23. Keep the ring?
TWENTY-THREE
KEEP THE RING?
SHARK
The women stayed in the ultrasound room for another fifteen minutes while I sat on the steps that led down here, with my elbows resting on my knees, holding my head in my hands, unable to find the right words for Troy when she comes out.
A crying Troy will need comforting. I’d like to know what happened in there. I must know for sure before I jump to conclusions or say anything to Troy. It’s a good thing I don’t talk much and she won’t expect me to.
The door opens, and Troy steps out first, followed by Valerina, whose heels echo in the hallway. Tatiana spots me and nods, but I’ve no idea what the nod’s about.
I catch up to Troy on her way out of the hospital’s back exit. “Hey,” I say.
Her eyes are puffy. “Hey.”
“What happened in there?”
“An ultrasound.” She’s carrying square papers in her hand. They look like images.
“The ultrasound made you cry?”
“You’d cry too.”
I open the exit door for her. Alessio’s waiting at the carriage, and he offers her a hand, which she refuses. He’s in trouble, and I’m desperate for information Troy doesn’t have to give me. I wish she would because I’m having this baby with her.
She stops at the carriage and lets Valerina climb in first.
“I want to know what happened in there so I can cry with you,” I say.
She smiles. “I can’t imagine you crying.”
Me either. “I’ll let you punch me in the nose.”
Now she laughs. Her small hand reaches into my pocket again. “You got any more lollipops?”
“Sure.” I’m trying not to be a pervert, but she turns me on, and my dick hardens when her hand is near it. Troy’s too preoccupied with selecting a lollipop to notice the state of my arousal. She pulls out a candy with a white wrapper, unwraps it, and starts sucking.
“What’s the flavor?” I ask.
“Coconut.” She climbs into the carriage after Valerina, who sits across from Alessio. He’s quietly watching his sister cry.
I help Troy climb into the carriage and then sit across from her next to Alessio. Troy leans her head on Valerina’s shoulder. Valerina rests her head on Troy’s. I’m grateful Valerina is such a wonderful woman to have accepted Troy’s friendship so easily.
I wonder what Alessio would do if I leaned my head on his shoulder. I need a fucking shoulder too, because the anticipation of the news of what happened in the exam room is driving me insane.
“What happened in there?” Alessio asks, looking at Troy.
Alessio never has trouble reading the room, or the carriage, if you will. He’s well aware the women need a moment to themselves, but he wants to get to the bottom of the problem as quickly as possible and remove any bottleneck strangling the conversation. Unfortunately, sometimes his approach does more harm than good.
Since Troy is the subject of the inquiry, I tell him, “Leave it alone.”
“Valerina?” he prompts.
His sister opens her purse and takes out tissues. The women wipe their noses with them while the silent treatment reminds Alessio that Valerina is upset.
“What was your proposition?” Troy asks Alessio. “Yesterday, you had an offer for me, but then Shark said you had to run it by him first. Was it the marriage proposal? Were you going to propose for him?”
“The marriage was all his idea,” Alessio says. “I simply want it to be official so I can protect you both. Or however many of you there are now.”
Troy frowns. “But you are making him marry me.”
“Correct,” Alessio says.
“I’m confused,” she says.
“You’re a witness,” Alessio tells her. “Although Miro says you saw nothing, we all know that’s not true. And even if it were true, I can’t allow you to breathe after you’ve witnessed him working for me. He knew that, so when the pickup chopper arrived, he called me and told me it was him plus one, and the other one was his wife.”
Troy gapes.
I clear my throat and nod at Troy. “It’s true.”
“I want you to become that wife,” Alessio says. “I want it now because I want to forget how my most trusted friend lied to me and brought a witness into my family, my house, to dine with my sister and my nephew.”
“What if she refuses, hm?” Valerina asks. “What are you going to do?”
“What I must,” Alessio answers without blinking.
“You touch her and it’ll be the last thing you do.” I lay my head on Alessio’s shoulder. “I mean it.”
Troy’s wiping her nose and eyes, crying harder again. “Oh man, how did this get so messed up?”
“It’s not your fault,” Valerina says.
“It’s none of our faults,” Alessio says. “But we are here nonetheless, so let us do what needs doing. Let’s get you two married, and I promise you nobody in the world, not even your government, your agencies, your court systems, can deliver the justice Shark will deliver on your behalf. But in order to do that, he needs my resources, and I can’t give him anything until you become his wife.”
Troy looks at me, and I lift my head. “It’s true. If the two of us, or however many of us there are now, decide to go rogue, it’ll be hard to avenge you. Maybe not even possible.”
“None of those are good enough reasons for her to marry,” Valerina says.
Alessio cuts his sister a look. “Expecting me to drop my vigilance about the safety of the people who are important to me is absurd.”
Valerina huffs. “Then you will do it on your own. I’m leaving the moment we get home.”
“You will stay in the house.”
“Make me!”
Alessio curses. Troy and I exchange looks, both of us remaining quiet, trusting that the Angelini siblings will sort out our problems. If Alessio folds, it will be for his baby sister, and Val is using every weapon she has at her disposal.
“Alessio,” Valerina starts again, calmer this time. “This woman’s been through so much, and forcing a marriage on her feels wrong. I can’t be a part of it.”
Alessio scrubs his jaw and glances at me. “And you, Brutus? Anything you want to add? Besides telling me you’ll kill me for this girl?”
I shrug. “Sorry.”
He sighs and swats at us dismissively. “Fine, no wedding. But if either of you comes crying to me when she rats you out, I’ll be in my villa in Monaco surrounded by an army of guards nobody can penetrate.”
“Can’t be this weekend,” Valerina says. “Tatiana is going there. Picking up the keys tomorrow.” She sighs. “Nobody is asking you to change your mind. Or for Miro to change his in regard to Troy becoming his wife. I’m only asking you to give them more time.”
Alessio is bitter because I lied about having a wife and brought in a witness, and he can tell I like Troy and that I found someone more important to me than his friendship. He’s dealing with it from the perspective of a jealous best friend. In a world where men are made fun of, labeled, and ostracized for having strong friendships, I appreciate his struggle.
“I can give them time, Valerina, but next time we disagree, you will speak with me in private.”
Once Alessio lets go of the demands, the proverbial pressure in the carriage releases, and we all relax our shoulders and exhale, relieved that’s now over and done with.
“I’m sixteen weeks pregnant,” Valerina says.
“Sixteen,” Alessio repeats, probably doing the math on where she was sixteen weeks ago and, more importantly, with whom. Valerina keeps her love life private and off-limits to Alessio, probably because her brother is mental when it comes to safety and security. I have a good idea who Valerina is messing around with, and Alessio won’t like it when he finds out. Not even a little bit.
“Did Tatiana talk about your pregnancy after examining Troy?” I ask.
Val swallows. “Yes.”
“Which one of you is having twins?” Alessio asks.
Val lifts a hand. “A girl and a boy.”
Alessio taps his knee. “Congratulations, sister.”
“Thank you,” she says.
“Does their father know?” he asks.
She shakes her head.
“Do you plan to tell him?”
“Eventually.”
“If he doesn’t step up for the kids and I find out who he is, I’ll tear the skin off his back and make you a diaper bag out of it.”
I lift my hand. “I’ll help.”
Troy’s watching us, rubbing her belly.
I watch her. “What happened in there that got you crying?”
She shrugs. “The baby is doing so well that I got emotional, is all.”
“Anything else?” I prompt.
“We’re having a girl.”
I take her hand and bite the side of her wrist for making me wait this long to hear the good news. I kiss the bitten spot, then hold up her hand. “You’re keeping the ring?”
“It’s on my finger, so it’s mine.”
“Don’t forget who put it there.” It didn’t escape my notice she used “we” instead of “I” when talking about the baby. She won’t marry me today, but someday.