Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Isa searched my eyes. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here, okay? And if you’re pregnant and you need to find a solution, my mother can tell you all about it.”
I paused, wondering what she meant by that, but the hint of bitterness in her tone stopped me from asking. “Thanks, Isa. I really appreciate it. I don’t expect this to be positive but…” I trailed off. It was difficult to explain the situation and the slim chances of me being pregnant without revealing more about the embarrassing night that I wanted to forget.
“It’s a very sensitive test, so it’s almost 100 percent safe if your period is due.”
I nodded again and stuffed the test into my bag. “I’ll use it tomorrow morning.” It would take immeasurable control to wait that long, but I wanted this test to be as accurate as possible.
“Don’t let Luca find it,” Isa said with comically widened eyes.
I giggled. “I’ll be careful.”
We spend the day together at a skate park. Isa wasn’t a skater, but her current novel was about a drug-addicted skater with all kinds of issues. She wanted me to show her a few tricks in detail so she could understand better when writing from his perspective. Thanks to the embarrassing scowls our bodyguards sent everyone else, we had the half-pipe to ourselves.
It was really fun to show Isa what I could do and let me forget the test in my bag until I sat at the dining table with Luca, Aria, and Valerio, and Isa, Matteo, and Gianna. Liliana and her family would be coming for dinner tomorrow, and all of us would leave for the Hamptons in a week.
Isa and I went to my room after dinner, followed by Valerio. He, Isa, and Flavio were close friends, a bit like the Unholy Trio, but minus the brutality and raids at night. I liked Valerio, especially his brand of humor, but I preferred to chat with Isa alone as I was seriously considering doing the test now.
We talked about our day in the skate park for a while, but Isa and I kept exchanging looks, and eventually, Valerio caught on. He got up and raised his arms in surrender. “I know when I’m not welcome.”
“It’s not about you. It’s your Y chromosome.” Isa smirked.
“Many girls would cry bitterly if I didn’t have an Y chromosome.”
“God’s gift to womanhood,” Isa said with a roll of her eyes.
“It’s a pity we don’t appreciate the gift because we’re related.”
Valerio nodded sagely, but then he slipped out and left us alone.
“He’s one of the most easygoing Made Men I know. I can’t believe he’s related to Luca.”
“Trust me, he is like his father when it matters, but he’s good at hiding it,” Isa said. Then she narrowed her eyes in thought. “You want to do the test now?”
I sighed. “Yeah. I should probably wait until morning, but I don’t think I can.”
“Just do it. I have more tests, and Mom will buy more if you need them.”
Time crawled at a snail’s pace as I waited for the result. When the test finally stopped blinking, I held my breath, then released it in a whoosh.
Not pregnant.
I held my chest and squeezed my eyes shut, relief flooding me.
Now I could really move on.
I closed my fingers around the skateboard necklace in my jeans pocket. Aurora had asked Carlotta to return it to me after she left for New York. She’d also given me back her unopened birthday gift, which now waited in my fucking nightstand drawer. For the past few years, Alessio, Massimo, Greta, and I had always given Aurora a birthday present as a group, but this year, after the party fuckup, I’d also bought her skateboard earrings to match the necklace. According to Carlotta’s words, Aurora’s forgiveness couldn’t be bought. Maybe that had been the plan. I wasn’t fucking sure why I’d thought buying her jewelry was a good idea. The only thing I knew was that Aurora had made herself comfortable in my head. It was maddening.
She’d really fled Las Vegas as fast as she could and left what could remind her of me here.
“You’ve been out of it since Aurora left,” Alessio commented as we sat in the dark of Greta’s former ballet studio after a night with a few drug dealers who’d gone behind the Camorra’s back.
I didn’t say anything as I pulled my hand from the pocket without the necklace and turned my arm in thought. It still occasionally felt a bit stiff from the fracture. I actually liked the dull pain, liked how it reminded me of Aurora, of her rage. It had been beautiful to see this side of her, and because of this crazy as fuck thought, I shouldn’t be anywhere near her. Aurora wasn’t a vengeful, angry person, but I made her that way.