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)
“It’s fine,” I say, putting my hand on Renzo. “We can chat right here.”
“Sure.” Renzo grunts and kisses my cheek. “I’ll be inside.” He walks off and I watch him go. My husband moves like a panther. Like sex incarnate. God, I love that man.
“You’re ogling his ass,” Carlo says, arms crossed over his chest. “It’s not even subtle.”
I sigh, holding my hands against my cheek and fluttering my eyelids. “Not trying to be.”
“Gross.”
“He’s my husband. I’m allowed to admire his physique.”
“Please never talk about my brother’s physique ever again.” He sighs and walks over, joining me near the new bush. “You put this in?”
“Yeah.” I stiffen, waiting for him to tell me he doesn’t like it.
“It’s nice,” he says instead, which is a surprise. “Mom likes these things, right? I see her out staring at the other one sometimes.”
“She does.”
“You care about her, don’t you?” He’s not looking at me, only staring straight ahead like the butterfly bush is the most important thing in the world.
“I really do. I know she’s suffering and going through something awful, but she seems like a good person. I want to help if I can.”
Carlo nods slowly. “I was a fucking prick to you before. I’m not going to apologize for it.”
“I didn’t think you would, honestly. But it’s nice you’re admitting it.”
“I was wrong, okay? I shouldn’t have gotten angry about you spending time with Mom. You’re good for her and I should’ve seen it sooner. I was just jealous.”
“Jealous?” My eyebrows raise.
“Mom doesn’t remember me.” His face is carefully neutral. “Hasn’t for a while now. Sometimes there’s a glimmer, but—” He stops and takes a breath. “She talks to you like you’re a friend, but mostly she just confuses me with someone else, one of her brothers, and that’s hard. We’re not supposed to correct her, and it fucking kills me. I just—” He rubs his face.
“It’s hard. I’m so, so sorry you’re going through this.”
“Yeah, I know. Anyway, all I’m saying is, I’m happy you joined the family. You’ve been nothing but good for my mother and my brother, and I want to say that I’ll stop being such a prick from here on out.”
“I really, really appreciate that.”
“It’s the closest you’re getting to an apology, by the way.”
“I figured.”
He grunts and glances at me. “Welcome to the family.” He turns to leave.
“Carlo? Do you want to come sit with your mother with me?”
His expression darkens. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll do all the talking. You can just sit with us if you want.”
He looks away toward the bush and crosses his arms over his chest. The light plays over his expression and I can tell he’s hurting. It’s not my place to ask or to press him on it, so I keep my mouth shut, but Carlo’s jaw works for a few seconds before he gives one slight, sharp nod. “Okay.”
“Great. Come on.”
“Right now?” There’s a little panic in his voice.
“You got shot. You can handle sitting with your mother.”
“Getting shot’s easy.”
“So is sitting and listening to your mother.” I walk toward the porch and pause when he’s not following. “I promise, it’ll be fine.”
Carlo sucks in a deep breath and blows it out. “Fuck. Yeah. I know you’re right. Just being a pathetic loser.”
“It’s not pathetic. This is hard on all of you.”
He rubs his face with one big hand then follows me. I take my seat on the porch and Stella smiles over. Carlo joins us, but before Stella can say anything to him, I start talking to her about the garden. She focuses on our small talk while Carlo remains sitting toward the backdoor listening to his mother, at first looking supremely uncomfortable, but soon he has a smile on his face. I catch his eye after ten minutes and he gives me a small nod, and that’s all I need.
Maybe he’s not so bad after all.
A few hours later, I’m getting out of the shower after a workout. Renzo’s in the room, sitting on the bed. He looks relaxed—he’s slumped down in a chair with his feet up, scrolling through his phone. I smile at him, adjusting the towel around my middle. “What’s with the smile?”
He looks over and his gaze sharpens as he looks me up and down. “Carlo texted. Said you and he spent time with Mom.”
“She was having a good day so I figured it might be a perfect opportunity. How’s he doing?”
“He’s happy. Very happy.” His expression softens. “Thank you.”
I walk over to him, still in only a towel. I couldn’t imagine feeling this comfortable with someone even a few weeks ago. With Mark, he’d see me naked and all that during sex, but it was never like I could walk around fully bare with him in the room. I always felt too seen.