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My woman is going to be devastated. Over the past month, she’s been trying to contact Teagan to no avail. I know she’s missed her. She’s her sister. To find out that she’s hit rock bottom is going to kill her. When Portia finds out, she’s going to kill both Elio and I.
“I agree,” Jade says. “Portia is her best friend. She’ll want to be here.”
“Not tonight,” Elio says.
I know the right thing to do is to call her, but right now, Elio needs to be with Teagan and ensure that she’s going to be okay.
The doctor calls Elio into the bedroom, and Jade, Rocco, and I wait to hear what he has to say. A few minutes later, the doctor leaves, and I know Elio isn’t coming out of the room. If it were my wife, I wouldn’t either. I’d be watching over her all night.
“Is she awake?” I ask him the next morning as he comes into the kitchen.
She isn’t. He tells me he’s going to get her help, that the doctor has given him the name of a woman who can help her through this. It’s going to be a long road ahead of her.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him as I give him a cup of coffee. “I told you to set this up. I gave you the idea to force her to marry you.” I shake my head. Bile is sitting heavy in my stomach, mixing with so much guilt. “When did we become like our father?”
“You didn’t force me to treat her like shit, Dario. It’s my fault, my actions.”
I wish that would absolve me of the guilt, but it doesn’t. No matter what is said, I set up this marriage, this vengeance. I caused this.
Jade enters the kitchen. “That’s the realest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
She tells him that he’s taking accountability for his actions, but the truth is, I need to too. I’m an asshole. There’s something wrong with me when my first thought for vengeance is to go after an innocent woman.
“When Teagan wakes up, she’s going to be hurting, and as much as I know you want to help, seeing you or me could set her off. Portia is someone she trusts. Seeing her would be better,” Jade tells him, and I totally agree. Right now, Teagan needs someone she can rely on, and the only person she has is Portia.
“Call her,” Elio instructs as he walks past Jade and back into his room, where Teagan is.
“I’ll call Portia,” I tell Jade as I head toward the room I stayed in last night.
I’m going to call my woman and break the news that her best friend hurt herself and is drowning in depression and needs help.
Fuck.
FIFTEEN
PORTIA
I groan at the sound of my cell ringing. “Ugh,” I cry as I pull my pillow over my head and shut my eyes tighter. God, why the hell is someone calling me this time of the morning? The ringing doesn’t stop. In fact, it ends and then starts up right away.
I pull the pillow off and snatch the cell from the dressing table. “Hello,” I answer not too pleasantly.
“Baby, I need you to listen to me.” I hear the soft but tight voice of Dario.
I swallow hard, my heart racing as I sit up in bed. Tears sting the backs of my eyes. “Tee?” I ask, knowing he’s calling about her. I know it in my heart and down to my soul.
“She’s alive, but, Portia, she needs help.”
“What happened?” I ask as I throw the bedsheets off my body and climb out of bed. I need to get dressed and go to her.
“After Teagan and Elio arrived home last night, I called him, letting him know what happened at the gala, and how we lost a man—”
“You did?” I ask softly, pausing in my rush around the room. “I’m so sorry, Dario.”
“Emiliano was a good man. He was one of the best,” he says quietly. I knew Emiliano. My papa knew him too. Dario’s right, he was one of the best.
“I'm sorry for your loss.” I hate that they lost yet another man. It seems to be an occurrence that’s happening more frequently.
I quickly pull off my pajamas and reach for my underwear.
