29. Chapter 29
Harley
“She’s gonna be so mad,” Bella mumbled as she passed me another three spicy books from one of Giuliana’s bookshelves.
Her bedroom was almost as impressive as Bella’s, except it bragged dark tones instead of white and peach—black marble walls and floor, a maroon carpet and bedding, the closet and desk charcoal.
Only the fairy lights hanging over the bed and threaded along the bookshelf brought some cheer into the otherwise dark room.
“I don’t give a rip,” Rome said from where he was man-spreading it in a cozy lounge chair in the corner. Looting his niece’s book collection while she was in school had been his idea, and I’d told him Bella could help. Which, of course, he’d immediately agreed to.
Now he was watching my best friend’s every move, his amber eyes continuously darkening. I had a feeling it only partially had to do with the amount of books Bella pulled from the shelves.
Oh boy.
“Oof, this is another one.” Bella handed me a hardback with a rosary on it. Her gaze came briefly up to me. “Have you, um . . . heard from Kingsley?”
I took the book and tucked it into cardboard box number three. Hopefully Giuli hadn’t read all of them. “Nope.”
But he still squatted rent-free in my brain.
Going back to work had been a great decision, allowing me to forget about him for short periods of time.
But those green eyes that radiated so much love, his protectiveness, and the way he’d taken care of me always invaded my thoughts sooner rather than later.
And I latched onto those images like a starving woman. I didn’t want to forget him. Heck, I was scared I’d forget what he looked like. What he smelled like. What he felt like.
“He’s still in the monastery,” Rome broke into my thoughts. “I talked to Brother Matthew on Sunday. Said Kingsley isn’t allowed to attend at the moment. Got kicked out of seminary, too. At least for now.”
My stomach clenched. This sounded serious. The fact that he hadn’t been expelled yet was a good sign, though. Right?
At least once a day I prayed that he would be able to move on from me and find freedom from his chains.
I myself was making small progress. Throwing everything out had definitely helped.
What really made the difference, though, was spending more time in the Word and God’s presence.
And just knowing that He was fighting for me.
Bella let out a long sigh. “How many more books does this girl have?”
“I swear I’m gonna break into Garrison Correctional Center just to punch some sense into my brother.” Rome stood and fished a book out of one of the boxes. Looked at it for a long moment, then tossed it back inside. “Why did he allow her to buy this brain rot?”
“Maybe he didn’t know what they were about,” Bella said, looking over her shoulder at him.
“Sure did. He just didn’t care. He never cared about nothing that concerned her.”
Bella’s gaze snapped to me—
Letting out a moan, she doubled over, pressing a hand to her stomach.
“Are you okay?” I stepped up to her, rubbing her back.
“Just period”—she groaned—“cramps.”
Right, she had them pretty bad.
“You should lie down.” I guided her to the bed, and she instantly curled up on it.
“Do you need painkillers?” Rome asked. Concern wasn’t something I’d ever seen him display, yet here it was, written all over his face.
“In . . . my . . . handbag.”
I headed over to the desk where Bella had placed it and found ibuprofen. I popped a pill, then handed it to Bella with her Hydro Flask. Her whole body shook violently as I helped her get the pill down.
“Rome, do you have a heating pad or something?” I asked. When he didn’t answer, I turned to him.
He was staring at Bella as if she was dying or something.
“Romeo Marino!”
His gaze snapped to me, clarity returning to his eyes. “What?”
“Heating pad. Hot-water bag. Anything. Now.”
He gave me a curt nod, and after one more tortured glance at Bella, disappeared out the door.
“Curse you, Eve, for . . . eating that stupid fruit,” Bella gritted out. Her face had turned ashen, sweat beading on her forehead.
“When I see you like this, I’m right there with you.” My cramps had never been as bad as hers, which I was beyond grateful for. “You know what we should do? We should get one of those period cramp simulators and put it on Rome, then send him shopping or something. We’ll see how tough he is then.”
The grimace Bella gave me was probably supposed to be a grin. It was working. I was distracting her. “I’d like that. But he also has to . . . take laxative because . . . I always get really bad diarrhea. It’ll . . . probably come in a few minutes.”
I chuckled. “Me, too. The poor guy won’t know what hit him.”
Speaking of periods, when had I gotten my last—
I gasped. Six weeks ago. I was overdue!
Wait, no. I couldn’t be pregnant. I’d been on birth control, and the past couple weeks had been very stressful and emotional. Wouldn’t be the first time my period decided to show up late.
Bella gripped my hand. “I think I’m gonna throw up.”
Yeah, me, too. I stumbled to the desk and grabbed the plastic trash can from under it. I made it back to Bella just as she started to gag. Nothing came though.
But what if I was pregnant? Birth control wasn’t one hundred percent safe. I needed to get a pregnancy test.
Rome came back with a heating pad. He handed it to Bella. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
She slowly took it. Even managed a smile. “No . . . Thank you.”
“I need something,” I blurted. “A pregnancy test. I’m overdue and need to know if I’m pregnant.”
Both stared at me as if I’d grown a second head. Nope, no second head, but maybe I was growing something .
Shoot, shoot, shoot. If I was pregnant, did I have to tell Kingsley? Make the scandal even worse?
And what if he didn’t want the baby? Or couldn’t be a dad because he stayed a monk or priest?
Okay, girl. Take a breather and calm down. You don’t even know if you’re pregnant for sure. Get that test done, and if you’re pregnant, you can go back to panicking.
I took my own advice and inhaled deeply. Pregnancy or not, God would be with me. No need to panic about anything. He had it all figured out.
“I’ll get a pregnancy test for you, you stay with her.” Rome gestured at Bella.
“And please some ice cream.” I had a feeling I’d need that.
And then Rome was gone for the longest thirty minutes of my life.