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“It’s me. I’m your sister. You can trust me.” She squeezes my knee.
I glance at her, and the wall of tears topples over. “I was afraid he’d get sick of me and leave.”
Beth’s lips tip down. She knew. Of course she did. She knows me better than I know myself sometimes.
“You’re wonderful. I hate that you don’t think so. That you think Enzo wouldn’t see how beautiful you are inside and out and how lucky he’d be to have you.” She grabs a box of Kleenex from the sofa table behind us and puts it in my lap.
I take one and run it under my eyes. “I’m not that bad. It’s just… I didn’t want him to get sick of me.”
“And maybe you kind of liked the way he fawned and pushed to see you?”
It was nice—his can-never-get-enough-of-you attitude. No one had ever made me feel the way he did. Like I was his and he could spend every second of every day with me and never tire of it. That he never wanted to leave me… meaning he never would.
A strangled cry leaves my throat. “Oh my God, you’re right. I’m messed up. I was transferring my feelings of not being good enough for Mom onto Enzo.” I pick up a throw pillow and put it over my head.
“You’re not messed up. Look at how much you hate her. She hurt you and that’s why you have those strong feelings.” Beth puts her arms around my shoulders.
“You hate her too.”
She shrugs. “Not as much as you. I tamp down my expectations. I’m not going to be upset if she doesn’t want a relationship with Cecilia or me. That’s her loss. When she’s older, if she has regrets, she’ll have to live with them. She made her bed.”
“You’re like a therapist’s dream and I’m a basket case. How did we come out of the same situation so differently?”
She laughs. “I guess I’m just the better sister.”
I knock her with my shoulder, and we laugh.
“But Enzo?” She doesn’t stop with her psych analysis. “I get why you’re mad. What he did wasn’t right, but I think you both let the out-of-work relationship affect your work relationship. You need to talk to him.”
I nod, but I honestly have no plan at this point.
My phone dings in my purse, and Beth grabs the phone and hands it to me. “Call him.”
I hold it in my hands, and it dings again.
Jake’s name flashes on the screen.
Jake: Enzo just quit. What the hell happened today?
* * *
I leaveBeth’s and arrive at Enzo’s condo. The sun is dipping below the horizon and the summer nights are becoming chilly, but his lobby is toasty warm.
“Hi, Jeb,” I say, before stepping into the elevator.
“Miss Stewart.” The doorman nods. “He just returned.”
“Thank you.”
My stomach rumbles with emotions as the elevator rises up to Enzo’s floor. His hallway is quiet, as it usually is, and I knock on his door. I’ve done this hundreds of times, but I can’t help but worry this is the last time I’ll ever be here.
Enzo opens the door, his shirt unbuttoned and his tie loose around his neck.
“Annie,” he says, thick emotion coating every syllable of my name.
“Can I come in?”
He slides to the side, opening the door more.
