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)
“Oh no.”
“Hey, Dad—”
“Are you okay? The doc called me.”
I bit my lip. I should have known Dad would find out, but this was quicker than I thought.
“I’m fine, just a headache.”
“I’m coming over. Something’s up.”
“Dad—”
“No,” he said firmly. “After Nevio’s last visit, I’m done believing things are fine.”
Of course, Nevio leaving bloody footprints and looking like death himself had left Dad very concerned. Nevio was causing me way too much trouble.
“If he hadn’t disappeared from the face of the earth, I would have beat the truth out of him.”
“He’s gone?”
“Not the first time he’s taken off, and probably not the last time either. Maybe Remo will have to save his sorry ass from another police cell again.”
I shook myself. “Can you send Mom over? Please.”
Silence on the other end. “Aurora, what’s going on. Are you able to talk freely?”
“I’m not in a hostage situation, Dad,” I said. “I just need Mom.”
“Fuck. Now you really have me worried. I’ll drive your mom over, but I’m coming with her. No way am I going to let her go alone as long as I don’t know what’s going on.”
He hung up.
I stared at Battista. “Everything will be okay.”
Suddenly, my heart felt heavy thinking of having to let him go. We’d become a good team, and he was really attached to me.
When the door rang, I put Battista back into his playpen to open it. Mom and Dad waited in front of the door. Dad held a gun in his hand as if he was ready for war. Mom looked upset and concerned.
I was already in scrubs. Dad scanned me from head to toe.
“I’m not injured,” I said, opening the door wider so he could see nobody was behind me.
“Is anybody with you?” Dad asked.
I hesitated. Because technically there was, just not in the sense that Dad meant. But my hesitation was too much for Dad. He gently pushed me aside and rushed into the apartment, checking one room after the other until I heard him curse.
Mom’s expression tightened. “Aurora, what is going on?”
I motioned her to follow me and once inside the kitchen, she too let out a startled curse upon seeing Battista. He had started crying when Dad entered the room. I picked him up and soothed him with gentle words.
Mom and Dad stared at me in horror.
“What the hell? When did this happen? How did you hide this from us? It’s Nevio’s. I just have to look at those eyes. I’m going to kill him for touching you.”
It took me a moment to realize Dad thought Battista was actually my son.
“Aurora wasn’t pregnant,” Mom said, but I could hear the barest hint of hesitation in her voice.
“How could I have hidden a pregnancy? You saw me in bikinis all the time,” I said with a laugh.
Neither Mom nor Dad laughed, but they looked relieved when they realized I said the truth.
“So he’s not yours,” Dad said.
“He’s not mine. Nevio asked me to take care of him.”
“Of course that’s what he did,” Dad gritted out. He paced the kitchen, the gun still in his hand as if he hoped Nevio might show up.
“Can you please calm down? You’re scaring Battista.”
Dad stopped abruptly, but he didn’t appear calm at all. His blue eyes burned with fury. Mom came toward me. “You’ve been taking care of him since you moved in here, right? That’s why you wanted to move in so quickly. Four weeks. That’s a long time for someone as young as yourself.”
“Many women in our circles aren’t much older when they give birth,” I said. Battista watched Mom open-mouthed.
“I know.” Mom nodded, regarding me with admiration which slowly morphed to reproach. “You’ve lied to us.”
Dad scoffed. “Nevio made her do it. That’s his special talent.” He came closer but stopped when Battista started bawling again.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Mom whispered, but Battista pressed his face into my chest, and I rubbed his back until he quieted.
Dad fixed me with a hard look. “Answer me one question, why?”
I shrugged. Even I didn’t really have an answer to that question. “I suppose I wanted to help Nevio.”
“Has he touched you?”
“Dad—” I blushed.
“Don’t ‘Dad’ me now. Answer my question. Has he touched you?”
“Fabiano, I really don’t think that’s our business,” Mom said gently, but I bet she would have asked me the same question once it was just the two of us.
Dad moved closer, and this time, he didn’t stop when Battista started crying.
“Aurora, I want an answer. If you don’t answer me, I’m going to take your blushing as a fucking yes, and I’m going to hunt him down.”
“She’s probably blushing because that’s a very personal question.”
I swallowed. Mom defending me made me feel even worse, but she had a point. My sex life wasn’t Dad’s business. “Nothing happened against my will,” I said.
Dad let out a roar and kicked one of the chairs so it flew across the room and smashed against the wall, losing a leg. “I’m going to rip his balls off.”