Chapter 18
ARIA
As soon as I wake up later in the day, I know I’m alone. Enzo has a presence you just can’t miss, and when I run my hand along the sheets behind me where he’s supposed to be sleeping, it’s empty and cold.
That means he left the bed a long time ago. I let out a sigh, thinking about all the uncertainties that still lay ahead of me. Right now, I don’t want to get out of this bed because it’s so comfortable. I feel well rested, even though I must have only gotten a few hours of sleep.
Maybe it’s because I’m here and I feel safe that I was able to let my guard down last night.
It’s more security than I’ve had in the last couple of months. The constant worry that something would happen to me, plus the need to always keep my guard up, was exhausting.
Even though some of my usual anxiety was gone last night, it still doesn’t ease all the nervousness I’m currently feeling when it comes to Enzo and what’s going to happen between us.
I mean, he did say he was going to enjoy ruining me, but who knows what that could mean. I’ll just have to play everything by ear and see where this all goes. I’ll do whatever it takes or whatever he wants just to ensure my baby never ends up with my father.
Looking over at the clock on the bedside table, I see that it’s almost noon. Shit! I haven’t slept this late in a very long time.
Deciding I can’t lie here any longer and need to get up, I start maneuvering my way out of the bed by scooting my body until I’m close to the edge.
I push myself up and swing my legs off to the side, now in a sitting position. I stay there for a second, rubbing my belly as I feel a kick.
“Good morning to you, too, little girl,” I say to my stomach, a smile spreading on my face. Even though the simplest of tasks are getting harder every day, I love being pregnant with my little girl. I’m so excited and eager to meet her.
A moment later, I get to my feet and make sure I’m steady before I walk over to the bathroom. I brush my teeth and then head into the shower because I need to wash away all the cum Enzo left inside me last night, some of which is beginning to run down my thighs.
My cheeks heat as my mind wanders right back to the sex. Except for the part where he wanted to ruin me, everything was perfect.
His dirty mouth hasn’t changed, and it made me so hot. That’s not unusual when it comes to him. I took everything he gave me because it was all I’ve been craving since my father sent me away, and I’ve been without him.
I turn on the shower, and a second later, the hot water cascading down my body feels heavenly. When I’m done, I dry my skin and rub some lotion onto my body, especially my protruding stomach, to ease the itching.
I feel my little nugget kick me again just as my stomach starts to grumble, and I realize I’m hungry.
“Okay, baby girl. No need to make your displeasure known. I’ll get us some food in a few minutes.
Mommy just needs to get some clothes on first,” I say, talking to my belly as I rub it some more.
Sometimes I still can’t believe I have a tiny human inside me.
No matter what ends up happening between Enzo and me, she’s the one thing I’m never going to regret.
Once I’m done with my skincare, I walk back into the room with my towel wrapped around me and head for Enzo’s closet to see if I can grab one of his shirts to wear.
When I open the door and step inside, a gasp leaves me at the size of it. It’s a huge walk-in closet, bigger than my old one at home.
It’s divided into two sides. All of his clothes are on one side, and on the other is a bunch of female clothes. A surge of jealous anger fills me at the thought of all this belonging to someone else.
I mean, why else would he have them here?
I wonder if he’s ever had another woman here with him.
What if he’s seeing someone else and now, I’m just here pregnant with his baby, preventing him from living his life.
Ugh! Best not to think about any of that right now, because I’ll just drive myself crazy with all those thoughts.
I walk closer to get a better look at the things in here. All of them look like they still have the tags on. There are clothes for every different occasion you can think of, along with shoes, handbags, sunglasses, perfumes… You get the idea.
I’m surprised to see that the clothes are all mostly my size—well, the size I was before I got pregnant—but that doesn’t mean anything. I’m pretty sure he’s been with other women since I’ve been gone, and this could all be theirs.
There’s a makeup table in the middle of the space and two chairs to sit on. Based on the brands, it’s all very expensive. I’m so confused by what all of this could mean.
Why did he bring me here if he has someone else? How did he find me? Did he just happen to be in that town when he saw me and decided to bring me back? And yes, I know I should have asked some of these questions before I got sidetracked with his dick.
My stomach starts to grumble again, meaning our baby girl is definitely letting me know she’s really hungry right now.
I search the closet but don’t find my bags, so I grab one of the panties with the tag still on and rip it off before pulling them up my legs. I hope whoever it belongs to doesn’t mind. Then I walk over to his side and grab one of his white button-down shirts.
I put it on and see it’s long enough, looking like a mini dress on me, ending just above my knees. This will have to do for now until I have a chance to speak with him. I have no idea where he’s gone or when he’s going to be back. Our conversation will have to wait.
Once I’m done dressing, I head out of the room and down toward the kitchen to get something to eat before I look—okay, snoop—around the penthouse to see everything else I didn’t get to last night.
As I walk down the stairs and into the living room, intent on going toward the kitchen, I can’t help but stop when I come to the little hallway that leads to the front door. Before I can even think about what I’m doing, my feet are moving, and I’m making my way toward the door.
I try the handle, but it doesn’t move. I look at the scanner and try to scan my fingers, but nothing happens. Of course, he locked me in here like a damn prisoner. Why did I even think for one second that the door would open?
I guess I just have to be optimistic and look on the bright side, right? My father doesn’t know I’m here, which means he can’t get to me.
Sighing, I walk back down the hallway and turn right to head to the kitchen. As I get closer, I become aware of the sounds coming from in there, as though someone is moving around. My heart and tummy instantly flutter at the thought of him still being here. I guess he didn’t leave after all.
I try to hide my disappointment when I step into the kitchen to see an older woman there instead. She’s washing dishes. I must make a sound because she turns around to look at me.
“Hello, Miss. You’re finally up. I was just about to come up and see if you were awake,” she says in a friendly voice.
“Hi there. Not to be rude or anything, but who are you?” I ask.
“Oh, silly me! Where are my manners? My name’s Dorothy. I’m Mister Andretti’s housekeeper and cook,” she replies in a warm tone. I don’t know what it is about her, but I kinda instantly like her.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Dorothy. My name is Aria.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Miss Aria.”
“Please, it’s just Aria.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, and I nod. “As you wish, then, Aria. Come, come. Have a seat, and I’ll make breakfast for you,” she says and motions for me to sit at the table.
“Oh, you don’t have to go to any trouble for me. I can make something for myself,” I protest, but she’s hearing none of it.
“Nonsense! I’m sure you’re tired of that baby in there. When I was pregnant years ago, I remember I didn’t want to lift even a finger,” she says, smiling.
“I guess you’re right. I do get tired easily these days.”
“So, what would you like for breakfast?”
“I’ll have toast, an omelet, and some fruit along with orange juice if you have that,” I tell her.
“Of course, I do. Mister Andretti made sure I stocked up the pantry, fridge, and freezer with lots of stuff for you. He said, and I’m quoting here, stock up on stuff that’s going to be healthy for my future wife and our baby,” she replies as she starts to make what I asked for.
For some reason, her words form tears in my eyes.
He cares about the baby and me. I don’t even realize she said future wife until a few seconds later.
Did he really say that about me? Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
Besides Giana and Isabella, I haven’t felt like anyone cared about me at all.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset,” she tells me with a kind and worried expression when she turns back around and sees the tears still in my eyes.
“No, no. You’re fine. I’m sorry, it’s just these damn hormones,” I say with a laugh.
“I definitely don’t miss that!” She chuckles, bringing the fruit and orange juice for me first to nibble on in the meantime. I’m so hungry.
“So how long have you worked for Enzo?” I casually ask, as I nibble and she works.
“I’ve worked for the Andretti family for twenty-five years, but I’ve only worked solely for Enzo for about two years.”
“Oh, that’s pretty cool,” I tell her as she walks back over to bring the toast and omelet to me.
She made me French toast, and I’m not going to lie.
That, along with the omelet, tastes like heaven!
It might actually be the best I’ve ever eaten.
When I’m done, I feel stuffed to the max, but it was so worth it.
I go to get up to take my dishes to the sink to wash, but she’s not hearing any of it and scolds me a little.
“Uh, uh, uh. You don’t worry about a thing, Miss Aria. I’ll handle it all.”
“Aria,” I remind her. “And thank you.”
“Now you go relax and put your feet up or wander around while I clean up. I’ll make dinner later and leave it in the oven for Enzo to heat up,” she tells me as she basically shoos me out of the kitchen.
“Thank you.”
I walk back through the living room and head back upstairs, intent on checking out my surroundings. There’s a library, an office, extra bedrooms, a game room, a theater room, and some other rooms that I don’t even bother checking because I start to feel a little tired.
I go back down to the living room, lie on the sofa, and watch a movie. When it’s finished, I just lie there and take a quick nap. I wake up about two hours later, a bit disoriented, before I remember exactly where I am.
“Enzo?” I call out. “Is anyone home?”
“Just me,” Dorothy says, walking into the living room. “Enzo isn’t home yet.”
“Got it. Thank you,” I tell her. “I’m going to head upstairs for a while.”
“There’s a phone in all the rooms, so you can call me by pressing one if you need anything from me while I’m still here,” she lets me know.
“Thank you,” I tell her, getting up off the chair to find something else to do since I don’t want to just sit there and wait for him like a lost puppy. Plus, I’m kind of bored now.
I decide to check out the library. I’m surprised to find some of my favorite authors’ books on the shelves. I browse all the titles to see which ones he has, then pick one I haven’t read yet.
I walk over to the oversized reading chair that’s by the window and take a seat there. The chair is so huge that I have to crawl to the center to find a comfy spot. The view from here is nothing short of amazing.
About an hour and a half later, Dorothy brings me some snacks and water before she leaves for the day, and I settle in and spend a couple of hours just getting lost in my book. That’s exactly where Enzo finds me when he comes home.
I come up for air as I feel someone watching me, and when I look up, he’s standing there by the door with his hands in his pants pocket, looking hot and fucking delicious as always.
The top buttons on his shirt are open, and his tattoos peeking out make me clench my legs a little.
Tattoos have always been my weakness, and seeing them on him just makes my body react like some horny teenager.
Okay, yeah, I’m still a teenager, but that’s beside the point.
He’s staring at me, and I can’t take my eyes away from him either. I finally look away and realize that the sun is already setting. Huh? I didn’t even realize that so much time had passed already, which means that he spent the entire day away from me.
I don’t know why that thought makes a wave of sadness wash over me. I mean, he hasn’t said anything about our situation yet, about his thoughts on finding out I’m pregnant and he’s going to be a father. But all I want is for him to want to keep us, keep me.
I wish I could tell what he was thinking, what he was feeling, because then things would be so much easier.
“Hello, Principessa,” he says, voice low and husky.