Page 82 of Worth Risking It

“You going somewhere?”

My attention flitted to Milo, trying to see Chastity’s reaction out the corner of my eye. “Uh, y-yeah. I’m, actually going to spend a few days with…ahem…M-Melinda.”

No reaction from her, whatsoever. It both pissed me off and filled me with pride.

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, when do we get to meet her? I bet she’s smoking, knowing your taste.”

I sneered at Frank for a split second before bowing my head and shifting my weight. “Soon, soon.”

“Before the baby’s born?”

My focus returned to Milo, a knot in my throat. “Um, maybe.”

“Bring her over for dinner one night when we get back from Italy. She’s going to have a son to protect our baby,” he boasted, draping his arm across her shoulders, hugging her close.

She smiled and kissed his cheek, but when she looked at me, I saw how hard this pretense was for her. That actually relieved some of my anxiety.

“We’ll see.”

“Well, we gotta get going, boss. Plane ain’t gonna wait on us.”

Frank struggled to pick everything up while I opened the door for him. He strutted out the house and Milo and Chastity followed. My sight locked on her, she cast me the tiniest sideways glimpse as she stepped through the door.

I huffed, looking around the house for a moment. Cursing under my breath, I picked up my suitcase, stepped outside, as well, and locked the door, shutting it quietly.

Avoiding eye contact with anyone, I went to my pickup truck, tossed the luggage in the backseat, and climbed behind the wheel to start the engine. As I backed out of the driveway, I dared a peek at Milo and Frank putting the luggage in the cargo section of the SUV.

Chastity was standing next to the backdoor, acting like she was watching them, but looking in my direction. She shook her hair out her face, lifted her chin, and fidgeted with the collar of her jacket. I paused and squinted, leaning toward the window.

Her thumb was tucked beneath the pendant of the necklace I’d given her for Christmas, covertly holding it up for me to see.

My heart skipped and some of my resentment melted. With Frank and Milo’s back to me, I winked and blew a kiss. She blushed, opening the door and sliding to the backseat.

Shifting gears, I tapped the gas and drove off. One day soon, this would all be over, and she would be mine completely. One day soon.

Chapter 33

Wyatt Shaw

Sitting on a tall log on its side on the front porch, my elbows on my knees and my hands clasped, I stared at the river rushing by, the snow melting and making it higher than usual. My brain was my worst enemy right now, constantly painting all kinds of happy, wonderful images of a certain bride and groom, having the time of their life on their honeymoon, dancing and fucking the nights away in Italy.

While I sat here, in this tiny cabin, brooding the last two weeks. I know Amanda thought having me here would somehow ease her loneliness, but I hadn’t exactly done much to entertain her. We barely spoke, hell, I barely moved! I sat on this goddamn log for hours out of the day, staring at the river, wondering what my kitten was doing half a world away.

The door slid across the track, the smell of food wafting to the front porch. “You hungry?”

Leaning to one elbow, my palm pressed to my knee as I groaned and gazed up at Amanda. After a couple attempts, her hair now looked decent. It was short, like all around short, and no longer orange, but a proper bleached blonde.

My focus fell to her belly that was getting bigger by the day, it seemed. My nephew…son was in there. I would be responsible for him one day.

Would it be to raise him just as I had been, to protect Milo’s future kid, or would me and Chastity be his parents, living a secret life somewhere in Spain?

The more time I sat on this porch thinking, the more I realized just how many things had to go flawlessly right to make our plan work, and how just one tiny glitch could have catastrophic results. I was beginning to think our plan might not work.

The only way to successfully leave Milo Pampinella was to die.

“I cooked some lasagna,” she muttered, throwing her thumb over her shoulder, her other hand rubbing at the side of her belly.