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“It’s not that. I just… I’ve never spent a night without him.” Georgia clenched her napkin, her breathing becoming irregular.
Alicia looked at me, narrowing her eyes.
Reaching over, I placed my hand on Georgia’s arm. “It’ll give us a chance to talk. We’ll drop by in the morning after breakfast. After that, we’ll all go shopping.”
Georgia swallowed hard, accepting that she had no choice. “Okay. He doesn’t have his teddy bear with him so he might not fall asleep right away. I just…” She brushed her shaking hand across her lips.
“It’ll be alright,” I reassured her.
She lifted her head toward me, the look of sadness and fear on her face another knife stuck in my gut. “Okay. But just one night.” She was looking to me for affirmation.
“Don’t worry, Georgia. I doubt Brando will mind if we lend your boy a teddy bear.” Alicia reached over the table, squeezing Georgia’s hand.
“We should probably go,” I told her.
“I want to kiss him goodnight. Okay?” She didn’t wait for my answer and I doubted she had any intention of doing so at any point. After pushing up from the table and almost walking away, she stopped and took a deep breath. “Thank you for dinner. That was perhaps the best Italian food I’ve ever had in my life.”
“I’m so glad you enjoyed it.” Alicia was beaming but I knew her smiles almost as well as my brother did. As soon as Georgia had walked out of the room, it faded. In its place was an accusatory look leveled at me. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”
She darted a glance toward the doorway before continuing, only this time pointing a finger in my face. “Here I thought you might have come to your senses and stopped acting like the playboy of the East Coast, but I can see I was dead wrong.”
Miguel burst into laughter. “A little harsh. Don’t you think?”
“Not nearly harsh enough,” she spit out.
“What did she say to you?” I asked, more curious than angry but Alicia didn’t see it that way.
“Don’t you dare do that to her. She didn’t say anything because she’s obviously terrified of you. What did you do to her?”
I tossed my napkin on the table, pushing back my chair. “Nothing.”
“Right. I know you too well. That girl is lovely and it’s obvious for some crazy reason there’s a spark there. God knows why.”
“Hold on, babe. There are some aspects of this you don’t know about,” Miguel pushed.
“I don’t care!” she snapped in return. “You have her here under false pretenses and I don’t like it one bit. I’m no fool, Sabatino. Everything you do is about the bottom line and you don’t care who you hurt in the process. She has a little boy. I suggest you find some good inside of you. I won’t allow either one of them to be hurt.” She jerked up and both Miguel and I were surprised at her vehemence.
When she stormed away, Miguel took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. She’s right. I’m an asshole for what I’m doing.”
“Georgia is in danger.”
“Yeah, if only my intentions had all been honorable in wanting to save her.” I walked toward the living room to retrieve Georgia but stopped as soon as I was close to the doorway.
“You’ll have a good time, baby,” Georgia cooed to Dillon. He was lying on the couch, his head on a pillow. The large screen television was still playing some Disney movie, similar to one that had been on at Georgia’s house.
It was funny about temporary amnesia. Remembering the person I’d become for a short while was more damaging than losing more than a day to the near tragedy. I shoved my hands into my pockets, watching her intently as she kissed his forehead several times. There was no need to see her face to know she was crying, trying her best to hide it from the little man.
I’d never been prone to feeling guilt or remorse about any choice I made or decision that was required. Right now, I wasn’t certain how I felt. But it didn’t leave a decent taste in my mouth.
“You come get me in the morning?” Dillon asked, his voice almost as pitiful as hers.
“Of course I will. Now, get some sleep for Mommy. Okay?”
“Kiss Maxie for me.”
