Chapter 22
Thor stepped into the mansion as if someone had branded him with a hot iron. I followed him. I found him standing in front of the window, his hands on his lean hips, his posture rigid.
“What is your problem?”
He turned around, and I startled at the savagery in his expression. His gaze was calm, but his eyes were boiling. “My problem? My problem is that filthy tongue of yours that never measures its words. Are you really okay with the pregnancy?”
“What kind of question is that, Heithor?”
“Are you or aren’t you? Or are you still trying to accept the inevitable?”
“I am not listening to this.” I lifted my hands in the air, palms open, a clear warning. “And we are not having this conversation.” I shook my head while murmuring and walking toward the closet. “We definitely are not.”
He came after me—the idiot—and everything spilled over for good.
“Why? Because you still have doubts and you’re afraid to tell me?
Or none of it is true? I know being pregnant so young isn’t easy.
Like you said out there, and I even agree, it’s a huge responsibility, and if you could choose, you wouldn’t have gotten pregnant this early.
It’s hard, especially for you, since you’ve made that very clear.
But if there’s still any doubt left, this is the time to tell me, Antonella. I have every right to know.”
I sat on the ottoman, laying the nightgown I’d picked up across my lap, and searched for the calm I knew was hiding somewhere inside me.
“Answer me, Antonella. Do you still believe the pregnancy is a mistake?”
“What do you think, stupid?”
“Don’t come at me with your cynicism right now. This isn’t the time for that.”
“Oh, really? You’re standing there barking like a rabid dog, certain of the answers to your idiotic and vile questions. What exactly are you asking me for?”
“Because I want to be sure I didn’t make a mistake.”
My chest tightened as I fought the urge to cry.
“I advise you to turn around and leave this room right now.”
“I’m not going anywhere without an answer.”
“Then here’s your answer. Is it a mistake to get pregnant at nineteen?
Without a shadow of a doubt, it is! Who in their right mind would get pregnant when they’re just starting life?
Who is this divine being who would think it’s amazing to have a child before even finishing school; having a career; financial, psychological, and emotional stability, all for the blessed child?
Do you think your sister should get pregnant too?
Will she become a better person because having a baby without considering the consequences is proof of good character? ”
“I didn’t say that,” he roared.
“Just like you interpreted my words however you wanted, a joke, when you damn well know your sister loves to run her mouth, I also have the right to interpret your reaction however I want. And what I understand is that according to your stupidity and your sanctimonious bullshit goodness, regardless of age, we’re obligated to have a child.
That is, of course, if you’re a person of good character and have that shit called love in your heart.
Have you lost your mind? It’s because so many people think like you that there are so many innocent, abandoned children in the world, because reckless parents think they need to bring a child into the world without the means to raise one.
Love never filled a belly, Heithor. It never paid bills. Did you think about that?”
“Antonella…”
“No. Shut your damn mouth, I’m not done!
” I growled, annoyed. “Weren’t you the one who wanted me to talk?
Then have some manners, stay quiet, and listen well, you bastard, because I’m not repeating myself.
I never even thought about getting pregnant, not now and not in the near future.
That’s no secret, and if that makes me a bad person, prepare yourself for what comes next…
If I could choose when to have a baby and if this one weren’t already here”—I pointed at my belly—“logically, I would not choose to get pregnant at nineteen. That isn’t a secret to anyone either.
It would be madness on my part to want that responsibility when I’ve barely begun my own life.
A tremendous irresponsibility, don’t you think?
Or am I wrong for thinking that way? You’re already thirty-one damn years old.
You lived everything you wanted, or almost everything.
You’ve found stability in every way, but what about me?
Did you think, or did your monumental arrogance not allow it?
“But, well, he’s here now and he is welcome.
Was it hard to accept him? You have no idea, because while you were traveling, fucking that cow and playing the victim while painting me as the devil himself, I was on the verge of losing my mind here.
I died every day… alone, you bastard! I had no one to comfort me.
No one willing to listen and try to understand what was happening to me without judging me or throwing stones at me, because everyone was more committed to forcing me to swallow the situation raw and painting me as a heartless monster without even stopping for one single minute to think that maybe there was something deeper than a whim behind my refusal…
By the way, I did have someone, yes, or rather, a few people who are responsible for the values I have today, and they weren’t the people who loved me.
They were strangers I went looking for myself.
I resisted, I fought with myself every damn day, but I didn’t resign myself.
I fought. And yes, Heithor, I love my baby and I accept him, but I did not become some fucking saint, and I think having a child this young is a damn mistake.
So do you still doubt that I had doubts after the hell I went through? ”
“Forgive me, love, I…”
“Don’t touch me! Get out of here right now or I will.”
“Damn it, Antonella!” he scolded nervously, regret in his expression, and planted his hands on his hips. “Forgive me. I’m sorry, truly. I lost my head, okay? You know this subject is sensitive for me. It drives me crazy. Hearing anything, even an innocent joke, makes me lose it… Damn it.”
Furious, I walked back into the bedroom with him on my heels and grabbed a pillow, throwing it at him while spitting:
“You’re sleeping anywhere else, but not here!”
“Are you kicking me out of our room?”
“You lost the right to say our when you deliberately accused me. So yes, I’m kicking you out. I’m not sleeping beside you. I refuse to share the same bed with you after the shit you said to me without thinking. Sleep with your damn arrogance, you son of a bitch, and thank it for this!”
I strode to the door and opened it.
“You can’t throw me out!”
“Va bene!” I flung the door shut with a loud bang.
“Sleep on the chaise, in the armchair, or on the floor. I don’t care.
Actually, you’d look great lying on the bedroom floor like the good miserable dog you are.
But in bed, caro mio, and with me, you are not sleeping even if the world turns inside out! ”
He narrowed his eyes threateningly. I didn’t soften. I was also too furious to look at his face any longer, and I thanked heaven when he left, closing the door with a slam that startled my heart and made me cry.
I wasn’t sleepy when I lay down. Too angry to relax.
A long time passed and sleep still didn’t come, and I knew part of that was because that jackass wasn’t in bed with me, but I wasn’t going to give in…
With my eyes closed, I heard footsteps approaching the bed.
My heart jumped happily. He really was an idiot.
“I’m not sleeping without you.” Thor’s voice was rough. “This is my room too, just like this bed and the woman in it.”
I heard the rustle of clothes being removed and felt the mattress move. Thor pressed himself against my back, moved my hair aside, then left a wet kiss on my neck that raised goose bumps across every inch of my skin.
Audacious bastard.
“Lucca,” I let out after long minutes.
“What?”
“The baby. I want his name to be Lucca.”
Thor brushed his lips over my skin again, teasing my ear with a light bite before sucking the lobe into his mouth. I didn’t move. I was irritated because I couldn’t decide whether to enjoy the caress or get angrier at his nerve.
“Hadn’t we decided on Enzo?”
“If I didn’t think of another one I liked better,” I pointed out grumpily, trying to free myself from him. That only made him hold me tighter against him, his cock digging insistently against my ass. “And I like Lucca.”
Thor was silent for a moment, both of us still. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Fighting the urge to push back.
“All right. Then it will be Lucca,” he stated, softer than silk, dragging his tongue along my shoulder until he reached my ear while pressing his hips into mine, rubbing.
I started getting wet, the emptiness growing, pulsing.
I tried to get away, but I have to admit my failed attempt was more so the delicious friction would continue than any real effort to escape his hold. “I like the name. It’s perfect.”
His lips and teeth explored my bare skin.
“You’re not eating me,” I warned, putting more conviction into my voice than I actually felt.
Thor, son of a bitch, laughed softly and his mouth scraped my ear.
“I love you.”
I exhaled hard against the pillow.
The friction of our hips rode my nightgown up, gathering the delicate fabric above my hips. His fingers and mouth worked to drive me insane.
“Unfortunately, I love you too.”
Yeah, I was still angry. A delicious rub wasn’t going to melt me, at least not entirely. But if he kept this up, well…
“Forgive me. I was an idiot. I shouldn’t have said any of that.”
I tried to remain indifferent, but it was nearly impossible when I felt the head of his cock nudging the cleft of my ass, leaving a wet trail when he increased the friction.
It sent waves of arousal through my body.
I caught my lip between my teeth, barely able to think when his hand moved down and removed my panties.
“I acted on impulse and hurt you. I feel awful for it.”
“Uh-huh…” And I added, using the last thread of prudence I had. “We shouldn’t solve our problems like this. We should talk… first.”
Thor slipped his hand between us, rubbing my pussy from behind.
He groaned, blowing a harsh breath against my neck when he found me wet.
It took everything in me not to beg when I slid my bent leg forward, giving him more access to my opening.
He bit my shoulder and soothed the place with his tongue while sliding into me.
I pressed my face into the pillow, muffling my needy moan, my fingers gripping the sheet, and rocked my hips as much as I could.
“I like solving things like this,” he rasped, thrusting slowly and deliciously. I felt every inch of him, every slide in and out. “It’s so much better to talk like this… Ah, fuck, I definitely like it like this.”
“You’re a son of a bitch,” I gasped, moaning, my eyes rolling back, my heart pounding when he thrust deeper. “Ah, shit…”
“Yes, baby, I am a son of a bitch.” His fingers reached my sex, teasing me. “But I’m your son of a bitch.”
“Cretin… I-I’m going to kick your ass… Oh, Dio… if you accuse me that way again.” I reached back, grabbing his hip. “Do it like this…”
He pulled out and came back in with a hard, deep thrust.
In and out. In and out.
“I promise, baby.”
Kisses and soft bites rained from my shoulder to my neck. His hand forced my face to turn, and his kiss claimed me, ending the conversation.