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“What happened?”
I take a deep breath, holding back the tears long enough to talk through them. “Did you know that Liam had a fiancée?” I manage, biting my lip hard to stem the fresh wave of sobs that threaten to break loose just from saying the word aloud.
“What?” Sofia gasps, and it’s clear just from that one word that she didn’t have the slightest idea, either. “No, of course not, Ana! I wouldn’t have left you there with him when we came to stay if I’d known. He was with a woman at Caterina’s wedding, but I had no idea they were engaged. It was before he went to find you, too—I assumed that if there had been anything there, he’d broken it off—”
“The engagement was that night, according to her. Before he left.” The words come out numbly, like parroting something I’ve heard someone else say. “Luca didn’t tell you anything about this?”
“No, not at all.” Sofia pauses. “And if he knew, I’m going to have something to say about him not telling me once he knew you were staying there—”
She breaks off, and I can tell from the tone of her voice that there’s going to be tension in the Romano household tonight.
“I’m sorry, Sofia, I don’t want you and Luca to fight over this.” I wipe savagely at my face, dashing away the tears. “I just—I never thought, he never evenhinted—”
“I don’t know what the fuck he’s thinking, to be frank,” Sofia snaps. “Ana, if you want me to come to get you, I will—”
“No, I want to see him when he comes home.” The words feel choked, strangled in my throat, but I mean it. “I can’t just run away.”
“I’ll come there, then. So if you need me, after—”
“It’s okay.” I take a deep, shuddering breath, feeling slightly calmer just from the sound of her voice. Somehow, calling my best friend made it feel more normal. All of this is horrible, but it’s just guy problems. I’ve never sat on my floor sobbing to my best friend over the phone about them before. Still, I’ve definitely sat onourliving room floor, or my bed or hers when we shared an apartment, complaining about guys, crying when one disappointed me. Back then, it felt much more low-stakes, but it’s not that different.
I’ve gotten through worse. I can get through this.
“No,” Sofia insists. “I want to make sure you’re okay, Ana. I’ll be there tonight, just as soon as the plane can be ready.”
“Sofia—”
“I’m not taking no for an answer,” she says gently. “Take a shower, or a bath, Ana, and a nap if you can. I’ll be there soon.”
When she hangs up the phone, I’m left on the living room floor, still trembling even if I’m not in a full panic like before.
---
It’s evening when Sofia gets to the apartment. I’ve managed to take a bath between the phone call and then, but I’m still in my robe, my hair damp as I sit, curled into a ball on the couch. Only her knock on the door gets me up. Even then, my heart is hammering, afraid that it’s Saoirse coming back to tear into me again even though Sofia just texted me.
Sofia takes one look at me as she comes into the penthouse and lets out a sigh. “Have you eaten at all today, Ana?”
I shake my head, tears already welling up in my eyes again.
“Okay. Come on, let’s get you in some comfy clothes, and I’ll make dinner. Or order it.” She gently guides me down the hall, one hand on the small of my back, and I let her.
The pile of lingerie is still on the floor when we walk in, and I flush red, but Sofia doesn’t even blink. She just scoops it up, tossing it all back into the top drawer as she fishes out a pair of loose, soft pajama pants and a tank top for me. “Did Saoirse do that?” she asks as she turns around, and I nod speechlessly.
“Bitch,” Sofia says, spitting the word out with real venom, and I shake my head.
“That’s the thing—she wasn’t really.” I take the clothes from Sofia, undoing my robe and tossing it across the bed. “I mean, I could tell she was pissed. And it’s hard to blame her—if she really is Liam’s fiancée, then we both have a right to be upset with him. But she wasn’t really a bitch. I mean, she didn’t yell or call me names or anything.” I fiddle with the string on the pajama pants as I pull them on, reaching for the tank top. “She did say I should start looking for somewhere else to stay, that she was going to put a stop to Liam’s ‘charity,’ as she called it.”
“You’re always welcome with us, you know that.” Sofia perches on the edge of the bed as I pull the tank top on, sympathy written across every inch of her face. “And I’m glad she wasn’t mean to you—but I have to say, I’m less worried about her than about you right now. You’re my best friend, Ana. I don’t care who Liam is; I’m not going to let him treat you badly.”
“That’s the thing.” I sink onto the bed next to her. “That’s why I don’t understand any of this. Hehasn’ttreated me badly. He’s been nothing but kind and patient with me, even though things are difficult between us and there’s so much baggage. I didn’t even believe her at first because there’s been nothing to make me think he’d ever do something like this. I just—I don’t understand.”
“How long before he comes back?” Sofia urges me up off the bed, herding me back down the hall and into the living room so that she can go about finding us some dinner. “Do you know for sure?”
“He said he’d be gone for about a week.” I curl up onto the couch again, watching as she flicks through a food delivery app. “I don’t know what I’m going to do until then. I feel like I’m going to go crazy wondering, thinking about it—”
“Well, I can stay for a few days.” Sofia taps her phone, finishes the order, and sets it down next to her, tucking her feet underneath her on the sofa in a mirror of how I’m sitting on the other side. “I have an OB/GYN appointment later this week, so I have to be back in New York for that. But I can stay and keep you company until then.”
“Luca’s okay with that?”
