17. Are we a couple?
SEVENTEEN
ARE WE A COUPLE?
TROY
After unloading my burdens on Alessio’s capable shoulders and placing the joy of vengeance into Shark’s capable hands, I excuse myself to go the bathroom, where I throw up and then allow myself a proper cry.
While I bawl my eyes out, I think about how my family is probably thinking about me today. During the time he was recruiting me, it never occurred to me to question him. Not once. It all sounded perfectly legitimate, because it was, and when I recall the amount of paperwork he made me sign, I wonder how many women he managed to entrap this way.
If I showed up on my dad’s doorstep and he took me to the police station for questioning, I wonder if they’d believe my story. The gaps in my memory as well as my general phobia of thinking about the days I spent in a cage where Falena put me and the nights I spent terrified of Fis and his crew, wouldn’t do me any good. I would have to testify.
No way.
I’m never talking about this ordeal ever again.
But damn it, I’m mad at myself that I was such easy prey. When Falena signed me, I was over the moon, thinking I could write a song I’d hear people sing on social media someday. Now I wonder if there were any other candidates or if I was the only dumbass he managed to lure in with a promise of a few hundred grand.
Now that I have millions, a few hundred grand seems like nothing, but Denver could sure use the cash. I’ll need to ask Shark about how I can make an anonymous donation or a transfer in his name. I want him to have some of that money. He’d land a great gig and could even become famous. Really famous, the way he always dreamed about.
I’m relieved when nobody knocks on the door and I get to be sad for as long as I want to be.
These episodes of sadness slowly heal me. With each one, I purge whatever is festering inside me. I get that crying is probably good for me in the long run. I only wish I could pick better timing for my mental purges. But that has more to do with controlling what I say and when than it does with choosing when I’ll be sad. I should work on pausing before I speak.
In the company of true friends, one needs no filter.
Easy for Shark and Alessio, much harder for me. Alessio’s filter works, and Shark says five words all day, two of which are yes and no. He talks with precision and thoughtfulness. All around, he’s a standup guy. One would never guess his profession just by looking at him, and I have to say, Alessio doesn’t look like a typical mob boss. I’m not even sure if that’s what he is.
He checks all the boxes: powerful, wealthy, has his own hitman.
I release my hair from the ponytail and finger-comb it. It’s almost completely dry and smells amazing due to Valerina’s fine hair products, which I can now purchase because I’m rich.
A smile tugs my lips. I’ve never wanted to be rich, but I love knowing I robbed Fis almost more than I love the money itself.
I expel a breath and rise from the cold marble floor to check my eyes and make sure they’re not too red before leaving the bathroom and my sad mood locked behind the door. I don’t want it to spread through this family home like a disease.
When I return, I see that the staff has already cleared the dining room and set a table for the birthday cakes, though only mine has candles.
It’s a two-story white cake with gray frosting and randomly placed cookies that Valerina molded into pale pink bows. She’s leaning over the table, fixing something on the side of the cake, but steps back when she sees me.
“Ta-da.” She extends both hands toward the cake. “What do you think?”
“It’s the prettiest cake I’ve ever seen.” Truly. I’m madly in love with it. I don’t even want to cut into it.
Playfully, she flicks her wrist. “Oh, it can’t be that nice.”
“No, I’m serious.” I stand next to her and admire her creation. “You did all this in a few hours?”
“Yeah, and I’m so happy you like it.”
Leo bursts into the room and begs her to cut his mom’s cake. Valerina explains we’re having two birthdays today and one of them is for me, which means he can help me blow out the candles. That gets him excited again after the disappointment of having to wait longer until he can eat.
“I’ll get the guys,” Valerina says. Just as she turns, she yelps, “Holy Mary! How do you do that?”
I turn to see Shark standing behind us.
Alessio walks into the room just as Shark wraps his arms around me from behind and interlocks his fingers under my belly. He rests his chin on my shoulder. “That’s a pretty cake.”
“The prettiest,” I say, my face burning from his public display of affection. Are we a couple now?
“I bought you a present, but I’m afraid you’ll hate it,” he says.
I turn around, throw my arms around his neck, and interlock my fingers. He’s flirting, so I’m flirting back. He is safe for me to flirt with. So very safe. He’s also handsome, and his combination of quiet, kind, and dominant is intoxicating.
I could get addicted, and as with all drugs, he’s dangerous territory. “I’ll have you know I’ve never gotten a present I hated, even when I got presents I didn’t like. Hate is a strong emotion. I don’t really…” I cock my head. “I don’t hate anyone.”
“Then I’ll be your first.”
I laugh. “Nobody aspires to be hated.”
“I aspire to be your first something.”
Oh. What’s a girl say to that? I rise on my toes, and, because he won’t bend his head and let me kiss him, my lips brush his cleft chin. The stubble prickles, and since I’m pregnant, with raging hormones I can’t control around this man, I wonder what his stubble would feel like if he were to rub it between my legs.
“You’re mine tonight,” I whisper.
“Been yours since the day we met.”
If he hadn’t been holding me by my hips, I think I might have swooned.
“Do you think we’re moving too fast?” I ask.
Shark steps back as Alessio walks up. “Excuse me, lovebirds. Troy, I need you to cut your cake before the kid drives me crazy.”
“Right away.” I rush behind the table with the picturesque marina behind me. Leo’s in front of me, holding a fork and plate, while Valerina and Alessio are on either side of me, lighting nineteen candles. My mom would’ve gotten the 1 and 9 candles like she did when Denver turned nineteen, but I must admit, this many lit candles is way prettier.
I’m thinking about the wish I want to make when they start singing a happy birthday song in both Italian and English. It’s a good thing, because I’m thinking about how I’ll word my one wish. The only wish in my mind is for my baby to be healthy. I piggyback on it and wish that I deliver him in a safe place.
Once I have my wish, I smile at Shark, who’s taking a picture, and blow out my candles with Leo’s help. They are all making my birthday as cheerful as it can be.
Children, if allowed to be children, make everything more enjoyable, and I imagine a life in which I have mine. I pat my belly just as Shark takes another picture.
I stretch out my arm and wiggle my fingers, calling Shark over. “I want a picture with you.”
He pockets his phone and hands me the knife. “Let’s cut your cake before Leo cuts both yours and his mom’s.”
“Valerina, can you take a picture of us?” I ask.
She’s wiping Leo’s fingers after he helped remove the candles. “Sure.”
Shark tucks my hair behind my ear. “I don’t take pictures, draga moja.”
I frown. “Like never?”
He shakes his head.
“Can I ask why?”
“Ask later,” Alessio interrupts and slides a little teal box toward me. “From me and Valerina.”
I gasp. “You shouldn’t have.” But it’s so nice they did! I reach for the box, and the smooth feel of the box’s material under my fingertips tells me they bought something expensive. I shake it. “What’s in it?”
“Open it and find out,” Alessio says.
Valerina bites her lip. “I really hope you like it. We scrambled as best we could given the short amount of time. But you can exchange it anytime, and the lifetime warranty is great.”
I pull the pretty black satin bow and open the box. My fingers touch my lips. Diamonds. Teardrop diamond earrings. “Are they real?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
Alessio gives me a look that pretty much says, I can’t believe you asked me that. Valerina smiles politely at my dumbass question.
“It was a rhetorical question,” I lie. I’m adjusting to the fact that my new friends are millionaires. “They’re beautiful. Can I wear them now?” I look to Alessio for approval, then realize I can do whatever I want because I’m a free woman and these earrings are mine, like the baby is mine, like the money we found on the yacht is mine.
Shark’s already pulling them from the box and putting them through the holes in my ears.
“Caaaaake,” Leo cries, real tears rolling down his cheeks.
I grab the knife, flip it over for good luck, and cut my pretty birthday cake.