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“Without love, I can’t stay.”
“So that’s it? You’re going to divorce me on our anniversary and walk away because I won’t give you syrupy words I don’t believe in?”
“No.” She approached him on bare feet. “I’m going to let you go so you can find someone you will fall in love with.”
With a controlled sigh, he clenched a fist. “I don’t want ‘someone.’ I want you. I’ll treat you like a queen and give you the world. Can’t that be enough?”
Gia’s first instinct was to refuse. If she did, it would mean spending her life without Jason. Should she relinquish the man she loved over an ideal? Who was to say that he wouldn’t eventually realize he more than wanted her? That maybe he even loved her deep down? Or was she rationalizing because he had her heart and always would?
Suddenly, her phone rang from a distant corner of the house. A quick listen told her the ringtone was Mila’s. Had something happened to one of the kids?
Sending Jason a glance that pleaded with him to understand, she dashed for her purse upstairs.
He followed. “Who is it?”
“My sister-in-law,” she tossed over her shoulder.
Cursing under his breath, he trailed her into the bedroom, watching with unwavering focus. Gia couldn’t mistake his impatience to finish their earlier discussion. She felt the same.
Today had been their most honest conversation. Before they’d married, she and Jason had lived in the moment. She’d read enough about his upbringing online to know that hers had been vastly different. He must know that, too. Since she’d returned to Jason, they had shared space, but they hadn’t bridged the chasm between them.
This morning felt like a first step.
As the fourth ring pealed, Gia snatched her phone from her purse and hit the button, pressing the device to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hi, G,” Mila greeted. “Sorry to bother you. Just a quick question. Where did you leave TJ’s insurance card?”
Her sister-in-law had taken to calling Tony Jr. by his initials because Mila could no longer bear to speak her late husband’s name.
“It’s not in your purse or affixed to the fridge?”
“No. It’s not in the junk drawer or with your mom, either. I’ve looked in the obvious places. Last I remember, you had it when you took him in for his cough.”
Crap. Yes, she had—the day before she’d come to Jason’s.
Gia plowed through her purse and found her wallet. The second she opened it, the little card spilled out. “I’ve got it.”
“I need it.”
Her heart stopped. “What happened?”
“Nothing. I totally forgot that TJ has a well appointment today. I wish they’d let me use my card, but I guess the insurance company is cracking down against members using the wrong one, so…” Mila paused. “Is there any way we can meet so I can get it? His appointment is at three.”
A glance over her shoulder told Gia that Jason stood in the doorway, staring and conscious of every word she spoke to her sister-in-law. She barely managed not to wince. Introducing Jason to Mila might as well be introducing him to the whole family. No way would her brother’s wife keep quiet about a man. But Gia already knew that crossing town to spend a few hours without him wasn’t an option. She’d committed to spending twenty-four/seven with him until their anniversary.
“How about if I drop it off at the doctor’s office and you can pick it up there? I have to get back downtown this afternoon, and I’d rather not fight rush hour traffic.” Gia rubbed at a pain in her chest that couldn’t be anything but a stab of guilt.
“Sure.” Mila sounded a little surprised and hurt that she didn’t want to meet for a cup of coffee or lunch, like they usually would, but her sister-in-law could be a one-woman inquisition. If Jason was anywhere in earshot, he would state the bald truth.
What a terrible way for her close-knit family to find out the two of them had been married for nearly a year.
“Great. I’ll have it there by one or so.” She sent Jason another glance for confirmation, and he nodded.
Then he slipped from the room and headed down the hall, toward the stairs. Gia breathed a guilty sigh of relief that he’d let her finish her conversation in private.
“Perfect,” Mila assured.
“How’s the new nanny?” Gia held her breath, anxious for the answer.
