlic bread. I offered to help, but she was practically indignant at the request. I watched her as I sat at the dining table, in the change of clothes she’d given me. I’d washed my face, but since I didn’t have any makeup, I wasn’t able to doll myself up again. I would have to go to work like this in the morning, not that I cared all that much.
Sofia set the table. “Thought you’d like a taste of home.”
I smiled when I looked at the Roman pasta, something I used to eat all the time. “I will always have a fondness for Rome, but Taormina became my home the second I met Constantine.”
She took a seat and smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. Love the fact that the two of you will always be here. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Constantine leave behind a dangerous life and settle down. It’s not as exciting as guns and drugs . . . and whatever else he used to do. But it’s far more meaningful.”
“Yeah, definitely.”
She opened a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. We ate together at the table, talking about the restaurant and her fellow restaurant owners and neighbors.
“So, did you talk with Lucia and Isabella?”
“I sure did,” she said. “Gave that brat a piece of my mind.”