Chapter 11 #2
“I don’t think anyone would respond to an unknown international number.”
“You just have to let them know it’s you when you reach out.” I leaned to the side and grabbed my phone out of my pocket, then handed it to Abel.
“It’s not locked?”
“Should it be? There is nothing on that phone that I need to hide. I have another phone, a work one, that goes with me when I’m out taking care of things,” I told him. I knew my job was a sore spot between us and always would be. “It is locked, but it, too, has very little on it.”
Abel held up the phone in his hand. “So this one what? Has nothing on it?”
I swiped to wake it again. “It has things on it,” I told him as I opened the contacts.
“Here are the personal numbers of others in the coven.” I scrolled while Abel held the phone and then closed the contacts.
“There are some things on it, but I do a lot of things, such as shopping and banking, on the computer in my office.”
Abel’s eyes widened. “How did I not realize you have an office?” He handed me the phone and then got up from my lap. “Oh yeah. Because you keep things locked up and don’t let me in.” Abel walked away and quietly closed the bathroom door.
I groaned and let my head fall back onto the sofa. He wasn’t wrong. I did keep part of myself locked up. But obviously, I was blocking too many things because my beloved was upset. I sat there for a minute, and when Abel didn’t return from the bathroom, I reached out through our bond.
“Mio angelo? Are you all right?”
“Just peachy. Don’t you have work to do or something?”
“Very well. I would like to show you my office. It has a beautiful view of the terrazza.”
The bathroom door opened, and an adorable blond head poked out. “What’s a terrazza?”
I nodded slowly, trying to remember the English word. “I believe you call it a terrace. Courtyard, perhaps?”
“A patio area?”
“That could be another word.” I stood and held out my hand. “There is a door that leads from my office to it. There are several tables and chairs as well as benches around the fountain.”
Abel’s eyes rounded. “There’s a fountain?” He came from the bathroom and stood beside me.
“Yes.” I smiled down at my beloved. “Would you care to see it? I’ve wanted to show you around the rest of the villa, but we always seem to end up back here.”
“I’d like that.”
I held out my hand for Abel’s, but when he didn’t take it, I scowled, then reached down and took his hand. I led him from the room and down the stairs. We ran into Vincent at the bottom of the stairs, and I was curious how this would go since I knew my beloved was not a fan of him.
“It’s good to see you out and about again, Abel. I do hope that you will venture out more often.”
Abel looked up at Vincent but just stared.
“Mio angelo, he is trying. He had our best interests in mind when he had you brought here. At least be cordial, even if you do not like him.”
Abel squeezed my hand in response.
“Thank you, Master Vincent. From what I’ve seen, your house is gorgeous. Marcello told me about a fountain outside of his office, and he’s going to show me around a bit.”
“Splendid,” Vincent said. “There are actually three fountains on the property. There is an extensive giardino as well. I would imagine once you can shift again, your fox would love to run around the property.”
I could feel Abel’s excitement through our bond. It was there and gone in a flash though. “That would be nice, except I’ll have the twins to take care of and won’t really have a whole lot of time to be able to run like that.”
I looked down at my beloved. Our children had two fathers. Did he not believe I was capable of taking care of our twins?
“There are many here in the villa that would be more than happy to watch them for a time,” Vincent said. Then he looked directly at me and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged.
“Abel knows I’m very much looking forward to welcoming our twins. There is a lot we still need to discuss with regards to everything related to our growing family, but I will obviously be more than happy to look after our children while he has some time to run in the giardino.”
“That’s a garden, right? You’ve both mentioned it. I was studying some Italian words earlier before I went back to reading the pregnancy book.”
“Yes,” I told him. “I will try to make sure all of my words and phrases are in English for you.” I reached out and touched the side of Abel’s face again. He offered a smile, this one more genuine than I’d received from him in a while.
Abel placed his hand on top of mine before he leaned his head into the touch. “You’re doing amazing so far. I need to learn the language though. It’s not fair if I don’t put in an effort to learn the language you’ve spent your lifetime speaking. You already know mine.”
I smiled at my beloved. “Yes, but I have had much longer to learn it than you’ve had to learn Italian. But we will certainly start lessons if you wish.” I leaned down and kissed his nose again. Abel smiled at me, which was so much better than the looks I was getting earlier.
“Would the two of you care to join me for lunch on the terrazza?” Vincent asked, breaking our little bubble. “We could discuss the plans for the babies, as well as the possibility of converting the room next door into a nursery?”
Abel blinked up at me. “Is it empty?” he asked before he glanced over at Vincent.
“It is. There are several empty rooms in the villa, so if the two of you would like to move to a different room altogether, that is also a possibility.”
“Lunch would be nice,” Abel said before I could respond. “Unless you had other plans for lunch?”
I chuckled. “No, mio angelo. If you wish for lunch on the terrazza, that sounds like a wonderful idea. It will do us good to get out and have some fresh air for a change.” It pleased me that my beloved was willing to have a meal with Vincent.
He had no idea that it wasn’t often that Vincent took time out of his day to have a meal with others.
Sure, I’d spent many meals with him, but that was because of my position in the family.
“Meraviglioso,” Vincent said. “I will order lunch for us and see the two of you in about an hour.”
“We will see you then,” I told him. Vincent offered a warm smile to Abel before he walked off toward the kitchen.
“What was that word?” Abel asked. “Was it bad?”
I chuckled. “No. It was wonderful or marvelous.” I sighed.
“Despite who he is, he does wish for you to feel at home here. He is now responsible for you and your well-being, just as I am.” I wrapped my arm around Abel’s shoulders and pulled him close to me.
“Let me show you my office. There will be times that I will need privacy while there, but I hope you are willing to spend time with me in the office when I’m not in certain meetings. ”
Abel’s smile wasn’t quite as happy as it had been just moments ago, and I knew that was because of my choice of words, but there wasn’t much I could do about my job or our family.
If Vincent decided it was time for a drastic change for the family, then we might be able to escape the life we had lived for so long.
But could we truly? Some had, but at what cost?
“I don’t want to intrude on your family business,” Abel said. “And I’ll visit your office sometimes, but I don’t know about often. The babies are going to take up a lot of my time, and they’re going to be here before either of us is ready, I think.”
I smiled as I led Abel down the hallway toward my office.
I was certain that was true. Despite what Abel thought, I was excited for the arrival of our babies.
With that, though, came great concern and fear that I wouldn’t be able to protect my beloved and our children.
Maybe it was time for me to consider going against everything I knew and trying my best to protect them elsewhere.
Was that possible? Would Abel be willing? Would Vincent be accepting?