AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I tilt my head back to look up at her, taking in the laugh lines on her face and the twinkle in her eyes. “You wouldn’t take anything back?”
Anita lowers her head and looks directly at me. “Maybe I’d want to change a few of the difficulties we faced here and there, but then I don’t know if I would still end up here. So, no, in the long run, I don’t think I’d want to change anything.”
I search her face. “You don’t talk about your late husband much. I hope it’s okay that I’m asking about him.”
Anita’s lips lift into a sad smile. “Of course, it’s okay. Matteo and I met when I was about your age. Like Carter, he was a few years older than me, and I knew from the minute I laid eyes on him that I was done for.”
I place my head back on her chest, over the thumping of her heart. “You did? What made you so sure?”
“Because up until that point, I’d always played it safe, colored inside the lines. That sort of thing. Matteo made me realize I wanted more out of life,” Anita murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “We were so young back then and so full of hope and passion for the future.”
I curl one hand into a fist while the other lays limply by my side. “So, what happened?”
“My father happened,” Anita says after a brief pause. “He thought it was time for me to stop messing around and take up my rightful place in the family business.”
I frown. “Shouldn’t it have been your choice?”
Anita’s fingers moved to my scalp, and she started massaging the tender flesh there. “It was, and it wasn’t. I knew he wasn’t going to force me to take up my rightful place, but I also knew there would be consequences if I didn’t.”
I blow out a breath. “So, it was a damned if you do, damned if you don’t kind of situation?”
Anita exhales with her whole body. “Absolutely. Up until I met Matteo, I hadn’t even considered that I had other options.”
I look back up at her, and upon recognizing the thoughtful look on her face, my heart misses a beat. “You walked away, didn’t you?”
“For a few years,” Anita replies, the barest hint of a smile on her face. “We thought it was the kind of life we wanted, but everything changed when my dad had a heart attack.”
Tears fill my eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
Anita blinks. “So was I. He was always such a strong and confident man. It was strange to see him become reduced to a lesser version of himself, but it was the thing that brought me back home.”
I pull myself out of her embrace and prop myself up on my elbows. “Were you glad to be back?”
“I was happy to see my brothers again, and other members of the family, but I can’t say that I was glad. It was more like I knew where I needed to be.”
“What about Matteo? How did he handle it?”
Anita frowns and crosses one ankle over the other. “Matteo wasn’t built for this kind of life. It was hard for him being back and having certain expectations thrown at him.”
I hold my breath. “How did he handle it?”
Anita shifts and looks directly at me. “There’s no right or wrong answer, Isabella. Matteo did the best he could, but there were days when it was hard. So hard that I wondered if it would be better if we left again.”
But they didn’t.
Because Anita isn’t the kind of person to turn her back on her family. She sounds so much like Carter in that moment that it makes my stomach twist with emotion.
I’ve never missed him more than I do now, never craved his touch more than I do in this moment. But I do wonder about the kind of future we will have together.
“He eventually found something that works for him,” Anita continues in a softer voice. “But I knew it wasn’t easy for him. Relationships aren’t always meant to be easy. Sometimes, they’re hard because you have to compromise, and you have to make sacrifices, and you never know if you’re going to end up regretting it down the line.”
I swallow. “I hope you didn’t regret it.”
Anita shakes her head, wisps of hair escaping from her bun. “I don’t think either of us did. We knew we wanted to be together, and we were willing to put in the work. Our biggest regret was that we never had kids.”
“You never wanted to?”
“I wanted to wait,” Anita admits with a shrug. “And then, by the time I felt ready, it was too late. Women’s bodies don’t work the same, you know.”
