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He kisses my favorite spot on my neck making my toes curl before he says, “I love you, Eden. More than anything.”
I suck in a breath as he starts bringing me to my climax again.
My body convulses exploding around him as he comes inside me. “I love you, too.”
He stays inside me holding me on the couch for what must be hours as we both drift to sleep. The couch used to represent so much pain. He tied me up here. He raped me here. But now, I can’t think of this couch without thinking about what just happened. We made loved and found the first step toward what could be a forever kind of love here. The beginning of forgiveness.
Our love and forgiveness continue to grow over the next month, as our baby grows large in my stomach, making it clear how pregnant I am when I’m wearing anything other than a baggy T-shirt to cover up my bump.
Our days are filled with normal things that normal couples do. Dates. Fights. Cooking. Sex. And a lot of decorating the baby’s soon to be room.
Matteo painted the walls pink for me. I hated it, so he painted it this beautiful gold sparkly color. But then I saw this gorgeous crib that was a silver color that would have been perfect, and he offered to paint it again. He might have to, but for now, I’ve settled on gold with pink accents.
Our life has been simple. Good. But we haven’t talked about any of the big stuff. I figure if we can get through the little things like what we are having for dinner and what movie we are watching on our dates, then the big stuff will come.
Am I ever going back to the US and my old life? Do I want to start a new career here? What are we going to name this baby? What life do we want for her? Is Matteo going to continue killing people? Am I okay if he does? Are Nina and Arlo ever going to be safe to come out of hiding?
I don’t know the answers to any of those questions. All I know is that I’m desperately in love with Matteo. And he’s equally in love with me. And both of us are smitten with our baby that’s due in a few months. What else could we need?
It’s early in the morning when Matteo slips out of bed, throws on some clothes, and sneaks out of our bedroom without kissing me goodbye or letting me know he was leaving.
He rarely does this. But he has done it a handful of times over the last month. He doesn’t tell me where he is going and I don’t ask. But I know what he is doing. Working.
Just one of the many topics we should discuss and be honest with each other, but we don’t. I guess we aren’t doing as well as I thought we were.
I try sleeping, but I know it is a useless endeavor. I can’t sleep with him out of bed.
I get out of bed and put on a robe, deciding I should head downstairs to get some coffee and drink it out on the back balcony to watch the sunrise and think about how we should handle all the things we are too afraid to talk about.
I make it to the kitchen and start pouring myself a cup of coffee when I hear Matteo’s voice ringing through the hallway before it drops to barely a whisper.
I frown. That’s weird. He’s working in his home office instead of the warehouse.
I decide to go give him a kiss, bring him a cup of coffee, and let him know I’ll be out on the balcony if he wants to join me when he is finished with his phone call. I pour another cup of coffee and then ca
rry them both down the hallway to Matteo’s office.
“I have them. I know where Nina and Arlo are,” Matteo says.
I freeze outside the door, my heart sinking.
“Yes, I remember our deal. I’ll be ready to bring them to you by the end of the week.”
I try to calm my breathing and heart, but both are beating so speedily I’m sure that Matteo can hear me lurking outside his door.
“Yes, father. You can do whatever you want with Nina and Arlo. I’ll even help you kill them if you want. But you have to keep your end of the deal. I expect to be paid well for this, and you promise to leave Italy and never return. I don’t want you messing with what is mine now.”
I can’t listen anymore. He’s making me sick. I thought he had changed. I thought he cared about me, loved me. I didn’t think he was ready to give up his entire life and I never asked him to. All I asked was for him to give up Nina. That’s all I wanted. To keep her safe.
He told me he loved her once, but it was never about love. It was always about revenge and money. That’s how he and his father both think. That’s why Nina chose Arlo.
I need a phone.
I run through the house, needing to find a phone to call Nina. The thing that I’ve spent my entire time trying not to do, I now have to do. Matteo figured out where Nina and Arlo are. He might already have men there, ready to take them. I have to warn them.
The problem is there are no fucking phones in this house. I know because I’ve looked countless times.
I see Maximo round the corner. He must be on duty this morning. He’s not my favorite. He doesn’t usually want to help. But today, I’ll force him to help me.
