Chapter Seventeen
Callie
It’s Monday and we are officially open to customers. I never thought I could be this bone tired, but I have been running around the whole day seeing new customers, ordering more parts, and sending out estimates. The single thing I didn’t do today was work on a damn car.
I will have to have a talk with Alceu about hiring someone to run the office so I can actually do what I love. I want to be beneath the hood of a car getting my hands dirty, not schmoozing with customers.
All I want to do is lock the front door and head upstairs for a long bath.
Grabbing my phone out of the drawer, I send off a text to Mancuso to let him know to use the back entrance. Standing, I start switching off the lights in the office before moving to the reception area. My body freezes when my gaze lands on the man in front of me. This is the last thing I want to deal with today, or any other fucking day for that matter.
“Kevin,” my voice is flat, devoid of emotion.
“We need to talk.”
I shake my head, not moving from the spot where I am rooted. “There is not a single damn thing for us to discuss.”
He glares at me, his fist clenched at his side giving away the fact that he is already pissed off.
I take him in. Jeans with a dark blue button-up shirt and his hair has been styled into submission. The thing that brings me a small amount of satisfaction is the dark blue bruise that blooms along his jaw.
“I made a mistake,” he says. “But we are grown-ups, and we can work through this. We are getting married after all.”
The laughter that bubbles out of me sounds maniacal and slightly crazed as I shake my head.
“Are you fucking nuts?”
“Grow up, Callie. Everyone cheats,” he hisses.
Before I can even formulate a reply, I feel the heat at my back. Kevin glares at whoever is behind me, but I can see the indecision in his gaze. He isn’t quite sure how to handle this new development.
“Only insecure boys cheat,” Mancuso says from behind me. “Real men know to take care of the women they have.”
I can’t keep the smile off my face as Kevin balks at Mancuso’s words.
“Who the fuck are you? And what gives you the right to talk to me that way? You don’t know a single fucking thing about me.” His voice is an octave higher than usual as his outrage spikes.
Kevin has never taken well to not being the alpha male. He hates people talking down to him or thinking they know more than he does.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but this is Mancuso,” I reply.
“You are my fucking business,” he says angrily.
“No. I was .”
“Stop acting like a fucking child!”
“Take a moment and think through your next words carefully,” Mancuso says behind me, his entire being vibrating with anger. “I will not let you disrespect Callie anymore.”
“I don’t even know why you’re here. This is a conversation between me and my fiancée,” Kevin cuts back.
“He is here because I want him to be here.”
“Excuse me?” Kevin asks, outraged.
Stepping up to the counter, I sneer at the man I once thought I loved.
“I am done with you. I’m done being looked down on for doing what I love, I’m done being talked down to because you think it’s your right as a man, and I am done with subpar sex.”
Mancuso threads his fingers through my curls, pulls my head back, and kisses me. When we finally pull apart, Kevin is gone.
“Are you okay?” he asks, searching my face for any indication of how I feel.
“No. But I’m better now,” I reply with a smile, placing a kiss on his chin.
“Let’s go upstairs and I’ll run you a bath so you can relax.”
“You’re going to spoil me,” I joke as he locks the front door before leading me upstairs.
“I’ll spoil you rotten.”