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)
But a second later, the world went still.
And I smiled. Smiled wider and harder than I had in a very long time. I felt an inexplicable joy that brought me to the clouds. My heart suddenly doubled in size as my love reached new heights. In an instant, my whole world changed—for the better. “Oh, sweetheart . . .”
Chapter 8
Aurelia
My anxiety was through the roof, and if I didn’t get it under control, I was worried how it would affect our baby. The only time I felt a sense of calm was when I was at work—because I knew Constantine wouldn’t be there. Wouldn’t be able to ask me what was wrong.
I didn’t want to lie or evade his questions anymore, but I was scared as hell to tell him the truth. I took a few more pregnancy tests as time went on, just to be sure it wasn’t a false positive, but they all said the same thing and my period never came . . . so this was real.
Fuck, I was gonna have a baby.
I’d known Constantine for less than three months, and he was in a depression so deep that I feared this news would just launch him into a spiral. He’d given up his entire life for me, and he was struggling to adjust. If he found out he was going to be a father too, it might push him over the edge.
He might think I did it on purpose, and he wouldn’t trust me ever again. I’d never skipped a pill and I’d been on the same contraceptive for years and years, so I couldn’t believe it failed me.
But if it was gonna fail, thank god it was with Constantine.
What if it had been with Enzo . . . fuck that.
I worked in the kitchen through the morning, thinking about all those things incessantly, feeling plunges of anxiety in my stomach and then tremors in my fingertips. I had to tell Constantine soon because I couldn’t carry this lie much longer. And I couldn’t carry this truth alone—because I was fucking terrified. Terrified to be a mom when I wasn’t ready. Scared that I would have to do it alone, the way my mother had to. Scared to push a baby out of my vagina and not die.
Scared of everything.
There was only one man I’d ever met who made me feel safe, but I was even afraid to tell him.
Once everything was prepped for the day and we opened our doors, I headed to the other side of the building where the main restaurant was located. People came in for lunch, and I seated them at tables and took their orders. Waitressing was a lot easier than prepping in the morning because I got to write everything down and give it to one of the cooks to prepare. The rest of the time, I just tried to stay busy.
The lunch rush ended and the tables cleared out, so I wiped them down for the dinner crew that came in before five. We were open for another forty-five minutes, but people hardly ever came in for lunch past one.
But then the door opened, and Constantine walked inside. Dressed in a black T-shirt and dark jeans, he helped himself to one of the tables—with the biggest smile on his face. “Hey, sweetheart.” A six-foot-five, tremendous hunk with arms that nearly split his sleeves, he was the juiciest piece of man meat ever.
I was a little taken aback by the sight of him, particularly his mood. I’d gone to bed last night and pretended to be asleep when he came in. So we didn’t talk, and I left earlier than usual this morning and took a cab to work. This was our first interaction since that tense conversation over dinner, but it was as if it had never happened. “Hey.” I approached the table, unsure what I missed, why he was a whole different person, but I didn’t dare ask. “What are you doing here?”
“I was in town and decided to stop by for lunch.” He dropped his arm over the other chair, completely relaxed, like he didn’t have a care in the world. “And I thought I could watch your ass shake while you hustle.”
I was still shocked by all of this. It took me a couple seconds to accept this reality. When I’d first seen him, I felt that jolt of anxiety, like he was here to confront me about last night. But that didn’t seem like his intention.
“Come here.” His hand moved to my hip, and he guided me to his lap.
“I’m at work—”
He slid his hand into my hair and kissed me, kissed me like we were at home with no one around. Like he didn’t give a damn if anyone saw us.
The second I felt the command of his mouth and the softness of his kiss, I lost all restraint. I didn’t care if his own mother walked in and saw us together, my ass on his lap in the middle of the restaurant.