AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty- Emma
Matteo has a chicken nugget hanging out of his mouth and French fries all over his lap when we pull up to the house. I’m not going to deny him McDonald’s after the day we had, even if I despise the restaurant, but he didn’t get through half of his Happy Meal before he fell asleep. Enzo carries him into the house and his eyes barely open. Trusting that Enzo will be able to get him to bed, I head back into my own bedroom to continue packing up. Matteo getting hurt and then is going to the hospital has put us so far behind schedule that Enzo already pushed back our flight home. There was too much to do.
Throwing away my previous plans to have everything meticulously organized, I throw my things into boxes, making quick decisions about what’s coming with me and what isn’t. Half my belongings are on the floor, half in boxes. In the morning, I can deal with everything I don’t plan on taking. Maybe I’ll call the local charity shop and see if they want donations, but I don’t have the energy to care right now.
Something has me on edge. I can blame it on Matteo getting hurt, but that’s the obvious scapegoat. Truthfully, listening to Derek has me rattled. I know Enzo is dangerous, logically, but the only person who has told me point-blank is my father, and we aren’t exactly on the best of terms. It’s easy to forget who Enzo is when he’s being sweet towards me. Wooing me. I have to remind myself it’s only one part of the man.
I’m so lost in my own thoughts the sound of a throat clearing behind me causes me to jump, my hand flying to my chest as I whip my head around.
Enzo isn’t staring at me, but looking at the wide open bedside drawer. Perplexed, but what’s grabbed his attention. I glance inside the drawer myself, only to find my vibrator visible on top of the book I had been reading. I bit my lip as I go to push it shut. “Has that been my replacement for the last four years?”
A choked laugh escapes. “Your replacement?”
“Yes, my replacement darling. I didn’t expect you to go all these years without pleasure, but I must say I’m thrilled it came from book boyfriends and vibrators.”
My embarrassment quickly becomes annoyance at his words. I regret ever telling him I haven’t slept with anyone since him, especially when I doubt he’s held himself to the same standards. He doesn’t owe me that. He wasn’t waiting for me. I hate knowing how uneven things out between the two of us. He has so much experience while I can count on one hand the number of sexual encounters I’ve had and they begin and end with him.
Maybe I should have found more time to date as a single mother. Others do it. The idea of leaving Matteo with a babysitter is daunting, but married couples go on dates without their children. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel this inadequacy.
“That’s none of your business,” I hiss at him, half tempted to light the entire thing on fire. But I am enjoying the book. It would be a shame to lose my place.
“Your pleasure is always my business.”
I grit my teeth and return to packing my boxes, deciding no answer is the best answer at all. If he hadn’t distracted me in the first place, we would be done already. There would have been no hospital trip. No Derek.
No second guessing my decisions.
“Tell me, darling, is there a reason you chose that vibrator?”
My cheeks are bright red, but I answer him anyway. “It’s a clit stimulator meant to imitate oral sex. I was curious.”
Sex with Enzo had been phenomenal, but since that was the extent of my experience, I had my questions. I had one class, Introduction to Human Sexuality, where I had a classmate loudly proclaim her love of oral sex, saying she would take a tongue over a dick any day.
The toy claims to be a perfect imitation. It does a spectacular job, but after experiencing the real thing, I’ll never be happy with just a toy again.
My explanation isn’t enough to sate Enzo. “What do you think? Is it as good as oral?”
“Consensus is still out. I don’t have enough personal experience to make the call. Maybe I need to call some of your hookups from the past year to see how they feel.”
The bitter jealous words come out before I think them through.
I don’t wait for a response from him. I abandon the box I’ve been working on and walk out to the living room to put some space between us. Enzo either doesn’t realize what I’m doing, or doesn’t care. My bet is on the latter.
“What do you think I’ve been doing for the last five years?” he asks as he follows me out into the living room.
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Since I know you’re lying, I’ll tell you. I’ve been waiting, Emma.”
The way he says my name has me freezing. I’m not sure what I’m packing in this box and I wince as I take the first proper look inside. Maybe I shouldn’t pack while upset. The glass statue will definitely break packed like this. And it’s ugly, so I’ll probably leave it behind.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that when I saw you, I knew you were it for me. So I waited. After you graduated, you were supposed to come home so I could romance you, whisk you off your feet the old-fashioned way. Things didn’t go as planned, but that doesn’t change the fact there has been no one else but you in five years.”
It’s a bold proclamation, and I’m not sure I believe him. If he wanted more from me, he would have given me his number or found another way to keep in contact with me. Waiting for someone, not even knowing if they are coming home, is ridiculous.
“How do you think we found out about Matteo? My father knows. He knows I was waiting for you and he grew suspicious when you never came home from university. Not for breaks or over the summer. That’s why he had people watching you.”
