AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘CORDERÓ.’ HEANSWEREDthe call without checking who was ringing, not wanting to risk the buzzing of his phone waking Sienna, who’d only fallen asleep a while earlier. He cast her a glance as he slipped from the room, her red hair spread like flames across his crisp white pillows, her body naked, half concealed by the sheet, one leg sticking out tempting him to go back to bed, to begin kissing her on her toes and working his way up...
But it was late, and she must be exhausted, given how they’d spent the last few hours.
He pulled the door closed softly behind him, moving into the corridor and towards the kitchen, as the voice on the other end of the line spoke.
‘Alex, how are you?’
He stopped walking, closing his eyes on a wave of guilt.
‘Luca. Fine. You?’
‘Yeah, all good. I haven’t had a chance to check in with you since the wedding. We’ve been busy.’
‘You’re on your honeymoon, I hope I’m the last thing on your mind.’
‘Right.’ Luca’s laugh was natural and relaxed, so even if Sienna’s revelations the afternoon before had given Alejandro a moment’s worry, the sound of his friend’s voice alleviated it completely.
‘I wanted you to be one of the first to know: Olivia’s pregnant.’
Alejandro reached for the coffee grinds and scooped some into his pot, adding water then placing it on top of the stove, the words dropping through him like stones. Marriage. And now children? ‘Who are you and what have you done with Luca?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You sound happy.’
‘I am.’
Alejandro braced his palms on the counter, his gaze lazily tracing another scar, which ran from his thumb across the back of his hand down to his wrist. That one had been from a flick knife. ‘Then so am I.’
‘I’ll take that as congratulations.’
‘As it was intended.’
‘I also wanted to thank you.’
‘What for?’ Alejandro reached for a small cup, moving towards the stove and watching as flames licked the sides of the coffeepot.
‘For taking care of Sienna at the wedding. Olivia’s very protective of her, which means I am too, and their mother is such a bitch. She’s a beautiful girl. I hated seeing her so tense at the wedding.’
Alejandro closed his eyes on another roll of guilt. Tell him the truth. Tell him it was your pleasure. That, actually, it went beyond just looking after her. Tell him Sienna isn’t his responsibility, that she can make her own decisions in life, that what they were doing was none of Luca’s business.
‘Sure.’
‘Don’t sound so happy about it.’
Alejandro frowned, not liking the implication of that, but not knowing how to defend himself—and Sienna—without being frank about exactly how happy he’d been. ‘It was no problem,’ he tried again. ‘I enjoyed meeting her.’
‘Good. You’ll probably see a bit more of her, given that you’re both going to be godparents to our first child.’
‘What?’
‘You can skip being my best man, but not my child’s godfather. Sorry, it is not negotiable.’
Guilt was now a full-blown explosion at the base of his chest. He’d known Sienna would be someone he’d see, from time to time, in some capacity, given her connection to Luca, but sharing godparent duties?
He flicked off the flames abruptly, reaching for the pot and filling his cup with the dark, fragranced liquid. ‘I’m not religious.’
