24
A fter Roman left the house, Alessandra decided to start her afternoon with a few laps of the pool.
Swapping her skirt and top for a one-piece swimsuit, she headed outside to face the scorching sun.
She dropped her towel on a lounge chair and took a few sips of water from the cold bottle she’d picked up from the kitchen, her gaze drifting toward the blue water.
Last time she'd been in the pool, Luca had dropped in uninvited and almost ruined her marriage.
Just thinking about it brought a frown to her face, which she chased away quickly.
She wasn't going to dwell on that anymore.
Not since she and Roman were on good terms again.
She was about to jump into the pool when her phone began to ring.
For a second there, she was tempted to ignore Matteo's call, but then she remembered she hadn't answered his other two calls that morning.
Gaze glued to the tranquil water holding the promise of a cool haven, she picked up the phone and answered .
“Hey.”
“Ale, thank fuck.” Matteo let out a relieved breath. “Are you okay?”
“I'm fine,” she said cautiously. “What's going on?”
“Luca told me about what he did, and you weren't answering your phone. I fucking panicked and called your husband.”
“You called Roman? When?”
“About ten minutes ago. He told me to go fuck myself.”
With the sun burning like a furnace in the clear sky, Alessandra turned around and headed for the patio table for some shade. “Please tell me you didn't threaten him.”
“I thought he'd hurt you.” His voice turned rougher, like sandpaper on a wall.
She groaned. “Matty.”
“Did he put his hands on you?”
“ No , of course not.”
Her brother was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, he sounded like he was trying to rein in his anger. “What Luca did was stupid. He put you at risk and almost ruined everything Dad has worked to achieve through this alliance with the Russians. He's a fucking idiot.”
Alessandra sawed her bottom lip, pondering his words. “Does Papà know about it?”
“Not yet. I can't bring myself to tell him because we both know he’ll punish Luca, and as angry as I am with him, I don't want to be responsible for that. It also seems that your husband has kept his mouth shut about it, which is a fucking relief, to be honest.”
“It's for the best that he doesn’t know,” she agreed. Despite still being resentful toward Luca, she found that she didn’t wish him any harm.
“You're not lying to me?” Matteo insisted. “He really didn't hurt you?”
“I promise. After almost shooting Luca in the backyard, he stormed out of the house, and I didn't see him for a week. Then he came back, and we talked. He understands I had nothing to do with Luca coming here.”
He sighed, and she could hear the fatigue in his voice. “I'm so tired of this shit. I worry about you constantly.”
Her expression softened. “Honestly, you have nothing to worry about, Matty. Roman is really good to me. We went to buy my first car today. That's why I didn't answer your calls earlier.”
Silence greeted her from the other end of the line. She had managed to surprise him. “You're getting your license?”
She smiled to herself. “ And he's letting me go to college.”
Matteo let out a low sound that she was pretty sure conveyed some sort of animosity toward what she’d said. She had her confirmation a second later when he added, “Isn’t he the perfect fucking husband.”
Alessandra decided not to comment on that, because despite her brother’s hatred, Roman was indeed near close to perfection. At least in her view. That smile still on her face, she changed the subject to something Matteo wouldn’t have such a strong aversion to.
?? ?
Evening fell, bringing with it a hot, humid air that seeped into the skin and made Alessandra's strappy dress stick to her chest and breasts. Leaving the bedroom where she’d just finished watching a podcast on her laptop, she took the stairs and headed for the thermostat on the ground floor.
She fiddled with it for a bit before finally setting the AC temperature to sixty-eight degrees, then walked into the kitchen for a glass of iced water.
She was rinsing the glass at the sink when the back door opened and Roman stepped inside, his suit jacket resting in the crook of his arm.
“Hey,” she said, glancing at the clock on the wall to see that it was a few minutes past seven. He usually came home later than that.
He tossed his jacket on a stool before opening the fridge and grabbing the orange juice. “Got a call from your brother today.”
Closing the tap, she turned to face him, taken aback by the lack of greeting. “I know. I talked to him earlier this afternoon.”
Roman took a mouthful of cold juice straight from the carton and gave her a level look. “Did you give him my number?”
“No.” She pressed her palms to the counter behind her, keeping his gaze. “I'm sorry he bothered you. He's just overprotective and worries a lot.”
“I don't like people meddling in my life. You are mine to do with as I please.” Despite the absolution his words conveyed, his voice was soft.
Abandoning the OJ on the island, he closed the distance between them and kissed the spot where her shoulder and neck met as his hands took hold of her waist .
“You sound like a caveman,” she said with a hint of teasing, relieved that he didn’t seem upset about it. Annoyed maybe, but not upset. At least not with her . Running a hand over his broad back, Alessandra inched a little closer to her husband.
He cupped her ass under the short dress she was wearing, his attention derailed as his eyes moved down to where her thigh was now exposed. “I like this dress.”
“That's good because I bought it in three different colors.”
He drew his gaze back to hers. “You went out today?”
“No, I ordered them online some time ago.”
Roman gave a slight nod, seeming satisfied that she hadn’t left the house without protection. She wasn’t going to repeat that mistake anytime soon.
“You can go shopping, if you want. Just let me know when so I can send someone to drive you.”
Alessandra smiled. “You want me to spend your money?”
“What kind of husband would I be if I didn't let my wife indulge a little?”
“Not a very thoughtful one, obviously.”
He let out a low laugh. “Obviously.”
They made out for a little while, taking a few moments to enjoy the other’s closeness and the blissful quietness of the house. When her lips stared to smart, Alessandra drew back and caressed his unshaved cheek. “Are you hungry?”
His blue eyes regarded her half-lidded. “I could eat.”
“There's lasagna in the fridge. I'll heat it up for you while you take a shower and change.”
Collaring her throat with his fingers, he pulled her back for one last kiss. “Thanks, baby.”
?? ?
It was a few hours later, after a meal shared together and a quick fuck in the shower, that Alessandra found herself unable to fall asleep.
Beside her, Roman was snoring softly, arms wrapped around his pillow and his lips slightly parted.
She’d forgotten to close the drapes, allowing the moonlight’s pale rays to spill into the bedroom and chase away the darkness.
She watched her husband for a while, entranced by the look of peacefulness of his face that wasn’t usually there during the daylight hours.
Another five minutes passed before she realized sleep wasn’t going to happen.
On light feet, she got out of bed and padded into the bathroom to splash some cold water onto her face.
Her long hair was still damp from their earlier shower, and she secured it into a tight bun on top of her head to help her body cool off.
She usually wasn’t that bothered by the heat, and the AC was still at the same temperature she’d set it on earlier, so she could only guess her restlessness and the sudden hot flashes were an indicator of her period window approaching fast.
As she counted days in her head, she stepped out of the bathroom with half a mind to head downstairs and adjust the temperature once more.
She took a few steps toward the bedroom door when the glare of Roman’s phone caught her attention.
It barely made any sound, but she could see even from a few feet away the text notifications popping up one after another.
In normal circumstance, Alessandra wouldn’t have even entertained the notion of getting close to that phone, knowing she wasn’t supposed to see anything related to Roman’s work.
But she was feeling slightly irritated and she didn’t want the damn thing to wake up Roman, so her mind was made up before she could even think it through.
In a few steps, she was beside the bed, reaching for the phone lying on the nightstand.
She grabbed it and was about to hit the side button to darken the screen when her eyes scanned the last text and she froze. It was from someone named Kate.
You can come by anytime you want. I'm home most...
Alessandra’s heart started galloping inside her chest. She didn’t know a Kate.
Who was she?
Before she could stop herself, her thumb swiped up on the screen, bringing forward the other four notifications. All from the same woman. She read them in the order they appeared, backward.
Please call me, I miss you and I want to talk...
I can't believe you didn't tell me. I thought...
Laney said you got married when I went to...
Hey. You didn't answer your phone earlier when...
No.
Was he cheating on her?
A horrible pressure like an iron claw crushing her ribcage settled in the middle of her chest. Unshed tears blurred her vision as she came to the sobering conclusion that the woman was something to Roman.
The thought that he was being unfaithful was unbearable. Was she someone from his past that he’d gone back to during their separation?
But… Roman wouldn't do this to her. Would he?
She stared at the little white boxes with the hurtful words that made her stomach churn and nausea fill her throat, until the screen went black.