Chapter 29 Chiara
Chiara
Istand back and watch as the doctor examines Fina. The tension in her eyes is obvious to me, but the doctor doesn’t seem to notice as he records her blood pressure on his tablet.
“Nothing seems terribly amiss, Miss Serafina,” he murmurs. “But I’ll run a few blood tests to be certain. I expect you’ve been burning the candle at both ends, like young ladies are apt to do these days.”
Fina catches me rolling my eyes at his patronizing waffle, and offers a ghost of a smile.
Fina winces when the doctor inserts a needle and fills three small vials with blood.
“I’ll call tomorrow with the results, but in the meantime, I suggest you eat something nourishing and rest.”
“Yes, Dr. Cliff.” The doctor packs up his things and leaves. Matteo stands outside.
“Is she okay?” he asks in a low voice.
I squeeze his arm encouragingly. “Yeah. She’s fine.” The poor man trembles like he might have a nervous breakdown any minute now, but until we come up with a plan, there’s not much any of us can do. At least no-one has figured out she’s pregnant yet.
Once the cat’s out of the bag, we have a problem. Angelo won’t be an issue, but his father definitely will be. There’s no way he can marry Fina off if she’s expecting another man’s baby.
I haven’t met this Santini dude, but I’m pretty sure he’d be suspicious if Fina gives birth to a full-term baby five months after the wedding.
“Can you fetch her some snacks and a pot of tea, please?” I’d go myself, but I think Fina needs a friend right now.
Matteo nods and jogs downstairs.
Fina’s sitting up against a pile of soft pillows when I walk back into her room. She’s still pale, but there’s a hint of color back in her cheeks now.
“I’m fucked, aren’t I?” She stares at the pale blue quilt over her legs. A tear slides down her cheek, but she quickly brushes it away.
“Not yet. I promise we’ll figure something out.” And I mean it. I really wasn’t kidding when I offered to poison Lorenzo. It wouldn’t be so difficult. Get myself invited for tea, pop something deadly in his drink, and bingo. Job done.
Pretty sure nobody would miss the old goat.
I almost chuckle when I realize how fast I’ve adapted to the role of mob wife. Maybe Angelo and I are perfect for each other.
“In the meantime, though, there’s a new series on Netflix I want to watch, so scoot over.” She smiles, and this time it touches her eyes.
“It better not be anything gory. I don’t have the stomach for violence these days.”
“Nope, no gore. Just vampires doing naughty things to poor innocent girls.” I wink.
By the time we’ve binged five episodes of the steamy vampire drama that makes Bridgerton look positively vanilla, Fina’s fallen asleep. We’re surrounded by the remains of the food Matteo brought up from the kitchen, most of which I ate, I’m ashamed to admit.
Fina managed a few mouthfuls, but when I tried to tempt her with some pasta carbonara, she refused.
Once I’m sure she won’t wake, I tidy up the plates and stack them on the tray before turning the TV off. Matteo sits with his back to the wall when I quietly open her bedroom door. He’s a picture of abject misery.
“Is she asleep?”
I nod, and he relaxes a fraction. “Go be with her. She needs you.” Fina’s not really talked much about her relationship with Matteo, but I can tell from watching them they’re crazy in love. He touches her at every opportunity, and when she looks at him, she beams like he hung the moon for her.
I’m genuinely amazed Lorenzo hasn’t figured it out, while being simultaneously relieved he’s so far up his own ass that he can’t see when two people are in love.
Fina told me he’s given her PR job to the woman he’s sleeping with. A woman called Francesca. I’m disgusted on her behalf, but also unsurprised.
Loyalty is not a trait Lorenzo possesses.
Just as I reach the kitchen, Angelo appears. He takes the tray from my hand and places it on the counter.
“What’s going on, Chiara?”
I blink up at him, a picture of innocence. “Huh?”
Which provokes an eye roll. “You and Fina are hiding something, so spill.”
It’s just as well I have a good poker face. I shrug and wander over to the refrigerator to grab a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc. After the stress of this evening, water or herbal tea isn’t going to cut it.
“Don’t play innocent,” Angelo snaps. “My sister has never fainted in her life, so for her to pass out is worrying enough, but the way you two were whispering when we came in earlier is suspicious in itself.”
Dammit. Time for some deflection.
I slam my glass down on the table, wincing at the mess I make when wine spills everywhere. Oh well.
“Not that it matters, but we were discussing how upset your sister is that her father is trying to marry her off and her brother is doing fuck-all to stop it.” I sneer at him, more than ready to go to bat on Fina’s behalf.
“But it’s hardly surprising, is it, given you don’t seem to have a problem with arranged marriages. ”
Angelo’s jaw gapes open at the vitriol in my voice. We may have gotten along better lately, but he’s a fool if he thinks I’ve forgiven him. Hell will freeze over before that happens.
“And while we’re on the topic of fucked-up things you’ve done to ruin my life, I need a Kindle and access to your account. Seeing as how I have no fucking money or freedom, I’d appreciate it if my asshole of a husband did one nice thing for me because I can’t live without my smutty romances.”
I gulp down what remains of my wine and storm out of the kitchen before he can interrogate me further. He’ll figure it all out soon enough, but hopefully, Fina and I have come up with a solution by then.
Luka’s waiting for me when I step inside my bedroom. He’s examining a paperback Fina gave me - it’s an omegaverse romance. More smut than plot.
“Is Fina alright?”
“Not really,” I admit. He watches as I change into a fresh pair of shorts and a tee before brushing my teeth.
“You can tell me,” he says when I crawl under the covers and curl into his side. “I won’t say anything to Angelo.”
I do trust him, but it’s not my place to spill Fina’s secrets.
“She’s stressed and upset about the marriage.” It’s true, just not the full picture.
He frowns and hugs me tighter. We both know how I feel about arranged marriages.
“Anyway, I don’t want to talk about that now,” I continue, eager to move the conversation on from Fina. To my surprise, he doesn’t push it. Instead, he rolls us over so I’m under him, and before long, I don’t care about anything but getting my next Luka fix.
It’s not until we’re falling asleep wrapped in each other’s arms that it occurs to me the blood tests the doctor plans to do could well include a pregnancy test because a diligent medical professional might consider pregnancy as a reason for a young woman’s fainting episode.