Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Constantine closed his eyes and seemed to drift off right away.
I closed my eyes too, tired from my day at work and from the tidal wave of pleasure that had just knocked me off my feet.
Then I heard Medusa give a quiet whine from downstairs.
Constantine’s eyes snapped open like a mother with a newborn. “She knows mommy-and-daddy time is over.”
I chuckled. “I can’t wait until she can come up the stairs on her own.”
He left the bed and used the bathroom before he put on his boxers and headed down the stairs. A moment later, he returned carrying Medusa in his arms and put her in her dog bed on the floor next to his side of the bed. He gave her a rubdown before he kissed her on the head. “Good night, baby girl.”
He headed back to bed, turned his phone on Do Not Disturb, and then rolled on his side to look at me. “What?”
It must have been the look on my face, the look I couldn’t control. “I love the way you love her.”
He watched me for a while, the sheets resting at his waist.
“If you become a dad someday, I think you’d be really good at it.”
“Only if I had a daughter. If I had a son . . . I’m not so sure.”
I could feel the surprise etch into my features because that was not something I expected him to say. “Why do you say that?”
“Sons are complicated. How do you raise them to be strong without being an asshole? How to be assertive but not unnecessarily confrontational? Men are violent, toxic, and rapists, serial killers. It’s a fine line, and I’m not sure how to walk it.”
“And how would raising a girl be different?”
“Because I’d raise her to be strong and assertive and as confrontational as she wants. Teach her how to handle toxic assholes and how to break their noses and their dicks. I was pretty much raised by a single woman. I understand women. They can be strong and gentle at the same time. But men . . . men are just worthless.”
“I’m surprised you feel that way considering . . . you know.”
“What?” he asked.
“Considering you’re the greatest man I’ve ever known.”
He stared at me endlessly, like he didn’t understand if that compliment was genuine . . . or if he deserved it.
“Considering how you’ve spent your life protecting innocent people, women in particular, how you’ve treated me . . .”
“Let’s not forget that I chop off hands and kill people.”
“Men who deserve it. You make the hard decisions that no one else wants to make. You fight crime with crime. It’s a fine line to walk, and you do it beautifully.”
“I did it beautifully. But that’s over now.”
“Doesn’t erase everything you did. How you served the Roman Republic.”
He moved onto his back and looked at the high ceiling. “I’m done talking about this, sweetheart.”
I noticed the way he used my nickname to lighten the blow, but his dismissal still stung anyway. Like someone had died, he grieved for the person he’d lost—himself. He’d taken so much pride in what he did, said he wouldn’t sacrifice it for anything because nothing was more important than his service.
But then he fell in love with me . . . and that all changed.
Chapter 4
Aurelia
I went to Rosticceria Da Cristina the next morning. It was impossible to drive in the little village of Taormina and parking was also a bitch, so Constantine dropped me off at the edge of town before he headed back home to do his morning workout. He wasn’t quite himself after last night, but he didn’t seem distant with me either.
He was just lost.
The village was empty this early in the morning, so I walked to the restaurant alone. The door was unlocked when I got there, so I let myself inside. No one was in the front kitchen, so I called out, “Anyone here?”
A woman’s voice came from somewhere in the rear. “Back here.”
I headed farther into the back of the restaurant to the second kitchen. When I rounded the corner, I saw Beatrice, her hair up and flour on the front of her black apron. Her eyes were lively until the moment she saw me, and then they dimmed.
She couldn’t even pretend.
In another situation with another person, I’d probably just address it head-on. Cut the shit, rip off the bandage, talk about the issue. But I wanted to marry her brother someday, so I had to play the game by her rules. Needed to give her time to warm up to me, to like me on her own terms instead of forcing her to accept mine. “Good morning.” I forced a smile and stepped farther into her workplace, trying to act like I belonged there, when I was definitely encroaching on her turf.