Chapter 15
Vanessa
The nerve of Lorenzo.
To show up at the casino and act like some jealous husband when the man doesn’t even want to be married to me. Has he lost his mind?
The rest of my shift thankfully goes smoothly. And when it’s time to cash out, I’m shocked by the amount in tips I’ve earned tonight. It’s quadruple what I earned at the pub.
“Rich men tip good,” Lyra, another bartender who worked alongside me all night, says as we walk out of the casino.
“And if you get lucky, you can get one to be your sugar daddy.” She waggles her brows.
“You should see the Porsche one guy bought me. They have too much money and no idea what to do with it.”
I force out a laugh, not wanting to make waves with someone I’ll most likely be working with often, but the thought of using a man for his money brings back horrible memories of my mom leaving the casino with a new man and forcing me to take care of myself.
“You don’t belong here.”
I tried to pretend like Lorenzo’s words didn’t affect me, but the truth is, they hit their mark.
My entire goal in life was to make sure I didn’t end up like my mother, yet here I am, married to a man I’m using to keep me safe and working at a casino for tips that come from rich men who are visualizing all the ways they would fuck me if given the chance.
Sal—the guard Dominick has taking me to and from work—is waiting by the casino exit.
When he spots me, he nods once and then escorts me out.
The ride home is quiet, giving me too much time to think, and when I step out of the car and the wind hits my barely covered flesh, I find myself wishing I’d brought a jacket. At least it would hide who I’ve become.
I step inside, and the condo is quiet.
Not that I expected Lorenzo to wait up for me.
He’d left pissed as hell. Even though I have no idea why.
On my way to my room, I stop at Leo’s room and peek in to check on him. He’s not my responsibility, but I can’t help but care about him. With one toothy smile, he wrapped himself around my heart.
He’s asleep on his back with his arms and legs spread out like the cutest little starfish.
At some point, he kicked his blanket off him, so I tiptoe inside and lay it across his bottom half, tucking it under him, knowing he hates when his feet aren’t covered.
And then I lean over and give him a soft kiss on his forehead, inhaling his sweet baby scent.
Every night since Lorenzo was hurt, I’ve given Leo a bath. Even after Lorenzo hired that horrid nanny, I still gave him his baths because Lorenzo’s shoulder wasn’t one hundred percent. But tonight, because I was at work, I didn’t get to do it.
Did he wonder where I was?
Why I wasn’t there to play fishies with him?
Did Lorenzo fill the tub with the bubbles he loves?
My thoughts have me taking a step back.
I’m getting too attached, and that can’t happen. Leo isn’t my son, and Lorenzo isn’t my real husband. And this isn’t my life.
“You’re home.”
I lift my head to look at Lorenzo, taken aback by his word choice.
Home.
The truth is, I don’t think I’ve ever had a home.
And the thought is both sobering and depressing.
Lorenzo’s leaning against the door, dressed in his usual T-shirt and basketball shorts. His hair is messy from sleep, and he’s looking at me like he’s torn between telling me off and devouring me.
And it doesn’t go unnoticed that I would prefer the latter …
“I’m here,” I say, unable to use the word home, as I walk out of Leo’s room so we don’t wake him up.
“I’m sorry about tonight,” Lorenzo mutters from behind me.
“And what exactly are you sorry about?” I ask, turning to face him.
“All of it. Showing up at the casino, messing with your job. Pissing on your leg.”
He smirks playfully, and I hold back a laugh.
“And why did you do that?”
He opens his mouth to answer me, but from the way he’s diverting his gaze, I already know whatever he says is going to be a lie.
“The truth.”
He closes his mouth and releases a harsh breath. “I don’t know.”
“Well, maybe you need to think about it because I think you did it because you were jealous, and if that’s the case, you need to deal with that. We’re not together, Lorenzo. Our marriage is fake. And once the threat is gone, I’ll be as well.”
Without waiting for him to respond, I disappear into my room to take a shower and get ready for bed, needing to get my head on straight. Hiding away in Lorenzo’s home was my idea, but I didn’t realize it would lead to playing house … or how much I would enjoy it.
“How was your shift?” Peyton asks over the phone.
I have it on speaker so I can talk to her while I sew Bri’s dress.
“It was good. I made good money in tips. At this rate, I’ll have my last semester paid for quicker than expected, and I’ll be able to put money away for after I graduate.”
Once school is over, I’ll have to find a new apartment, and if I decide to stay in Seattle, it’s not cheap to live there.
I’ve also considered moving to LA since Kora—the fashion designer I was interning for—has an office there as well as in New York.
Though I might’ve lost my in with her since she wasn’t thrilled to learn I wouldn’t be back for several weeks, possibly months.
“And how was the clientele?”
From the mirth in her tone, I know Dominick told her what had happened.
“They were great, aside from some dog who showed up and tried to piss on me like I was a fire hydrant.”
Peyton cackles. “You know, I was here when Lorenzo was engaged to Hillary, and she loved to be the center of attention, would flirt with other men to rile him up, but not once did I ever see him get jealous, let alone react like that.”
“Maybe he’s losing his mind in his old age,” I joke, trying to play off what she’s implying.
“Maybe … but—”
Her words are cut off by the sound of Leo screaming like he’s in pain, and without thinking, I leave the phone where it is and go running to find him.
I met the new nanny this morning when I went out to make myself breakfast and coffee and to say good morning to Leo, and she seemed nice.
Lorenzo said he’d be working from home today to make sure she was a good fit for Leo. So, I’m not surprised when he rounds the corner at the same time I find Leo in the nanny’s arms, blood everywhere.
“What the fuck happened?” Lorenzo barks while I grab Leo from her so I can assess him.
“I only looked away for a second,” she whispers.
“His bottom lip is bleeding,” I tell Lorenzo. “And it looks bad. I think he’s going to need stitches.”
Carrying Leo into the kitchen, I wet a cloth and gently wipe his mouth to get a better look. A bruise is already forming on his chin. He’s started to use the furniture to stand, so my guess is, he did that, fell, and bumped his face, causing his lip to split open.
“Shh, it’s okay,” I coo, holding him close. “We’re going to get you all fixed up.”
“I don’t know if I should call the doctor …” Lorenzo begins, fear evident in his tone.
“He’s going to need stitches. I think we should bring him to the pediatric hospital. We’ll want to make sure they check him out thoroughly.”
Lorenzo nods in agreement.
With the nanny forgotten, he grabs Leo’s diaper bag, and we have one of the guards drive us to the children’s hospital.
On the way, Leo falls asleep out of exhaustion and stays asleep until we’re in a private room, where the doctor says he’s going to have to numb him and then strap him down to glue his lip together.
“I can’t hold him?” I choke out, protectively tightening my hold on Leo.
“We don’t want to risk him moving,” the doctor explains. “He’ll be numb, so it won’t hurt, and since it’s not too bad, we can do derma glue instead of stitches.”
I nod in understanding, hating that I can’t hold him.
“He’ll be okay,” Lorenzo tells me, as if I were the parent who needed to be comforted.
Begrudgingly, I hand Leo over to the nurse, and he immediately startles awake. The moment he realizes some stranger is holding him, he starts to reach for me and cry. And because I’m emotional, tears prick my eyes, and I grab for him, unable to let him go.
“Can I just … can I hold him until you’re ready?”
The doctor nods and then goes about prepping the area while I speak softly to Leo to calm him down while Lorenzo leans over my shoulder to rub his back. Leo’s lip has a huge gash in it, but it’s thankfully stopped bleeding, and he’s no longer crying.
“Come here,” Lorenzo murmurs when he notices Leo’s getting heavy in my arms.
There’s only one chair in the small room, and since we both want to be close to Leo, Lorenzo sits in the chair and then has me sit on his lap so we can hold and comfort his son.
“I watched the video,” Lorenzo murmurs. “She was on her phone.”
“Anyone could’ve been on their phone,” I tell him. “How many times have you been on your phone while watching your son?”
Lorenzo huffs. “I don’t care. I don’t pay her to be on her phone.” He leans around me and kisses Leo’s head. “She’s fired.”
Once everything is prepped, the doctor puts a numbing cream on Leo’s mouth, and a few minutes later, he injects more numbing liquid into the area.
Leo cries but quickly calms. Unfortunately, it’s short-lived because the nurse has to wrap him up so he can’t move.
He looks so tiny in the contraption, and as he cries, his pleading eyes meeting mine and his father’s, my heart breaks.
I didn’t want to become attached, but it’s too late because this little boy owns my heart.
“This is your fault,” I hiss under my breath to Lorenzo as the doctor fixes Leo up. “You’re so stubborn that you had to have all those stupid nannies come in instead of letting me watch him.”
I’m aware that what I’m saying is unfair.
I was literally defending the woman a few minutes ago.
And I meant it when I said that anyone could’ve been on their phone.
But right now, my emotions are taking over, and I’m not thinking logically.
All I see is the sweet little boy in pain, and it’s crushing me.