Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“I’m okay out here.”
The nurse glances at me, frowning. “Everything okay?”
“Totally fine. I was actually just heading back into the house. Stella, it was nice talking to you.”
“Come chat with me anytime you like, dear. We can watch the butterflies together.”
On an impulse, I walk over and give her a hug. She seems a little startled, but pats my back and smiles. “There you go now.”
“Thank you.” I hurry away, feeling embarrassed. I make it to the bathroom, close the door, lock it, and end up with my knees pulled to my chest on the floor, sobbing.
It’s been so long since I did this. Back when the accident first happened, I’d lie on the floor at the end of Ruby’s bed and cry for hours. It scared my parents, but they were too busy dealing with their own grief to find a way to handle it. They sent me to therapists for years, and eventually, I got the help I needed, but those first days and weeks and months are seared into my mind. How helpless I felt. How broken.
Now I’m experiencing a small piece of those awful days. I won’t be catatonic for hours at a time like I was back then, but it still hurts all the same. I cry until my eyes are dry and my stomach hurts from heaving, and eventually I drag myself off the bathroom floor.
Renzo’s waiting for me in the bedroom when I get out. “I heard you spoke with my mother.”
I freeze, still raw from crying. “We had a conversation.”
“I thought I told you not to go near her.”
“I was sitting out back. She came and sat with me. What did you want me to do?”
“Walk away.”
“That would’ve been rude. We talked about butterflies.”
He grunts, eyes narrowed. “Her nurse says she seemed good after you left. Clear and lucid. And she swears she heard her laughing.”
“We laughed a little bit.”
His face softens. “I haven’t heard my mother laugh in months.”
My heart twists for him. The yearning in his voice, the pain in his expression, it nearly kills me. I walk over, a little hesitantly, wearing just a towel. “I’m really sorry. That must be hard.”
“She used to laugh all the time. Mom had a great laugh. I’d compete with Saul and Carlo to get her going. It was my favorite thing in the world.”
“She’ll laugh again for you.”
He nods, staring straight ahead at nothing. I move closer and put my hand on his arm. He glances up, focuses on me, then pulls me tight against him. His face presses against my chest, his arms wrapped around my back. I return the hug, holding him tight.
Renzo doesn’t cry. I didn’t think he would. But he stays there, not moving, his face buried in my towel above my breasts, breathing in my smell. It seems to calm him down. After a minute, he looks up, hands on my hips.
“The nurse said she thinks it might be good for Mom to talk to someone new once in a while.”
“I’d be happy to if you think that’s a good idea.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s hard to trust someone else.”
“I know what you mean, but I swear, Renzo, I’d never say or do anything to upset her. She seems like a nice woman.”
“My mother’s the only decent person in this family. At least, she used to be.” He takes a deep breath. Then his eyes focus again and a sly look slips onto his face. “Now, you’re standing here in only a towel, and I’m very angry with you.”
“Oh, god,” I say, trying to bat him away, but he doesn’t let me go. “You’re seriously thinking about sex right now?”
“Can you blame me?”
“Yes! I really can!”
“You’re almost naked. I’d have to be dead not to have a reaction to that.”
“While I’m flattered, the answer is no thank you.”
“I wasn’t asking, baby.” He tugs me into his lap. I let out a squeal of protest as he turns me around and pins me on my belly down on the bed. “You broke a rule. You need a punishment.”
“This is the most bizarre transition I’ve ever experienced.”
“Not my problem.”
“Sort of is though!”
He yanks my towel up over my ass. “Say you’re sorry.”
“Renzo—”
His hand comes down sharp and spanks me. “Say it.”
“You’re insane,” I say, laughing. My ass hurts, but holy shit, that felt good. A spark of excitement glimmers in my stomach.
He spanks me again. Hard and fast. It burns and I groan as the pain, but even though I struggle, he keeps me held down. “Say you’re sorry.”
“Never.” I grin at him over my shoulder.
“You bad girl,” he whispers, voice thick. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Not even a little bit.”
He spanks me again, twice, but this time he leaves his hand between my legs, cupping my pussy. I moan at the heat of his fingers, so close to my aching slit. “You’re seriously going to tease me right now?”