“I know in your heart this is what you want—and I want it too.”
“No.”
“Constantine—”
“Remember how he stormed into the palace and took you? That was nothing compared to what he’s capable of.”
“I know, Constantine. But ... I’m brave.”
My entire body stiffened when I heard what she said.
“I’m brave, and I know I could do it.”
It meant the world to hear her say that, to hear how much she’d grown since the moment I’d stumbled across her broken pieces. To know that she found herself again after she found me.
But it changed nothing. “I know you are, sweetheart. If I hadn’t allowed Darius to outsmart me, we would have had a great life in Rome.You would have been my empress, and we would have ruled this land. But I’m the one who fucked it all up, and we have to live with those consequences. I’m not going to change my mind ... and I never want to discuss it again.”
A couple days later, our lives began to feel normal again. The episode with Gina was behind us, we didn’t speak of President Barsetti’s visit, and I started to forget the whole thing. I fell back into my idyllic life in Taormina with my family and my woman. Aurelia continued to work at the restaurant during the day, and I focused on starting our restaurant. I met with the real estate agent to find the right spot. I didn’t want to rent from someone else, wanted to own the property so no one could ever take it from me.
I knew I had to confront Isabella at some point, but I waited until my life felt stable before I dealt with that. If I came to her from a place of anger, I was afraid I would rip her into pieces.
I expected the conversation to be brief, so I went to her family-owned gelato shop and let myself into the back. I didn’t want to go to her apartment after the workday, because it felt stupid to leave my family and spend that time with my ex.
She was seated at the desk when I walked inside, and she gave a slight flinch when I appeared. “A heads-up would be nice.”
“So you can take off and avoid me?” I moved to the other chair by the desk, the same one I’d sat in when I found out her husband had been a cheating asshole.
She finished something on her laptop before she closed it, but she still wouldn’t look directly at me.
I knew she was embarrassed—as she should be.
“Look, I’m sorry for my viciousness. No excuse for it, and that’s on me. But you also need to make some changes if we’re going to coexist in this village.”
She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
I waited for an apology, but it didn’t seem imminent.
“This is the last olive branch I’m ever going to extend to you, Isabella.”
Her eyes finally flicked to mine.
“Then it’s no contact, pretend you don’t exist, you aren’t welcome in my mother’s house ... all that heavy stuff. I don’t want that, and I know you don’t either. But I can’t keep entertaining this circus. I’m going to be a husband and a father, and I can’t have this shit show running buck wild anymore.” Thank god Aurelia was so understanding about it. Otherwise, this could have destroyed my relationship and chased away the love of my life. “So, can we forgive, forget, and move on?”
She looked away again, her arms noticeably tightening. She took a breath before she looked at me again. “I’m sorry for the way I acted, and I would love to move on. But I can’t see us ever being friends. It’s hard to imagine a time when I won’t love you anymore.”
“It’ll happen, Isabella. I promise you’ll meet someone, and I’ll fade so deep into obscurity that you’ll forget you ever loved me in the first place.” It was the way I felt about Aurelia, my love for her so deep and raw that it was hard to remember a time when I wanted to spend my life with someone else.
“I hope you’re right.”
I was relieved I’d gotten an apology out of her, because if I hadn’t, it would have left a bad taste in my mouth. I needed to know that the woman I once loved wasn’t a narcissistic asshole and I was too blind to see it. “I know I am.”
Chapter 18
Aurelia
Constantine was himself once again. He always greeted me when I came home from work with a smile, and when he took me to bed, he was all over me, loving me deeply and passionately, just the way he had when we first met. I didn’t work on the weekends, so that was the time I lounged around the house with Constantine and Medusa. I would lie on the couch snuggled into a blanket, and Constantine would lift up my shirt to expose my belly that hadn’t changed much at all and kiss it everywhere like I was six months along.
He said he’d talked to Isabella and worked things out, but he never gave the specifics and I never asked. His mom would text to check in with me, and she and I started to have our own conversation thread. Instead of feeling like my future mother-in-law, she felt like my own blood.
