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An angry grumble disturbed her thoughts, and she frowned. “Ezio? You’re still here?”
He didn’t answer. The sound of a drawer shutting reached her, and fear gripped her belly. That closet was hers and hers alone. Ezio’s closet lay on the opposite side of the room. Of course he went into her closet often to choose something he wanted her to wear, but he didn’t do it unless they had a special event coming up. Ezio had mentioned the night before he wouldn’t plan anything for a while so she could rest. For some reason, he had gone into her closet, but he had never had a reason to look through her drawers. That’s why she thought it was a safe place.
She slid to the edge of the bed and took her time rising. A shadow shifted near the closet doorway, and her stomach dropped. Ezio appeared and paused in the opening. For a moment, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then she stiffened.
“Do you want to explain to me what this is?” He held up her birth control pills.
“Old…” The expiration date was right on them. If she lied, she’d make it worse. “Ezio, let me explain—”
The pills hit the wall, and she jumped. He stomped over to them, picked them up, and crushed them in his fist. Even from her position on the side of the bed she could see the pills crumbling into powder and littering the carpet. “You know how much I wanted another child!” he roared. “You agreed to have a baby with me. The whole premise of our marriage is based on that fact.”
“I know.” She searched for words to explain her position that wouldn’t tick him off further.
“I have been careful to be sure you’re not overdoing it just in case. No undo stress, and you repay me by making a fool of me with these.”
“That’s not what I was doing, and you know it!”
His eyebrows rose. “I know it? Io non vi conosco affatto!”
“What does that mean?”
He ignored her and began pacing, spewing more Italian. She’d never seen him so angry. He walked back into her closet, and she wrapped a sheet around her to follow. She reached the doorway in time to see what he had been doing in her drawers in the first place. He withdrew a tiny gift-wrapped box. Ezio had been hiding a present for her to surprise her. Shame washed over her.
He ripped the wrapping to shreds and crushed the box in his hand. Without a word to her, he shouldered past and marched toward the door. She ran after him. “Where are you going, Ezio?”
The door opened and slammed behind him as he left. Shakarri sank down on the floor in front of the mess that was her pills. She wondered what she should do now and what Ezio planned to do. Would he want a divorce? Would he sue her? If he did, he wouldn’t get anything. She didn’t have a red cent to her name except what he had given her in the last three months.
She stirred from the floor. Maybe she should go to the bank and withdraw everything. She would pack her bags first in case he sent a guard to escort her out the door. There was nothing more humiliating than to be tossed out on to the street without a stitch of clothing on.
When she gathered clothes to wear and walked into the bathroom, she discovered tears running down her face. She stared in surprise and sniffed. Her chest hurt, and she knew the truth of what she had been feeling the last couple of weeks. In that time, she had come to care about Ezio. Whether it was love wasn’t clear yet, but she had told herself it didn’t matter. A lifetime with Ezio wasn’t likely, so it would be better for her to get away. She had stuck to the plan, and now she had nothing. What’s more it hurt far more than she imagined it would to lose him.
Shakarri walked downstairs to a silent house. She thought everyone had left, but when she entered the dining room, all of the family were there. None of Ezio’s guests had made an appearance. Poor Cat looked miserable, and Ezio’s mom muttered to herself in Italian.
Shakarri took her seat and accepted whatever Clara sat before her. She didn’t pay attention to the food but rather shifted it about on her plate.
Cason leaned toward her and whispered. “So what did you do?”
She blinked at him. “Huh?”
He smirked as if she was putting on an innocent act. “You and my brother went to bed like two lovebirds last night.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t see you.”
“But I saw you.” He waved aside her protest. “You were obviously going to make love, no?”
She didn’t deign to confirm or deny.
“But he came down this morning and took off every head in sight.” Her brother-in-law pointed to his neck. “If you look closely you can see the scarring.”
“Ha, funny, Cason. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Ezio has woken up on the wrong side of the bed before. Sometimes he gets stressed from work…” She let her voice trail off because the excuse sounded lame.
“My brother is always calmer once he’s been with you.”
His words took her by surprise, but she didn’t give them any weight. Her marriage was obviously over. So this was how people got divorced in less than six months. She had always thought it was insane and impossible. Come to think of it rich people did it all the time. Maybe most of them married for convenience and not love.
A lump formed in her throat, and she ducked her head, concentrating on her plate. When she could manage to speak, she questioned Cason. “So where is he and his guests.”
He shrugged. “He commanded them all to leave, and he went with them. I’m guessing they’re having the meeting at a hotel instead. Ezio’s made arrangements for conference rooms on short notice before. The hotel staff always accommodates him.”
