Chapter 1 #2
I couldn't take in the emotion of everything he was saying. “Stefan,” was all that came out. Everything swirled in my mind, muddling it up.
“Do you understand now? Finally? Do you get that this is what I wanted all along?” His eyes and his words pleaded with me.
I barely moved my head, but I still shook it as I said, “Why? Why me? You could have anyone, Stefan. I'll never be like Giselle or Eve. I don't fit into your world.”
I expected him to get angry. Or at least yell.
But what he did next confused the heck out of me.
He.
Laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
The only thing that did was stop my tears from falling. Because he was more than starting to tick me off. I shoved his shoulder. “What's so funny?”
His whole body shook with the power of his laughter. Which also meant I shook, too. And it was really starting to annoy me.
When he could finally catch his breath, he wiped his eyes and said, “You are absolutely fucking correct that you'll never be Giselle or Eve.”
Okay.
That made me even angrier.
So, I shoved his shoulder again. “That's a really crappy thing to say. Even though it's true.” And it was. We both knew it. There was no way I would ever measure up to those two women. Even so, he didn't have to be a jerk about it.
Stefan just laughed again and then wrapped his arms tighter around me.
“Eve will tell you this herself. I know her.
And she's an open fuckin' book. She'll level with you, and she'll do it quick.” He grasped my chin with his fingers and looked into my eyes.
“Eve grew up in a shitty house in a shitty part of town.
Her parents were dicks. Well, her dad was a dick when he wasn't in prison.”
My jaw dropped open. I couldn't comprehend what this man was telling me.
“Yeah,” he said and gave me a sad smile. “At least her mom had the decency to take off. But that left Eve to raise her brother and two sisters alone.”
I immediately gasped, “What?”
Stefan nodded. “Yeah. Her parents were dicks and gone, and Eve had to figure out how to feed all four of them.” He jerked his head to the side. “And her useless fuckin' father when he was around.”
I exhaled and bit my lip. I had no idea what kind of life Eve had before she'd met Nick. I'd just assumed because she looked and dressed like she did—that she'd come from money.
“I'm not done with this story yet, Francesca. There's more. A lot more.”
My shoulders slumped, and I waited for him to finish.
“And then Giselle and her newborn moved in next door. To an even shittier house. Right beside Eve's.”
I touched his chest because I knew something had just gone very, very wonky with this story.
“I can't believe your brother would live in a crappy house.” I shook my head and frowned.
Carlo definitely wouldn't live in a rundown house in a bad part of town.
I saw the house he lived in now. And Stefan said he owned an entire vineyard. This didn't make sense.
“You're not listening, Francesca. I said that Giselle and her newborn moved in. Not Carlo.”
My jaw fell open further. “He abandoned them?” I asked in total and complete shock. Carlo really, really, really didn't seem like the kind of man who would dump his fiancée and new baby. Or let them live in squalor.
“Still not listening,” he said in a quiet voice while his eyes scanned my face. “She hadn't even met Carlo yet.”
A cold, sharp stab ran through my stomach. “What? Daniella isn't Carlo's? That's crazy.” And it was. She was completely enamored with her father—with Carlo.
“Oh, he's Daniella's father in all the ways that matter. He claimed her.” Stefan chuckled and looked off to the side of the room for a moment.
“Or more like—” he cleared his throat, “she claimed him.” He shook his head and swallowed.
“Anyway, Eve's going through it. Bad. And then here comes Giselle and her newborn. Scared and alone—”
I cut him off. “Why was she scared and alone?” My stomach started churning with worry.
Stefan sighed and shook his head. “That's for her to tell you. Not me. Don't get me wrong, she will tell you. Giselle thinks very highly of you. But that's personal and should come from her.”
He rubbed my back. “So, Eve's got her family, and then takes Giselle and her baby under her wing.
Because that's what Eve does. And she can't fuckin' make ends meet.
No matter how far she tries to stretch. Her dad's always causing trouble and needing to be bailed out.
Basically, the money's spent before it's made. So, Eve decides on an alternative way to make money.”
Stefan briefly stopped speaking.
I shrugged and said, “I give up. She started pumping gas?”
He let out a short laugh. “Not exactly. She joined a high-class escort agency.”
My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
And my heart stopped beating.
“What?” I asked, not believing what he'd just said.
But he nodded his head. “You heard me. She started there so she could feed her family. And help out Giselle.”
This was a lot of information that I would never have dreamed could have happened. “Holy crap.” I looked down for a moment and contemplated everything he'd just told me. And then something occurred to me. “Does Nick know this?”
Instantly—Stefan began laughing.
Again.
Even harder.
I rolled my eyes and waited for him to stop.
Sheesh.
“Francesca, that's how Eve met Nick.”
I needed a whiteboard to figure this out. Because it was getting way too confusing. “What? She met Nick—how?”
He grinned at me and lowered his voice. “My sweet, innocent wife.” His eyes danced across my face. “Nick was one of Eve's clients.”
Holy.
Crap.
“Nick was—” I said, breathless.
“Paying to fuck Eve. Yes.”
My poor brain was about to explode. This was a lot.
A lot—a lot.
“And then sometime later—much later—Giselle started working there, too.”
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
Both of those women had been sex workers? I would have never guessed that in a billion years.
“So, no, Francesca. You really will never be like Giselle and Eve. And you should be happy about that.”
I bit my lip and nodded. And then the magnitude of what they'd gone through began to hit me. And all on their own—tears started running down my cheeks. “That's terrible, Stefan. I can't believe they went through all of that.”
He pursed his lips together and wiped my tears away with his thumbs. “They went through a hell of a lot worse than having to sleep with men for money. But that's for them to tell you. Not me.”
I rested my face in the crook of his neck, and he held me while I cried.
For Giselle.
For Eve.
For poor little Daniella.
“I—I—I—didn't know,” I sobbed and held onto him. “I didn't know.”
But Stefan didn't judge me for my ignorance. Or at least he didn't seem to. “How could you? Those aren't exactly things people share when you first meet them.”
I pushed away from his chest and asked, “Are you sure they'd be okay with what you just told me? Do you want me to pretend I don't know? I don't want to get you in trouble with any of them.”
Stefan's hand slid up the back of my neck and into my hair.
He held me there while he spoke, “They'll be okay with it.
They'll be more than okay with it. Giselle and Eve are excited as fuck to have you in the family. As are Nick and Carlo.” He kissed my lips.
“But even if they weren't—” he kissed me again, “I wouldn't give a fuck.
I'd leave them all in a second. And take you away.” He kissed me more deeply now. With more intent.
And I kissed him right back. “You're my wife, Francesca. I'll do anything for you.”
And somewhere deep down inside—I knew that was true.