Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 126682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126682 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
With that, she turns around and walks from the room, taking everything I care about in this world with her.
Chapter
Forty-Four
Anya
* * *
Nicole shows up a short while later, carrying a doctor’s case onto the backyard terrace where I’m overseeing the dismantling of the gazebo. The rental company doesn’t really need my assistance. My help is just an excuse to escape a conversation I don’t want to have with Saverio. I said what I had to. So did he. Only, he said his part a long time ago. There’s nothing left to discuss.
“Hey,” she says, touching my arm.
She looks snazzy in a fitted, long-sleeved halter neck top and sexy cargo pants.
I smile. “Hi.”
“How are you feeling?” she asks with a sympathetic light in her baby-blue eyes.
“Not great. You?”
“Much better after a greasy breakfast.”
I shiver at the sound of that.
“Still nauseous?” she asks.
“The mention of your breakfast almost had me vomiting again.”
“I’ve got something that will help.” She tilts her head toward the house. “Study?”
Sav may be there, and I’m not ready to face him. “Let’s go to the bedroom.”
“How’s Claire?” she asks as I lead her back into the house. “Did Sav tell you the good news?”
I stop, my heart thrumming in my chest. “The tests?”
“There are traces of a mild sedative in Claire’s blood but nothing serious.”
Relief sweeps through me. I place a hand over my heart. “Oh thank God. I was so worried.”
She frowns. “Didn’t Sav tell you?”
Continuing toward the staircase, I avert my gaze. “We, um, haven’t had much time to talk yet. A detective came around. He left not long ago.”
“Yeah. Sav told me when he called.”
I go ahead up the stairs.
“Where is Claire?” she asks as I open the bedroom door and step aside for her to enter.
“Livy is playing with her in the television room.”
Nicole stops in her tracks when her gaze lands on the suitcase on the bed. “Are you guys running away?” She gives me a panicked look over her shoulder. “Should we be packing?”
Blowing out a sigh, I say, “It’s nothing like that.”
“Oh no, Anya.” She turns to face me. “What happened?”
“I’m not giving up on him, not as a friend who’ll always have his back, but I can’t stay with him as his wife if he doesn’t love me.” Repeating my words to Saverio, I say, “We both deserve better.”
She drops her case on the bed and pats the mattress.
I pad over and sit down.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She unclips the case and takes out a vial and a hypodermic needle. “What happened to letting Sav’s actions speak for themselves? He couldn’t say it any louder than he did with the party he threw for you.”
“The party was amazing, and I appreciate everything he did for me. The dance touched me deeply. So did the cake and the beautiful flowers and all the hard work you put in to make everything so perfect. But coming close to death not once but twice made me realize I want more. I don’t want parties and sweet acts that give me hope only to have my heart broken time and again.” I swallow down my tears, my voice shaking with the effort not to cry. “Because every time he tells me he doesn’t love me, my heart breaks a little more, and I’m afraid it will destroy me bit by bit until there’s nothing left of me.”
Her gaze is compassionate. “Does he really have that much power over you, enough to destroy you? Is that how much you love him?”
I blink away the moisture that gathers in my eyes. “I’m afraid so.” I take a deep, calming breath. “I realized something else too. I realized that clinging to Saverio just because I’m madly in love with him is selfish behavior on my part. If we allow this obsession to continue, we’ll stay with each other for all the wrong reasons. If I don’t let him go, he’ll never find the woman who’ll heal him and allow him to love again, and I won’t meet someone who’s capable of returning my love.”
She sighs. “As much as it pains me to say, I understand your logic. But I still think you’re perfect for each other. And I know if you leave, Sav will be devastated.”
“Maybe for a short while, but he was devastated when Rachele left him too, not so? He’ll get over it.”
She purses her lips. “When are you leaving?”
“As soon as possible. There’s no point in dragging it out. The sooner I do this, the quicker we can move on.”
She digests that for a moment before giving a resigned nod. “I hoped for a different ending for the two of you, but I can’t fault you for putting your self-preservation and happiness first. I respect your decision. I’ll support you just as I’ll support Sav.”