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)
He gave a shrug. “I guess I just got over it.”
“But overnight?”
“Just doesn’t seem important anymore,” he said matter-of-factly. “Here I am in the most beautiful place in the world with the woman I love, and my family is right down the street. That’s what life is all about. I feel nothing but gratitude.”
The tension in the muscles around my chest relaxed a bit. Knowing he was happy with our lives brought me a sense of calm. It made me feel like everything would be okay . . . when I finally found the courage to tell him. That he wouldn’t be resentful that he’d lost everything, and now what little piece of independence he had left would be gone too. If this had been a year in the future or some other time, I wouldn’t be worried about Constantine’s reaction to the news. He said he could go either way, could have kids or not. But the timing was just awful. This relationship was still new, even though it didn’t feel that way.
“I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”
I released a quiet scoff because it sounded ridiculous. “I’m the lucky one, Constantine.” This gorgeous, smart, six-and-a-half-foot hunk of a man was mine. And his eyes didn’t stray and he didn’t lie and he didn’t cheat. He took care of me, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I had someone I could rely on. It wasn’t just me on my own anymore, trying to keep my head above water. For a time, I’d felt safe and secure with Enzo, but most of that relationship was spent with me begging him to make it work.
I was still ashamed I’d done that.
He looked at the menu. “So, what are you going to order, sweetheart?”
I scanned the menu. “The La Napoletana.” It came with mozzarella, garlic . . . and anchovies.
He quickly picked up on the joke. “You’re becoming more Sicilian by the day.”
The waitress came over, and we each ordered our own pizza. He got the mortadella, which had mozzarella and ricotta cheese along with mortadella and pistachio sauce. I noticed he ordered mortadella on pretty much everything when he wasn’t eating seafood. I got the bufala pizza, which was basically a margherita pizza but with big chunks of buffalo mozzarella. I hadn’t had any unusual cravings yet, nor had I been sick at all. If this was how the pregnancy was the entire time, then I’d consider myself lucky.
Constantine ordered two glasses of wine without asking me what I wanted and sat with his arms folded on the table, sitting forward toward me. “I’ve done some thinking. Don’t think Cosa Nostra is right for me anymore. It just feels like a major step down, and I’m not commuting two hours each way.”
“You could stay there for a couple days.”
“My place is here with you.”
I didn’t want him to give up even more for me, but truth be told, the idea of sleeping alone for several nights while he was hours away made me uncomfortable. And when there was a baby in the house, I’d be terrified, even with Medusa there. I knew Darius wouldn’t come for me in Taormina after he’d let us go, but now that fear of being ambushed without Constantine around was a part of me. I would never tell him that, of course. Not when it would make him feel like shit. “I could come with you.”
“I don’t want the job. Have something else in mind.”
“Oh, what is it?”
“I think we should open a third Rosticceria Da Cristina. But offer a completely different menu. No takeaway food, only a sit-down restaurant. I have a couple ideas for what we can offer. Include some Roman elements as well.”
The very last thing I’d expected him to suggest was getting back into the restaurant business. It seemed like that was behind him and he had other interests. “I didn’t know you were still interested in that.”
“I’m not going to be the one back there cooking, but it’ll be part of the family business and a great way to stay connected to the community. And we can pass it down to our kids one day if they want it.”
“Our—our kids?” He’d said he was open to the idea of having a family, but never once had he talked about it with any sort of certainty. But now, it was almost presumptuous, like we’d already discussed it but I’d somehow forgotten. “You want to have kids?”
He leaned a little farther over the small table, a slight smile on his lips, raw intensity in his eyes. “Fuck yes, I do.”
Chapter 9
Aurelia
Constantine seemed to be a whole new man, happy and carefree the way he’d been when we first met. He didn’t seem to care about the empire anymore, didn’t care about everything he’d left behind. Now, he was present with me, making love to me before bed but fucking me viciously first thing in the morning. Always had a smile on his face, always had a skip in his step.