Fucking Jessica.
I can’t believe that bitch is back. The memory of seeing her through the window on her knees, licking her lips like a satisfied cat, has my stomach clenching. Good. If I’m going to throw up, it’s going to be right on top of Dante’s double-crossing desk.
Marching into my husband’s office, I slam the door behind me.
Dante looks up, startled, as I cross my arms and lean back, jutting out a hip.
“You aresucha massive fuckwit.”
11
Frankie
Dante isabout to rise from his chair, but I stop him with a hand in the air.
“Seriously? I’m fucking pregnant, and you still have her dangling?”
He shakes his head, as if he actually doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “Who?”
“Jessica!” I shout, then lower my voice to a hiss. “Unless you have another sidepiece I don’t know about.”
“Jessica?” he repeats, acting like he’s confused. “I haven’t even thought of her that way since—”
“Oh no? You don’t think about the woman who sucks your dick during the workday?” The volume of my voice is kicking up again. It’s taking all my will not to scream at him.
“Frankie, what the hell are you—”
“I heard you! The two of you. In the front room, at the house. She was on her knees sucking you off and you called her beautiful in Italian and I SAW her wipe her filthy mouth—”
“It wasn’t me,” Dante says as he gets up, raising his hands in an attempt to placate me.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that song before,” I scoff, backing away.
My cheeks are flaming hot, the burning in the base of my throat almost suffocating. I need a drink. I need my damn tummy tea.
“I don’t know what you saw or heard, but it wasn’t me,” he repeats. “Swear to God, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He edges around the desk cautiously, like I’m a terrified deer that he’s going to scare off. Right now, I’m a goddamn lioness and he’d better watch out.
“Why should I believe you? You’ve lied to me before.”
Dante’s eyes narrow. He’s losing patience, I can tell, but I don’t care. Jessica shouldn’t be here. She should have been fired and gone. Oh wait, shehadbeen fired and gone, but for some reason she’s back now. She’s always back.
“Frankie, I haven’t touched another woman since we were married. That’s the honest truth.”
God, he sounds so sincere. I want to believe him. But I don’t know if I can.
He’s come completely around the desk, his body mere inches from mine. I look into his eyes, searching for any hint of deceit. My pulse ticks up as my anger begins to fade.
Seeing me waver, Dante pulls me close by degrees, inch by inch, giving me an out if I want one. But I let him gather me against his chest, my hands sliding around his back. I don’t want an out. I just want…reassurance. The kind I can trust.
Nuzzling my ear, he murmurs, “Listen to me, please. I swear on my life—on our child’s life—that I’ve been faithful to you. Even when I thought our marriage wasn’t legal. Because I still loved you. And I still do.”
“Then who was it? And why is she still here?” My anger has lost its momentum and my voice is weak. I don’t believe he’s lying.
He tips my chin up with the warm press of his finger. We lock eyes and his thumb brushes my lips, sending a hot pulse straight between my legs.
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out. And I’ll take care of it. Francesca, I promise you, I—”
Someone knocks on the door and then it bursts open. Marco saunters in, clueless as always, then spots us embracing and has the grace to look embarrassed. For a second.
