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)
“When I asked Carlotta if I should come over to make sure everything’s okay, she told me she and Aurora didn’t need any help. So why do they need you?”
“Jealous?” I asked with a laugh. Massimo wasn’t the jealous type, but he’d never had something he was invested in. Lotta seemed to have gotten under his skin in a way I hadn’t thought possible.
“Carlotta disapproves of your action and dislikes your personality, so no.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I’m not going there for Lotti. I have things to discuss with Rory.” I threw my door shut and reversed out of our driveway. Massimo, Alessio, and I had never had secrets. I didn’t enjoy deceiving them, but I had no choice right now.
After picking up Asian takeout, I went over to Aurora’s apartment. I thought she expected me to visit daily, so I was dumbfounded to see her angry face as she opened the door for me. Her hair was disheveled as if she hadn’t found time to brush it yet. She still looked gorgeous. She was in sweat shorts and a white tank. To my disappointment, she had on a white sports bra underneath.
I raised the bag with Chinese takeout. “I bring dinner.”
If looks could kill, I’d be ashes.
“It’s nine o’clock,” she said pointedly.
“Won’t you let me in?” I asked when she made no move to open the door farther.
She released a sigh and stepped back so I could walk in.
“Did you tell him it’s nine o’clock?” Carlotta shouted from somewhere in the apartment. Her voice sounded as welcoming as Aurora’s face looked.
I wasn’t sure what their problem with nine o’clock was. Maybe it was girl code for something I wasn’t aware of.
I headed into the kitchen, turned on the light, and set the bag on the table. Aurora didn’t follow me, so I returned to the hallway, and when I didn’t find here there either, I went to her bedroom. She was inside and lifting Battista out of his crib. He was crying softly, not the full-blast screeching some babies were masters at.
“We already ate dinner,” Aurora said when she turned to me with him on her hip. “I was trying to get him to sleep when you rang the bell and woke him from his almost slumber, ruining forty minutes of my singing and rocking efforts.”
“Maybe you should give him a Valium.”
Aurora glared and stomped past me. “Very funny. In case you don’t know, dinnertime with a baby isn’t nine o’clock. We ate at seven, and since then, I’ve been busy getting him ready for bed. He’s been fussy all day. I think he’s teething. But of course you wouldn’t know any of this since you haven’t asked about him since you visited us for breakfast yesterday morning.”
“We saw each other last night. I’m sure you would have told me if something was the matter with him.”
“You should ask about him. He’s your son. Even now, I don’t think you’re here because you want to see him.”
She was right. I was here because I wanted to see Rory. “I’m here. That’s what counts.”
She shook her head, rocking him, but he looked wide awake as he stared at me. “You promised you would try to take responsibility. But I don’t see that.”
“What do you want?”
“I have to start working in two days, and my first shift begins at six in the morning. Carlotta has courses, so I can’t ask her to watch him.”
“I’ll sleep over tomorrow, then I can watch him for you,” I said, even if I doubted it was a good idea. I’d never had a calming effect on kids, and it seemed to extend to my own son too.
Aurora nodded slowly, but she didn’t seem too happy about that either.
“I’m heading to bed now. I have to get up early,” Carlotta said from the doorway to the kitchen. She was in a fluffy bathrobe.
“Sleep tight,” Aurora said with a tight smile. After a scathing look at me, Carlotta left.
“She’s pissed at you.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed,” I said dryly.
“Do you want to hold him a bit? Maybe he’ll fall asleep in your arms.”
I stared at the kid who looked perfectly comfortable pressed to Aurora’s breasts. I would have been too. “If you want him to have nightmares, sure.” I glanced down at my black tee. “I can’t promise that there isn’t blood on my shirt.”
Aurora pressed out air. “Fine. Then don’t. I’m heading to my room to get him to sleep. You know where the front door is.”
“Rory!”
She stalked away, turned off the light in the kitchen, and locked herself in her bedroom.
I sank down at the kitchen table and unpacked the takeout boxes. I opened the first box, chow mein, and started eating it with the plastic chopsticks in the dim light streaming through the window.
I still heard Battista’s cries for a while, but then silence fell over the apartment. A few minutes later, a lock turned, and soft footfalls sounded.