Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Enzo
For the past fourteen days, I'd been showing up as Valentina's fiancé at every goddamn social event on the Upper East Side.
Of course, we needed this marriage to prove the families stood together. The perfect union of power and wealth—any idiot who thought about crossing us should weigh how much their head was worth.
Valentina looped her arm through mine for the cameras, wearing that flawless smile. I played along, acting like the loving fiancé, spitting out those pre-rehearsed, empty lines on cue.
But I'd always been a lousy actor. Valentina didn't believe I loved her, that much was clear. And I doubted the press bought it either.
What about Chloe? I wasn't sure.
She didn't have many people in her world, so she used to believe every word I said without question. But lately I'd sensed a shift in her. I had to be even more careful now, couldn't let anything slip. I couldn't let any of this get out while she was pregnant—she'd already lost enough.
Every time I came back from Valentina's to Chloe's place, I'd sit in the car for ten minutes first. Engine off, lights off, just sitting there in the dark, staring at my hands on the wheel.
Those ten minutes, I had to figure out how to lie to the woman carrying my child. I had to come up with where I'd been, who I'd seen, make sure everything looked perfect.
Get all the excuses straight. Then push open that door.
A floor lamp glowed in the living room. Chloe was curled in the corner of the couch, that baby catalog she'd worn out splayed across her knees, her head tilted against the cushion. Asleep.
She'd waited up again.
She always waited up. No matter what time I got back, that lamp was always on.
Sometimes I'd find her passed out at the coffee table, a cup of cold milk beside her.
Sometimes she'd be in the kitchen, fumbling through some recipe attempt, the counter covered in flour and broken eggs.
Once she'd been on the couch knitting something—when I got closer, I saw it was a sock, ridiculously tiny. A baby sock, no longer than my thumb.
Every time I walked in on these scenes, my chest tightened with something sour and painful. After everything her childhood had done to her, Chloe barely trusted anyone and couldn't let herself open up.
But she'd given me everything.
Her trust. Her body. Her love. And that heart her mother and stepfather had shattered over and over, the one she'd barely managed to piece back together.
And here I was, keeping from her that I was about to marry someone else.
I walked over and crouched by the couch. When Chloe slept, her lips parted slightly, her breathing shallow and slow. Her belly had grown noticeably in two weeks—the loose T-shirt could barely hide the curve anymore.
I reached out, brushing the hair from her forehead back behind her ear. When my fingers touched her skin, she stirred, mumbled something, then her eyes opened.
"You're back." Her voice was rough, thick with sleep. She rubbed her eyes, sat up, and glanced at the clock on the wall. "Eleven-thirty. Another negotiation?"
I didn't correct her. "Yeah."
"You work too hard." Chloe smiled at me, then tilted her head slightly. "Though it'd be nice if you remembered to text back."
My chest constricted. I'd been with Valentina practically nonstop lately. I'd been neglecting Chloe for too long. I wished she'd just yell at me, "Did you forget I exist?" and throw a pillow at my head. Not this gentle, wounded question. That hurt worse than getting slapped.
She'd sent me three messages today. The first asking about paint colors for the nursery. The second was a photo of the half-finished sock she'd knitted.
The third came at nine PM. Just two words. "Miss you."
I'd seen all three. But with Valentina right there, it was impossible to find time to respond.
"I'm sorry. Work's been crazy." I stood, sat down beside her, pulled her into my arms. Chloe didn't resist. She tucked her face against my chest, fingers clutching my shirt.
It was a defensive gesture, insecure. It unsettled me. My arms tightened around her instinctively.
"Did you eat today?" I asked.
"I did. Anna made chicken pasta. It was good." She leaned into my shoulder, then grabbed my hand and placed it on her belly. "I have something good to tell you."
I was already smiling before I knew what it was. "What?"
"He kicked me today."
I brushed my chin gently against the top of her head. "Really?"
"Really." Her voice brightened in a way I hadn't heard in weeks.
"Around three this afternoon, I was lying on the carpet looking at the catalog, and suddenly I felt something bump me from inside. At first, I thought maybe I'd just eaten too much, but then it happened again. And again. Anna said that was the baby moving."
Chloe adjusted my hand on her belly, pressed it down.
"Wait a second. Maybe it'll happen again."
I kept my hand there, palm against the thin fabric covering her stomach. Nothing. But Chloe kept her head down, watching my hand, lips pressed together, waiting with absolute focus.
Something about her earnestness was endearing. Made me want to lean in and kiss her forehead.
Then I felt it.
A feather-light touch beneath my palm. Small. Soft. Like a tiny finger poking me through water.
"Feel it?" Chloe looked up at me, eyes bright.
"Yeah." My voice came out rougher than I expected.
"Maybe we should start thinking about names." Chloe laid her fingers over the back of my hand, stroking gently.
"Yeah. We really should."
I held Chloe close, struggling to name what I was feeling. Actually feeling this little life made being a father real in a way nothing else had.
We stayed like that, quiet. I started thinking about names.
"Maybe... Elena?"
Chloe didn't comment on the name. She just looked up at me, and that look made my heart jump for no reason I could explain.
"Enzo."
"Yeah?"
"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"
Chloe was trembling slightly. Maybe I'd screwed something up recently. Because she looked like she sensed something, needed that reassurance.
But the answer was clear.
Yes. I would.
The alliance had to happen. It was the final piece to crushing the conservatives and Julian. The wedding was in two weeks. There was no turning back.
As long as Chloe stayed here, I could protect her. As long as I held this lie together, once the wedding was done and the alliance secured, I'd have options. This wasn't deception. This was protection.
I had no other choice. Or more accurately, I refused to consider other choices. Abandoning the alliance meant abandoning everything, and I wasn't the kind of man who threw it all away for a woman.
I cupped her face, pressed my forehead to hers. "I won't lie to you."
Chloe studied me for three seconds. Then she smiled—that full-body relaxation, childlike smile. She nuzzled into me, arms circling my waist.
"I believe you."
I tightened my hold. Chloe tilted her head up playfully, fingers hooking my belt. "Baby, you've been neglecting me too long."
She was right. We hadn't been close in a while. Tonight could be perfect.
"Baby, prepare to surrender." I leaned down. Just as our lips were about to touch, my phone buzzed in my pocket. We both froze. Chloe gestured graciously for me to check it.
Damn it. I closed my eyes, reached into my pocket, and glanced at the screen.
Valentina.
I declined the call.
Immediately, a message popped up. "Problem with the wedding rehearsal. Need you here now."
A second followed. "Now. Not asking."
I stared at those two messages for two seconds, then flipped the phone face-down.
"What's wrong?" Chloe glanced at the phone.
"Something at work. I have to go out."
Her smile vanished instantly. She pulled back from me, sat up straight.
"It's so late," she said.
"I'll be back in an hour." I stood and grabbed my jacket from the armrest. Chloe didn't move, just sat there watching me put it on.
When I reached the door, she rushed over, fingers catching the fabric of my right sleeve, looking up at me.
"Can you stay tonight?"
I met her eyes. The honey-colored irises looked darker in the dim light, so dark I felt like I'd fall in if I looked too long. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She looked devastated.
I reached out and gently pried her fingers off my sleeve, one by one.
"I have to go. Be good, Chloe."
She looked down. Several seconds passed before she spoke. "Okay."
That was it. She didn't push. Just that one word.
I should've felt relief. But that gnawing dread in my chest didn't fade. It grew worse.