Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
My mum has been hovering over me all day. My dad? Well, he keeps checking in on me at least once an hour. And now Aurelio is on this whole hovering thing too.
“Okay, this has to stop,” I groan. My hands fly up into the air.
“What does?” my mum asks.
“You guys hovering over me like I’m some fragile little thing that’s going to break. I’m fine. This isn’t new for me.”
“Fine? So you’re not concerned Dad has arranged your marriage?” Aurelio questions.
“What?” My brows draw down in confusion.
“I hear he has some Don back home ready to marry you.” My brother shrugs.
“Aurelio, stop spreading rumors. There is no way your father would do that,” Mum scolds.
“I’m just saying what I heard from what you could call a reliable source,” he counters.
“Call Uncle Santo. Tell him he’s going to have a brother to bury because I am going to kill your father if there’s any truth to this.” Mum storms out of the room.
I almost feel bad for my dad if he actually is planning to marry me off. I highly doubt it’s true. I just can’t see my dad doing that.
I turn to my brother. “Do you actually believe this?”
My brother snorts. “Not in the slightest, but it is Dad. I’ve seen him do some… questionable things before.”
“Who is this trusted source?”
“CJ came to me, demanded I put a stop to it. I would place money on the fact that he’s not too happy about you being married off to someone who isn’t him.”
“I’m not marrying anyone.” I shake my head. “I can’t.”
Aurelio takes his phone from his pocket and taps at the screen before a ringtone comes over the loud speaker.
“Aurelio, how’s Vegas?” my Uncle Marcel asks down the line.
“Good. Got a question for you, Uncle.”
“Okay,” Uncle Marcel says cautiously.
“When Aunt Zoe told you she didn’t want kids, did you ever resent the fact you don’t have any?”
“Fuck no. I love her more than anything in this world. Besides, I have all you lot. I don’t need kids of my own,” Uncle Marcel replies.
“Right, so a man can love a woman who can’t have children and be content?” Aurelio continues.
“Of course. Is there something you want to tell me, Aurelio? Who is she?”
“Fuck, it’s not me. Asking for a friend. Thanks, Uncle Marcel. Gotta go. Shit to do.” Aurelio cuts the call and gives me a look that says: I told you so.
“That doesn’t mean that every man would be okay with it, Aurelio.” I shake my head.
I should have kept this to myself. It was easier when no one knew. I didn’t have to defend my choices. I didn’t have to see the look of pity in the eyes of my parents. And I certainly didn’t have my brother trying to set me up.
“Why are you even pushing this? You’ve literally never been okay with me dating. Why the sudden interest in getting me together with CJ? Unless there is truth to this marriage thing you said Dad was planning?”
“I don’t want you to date. I want you to be happy, and I want you to know that you deserve that, Daniella.”
“Aw, admit it! I’m your favorite person.” I smile at my brother.
“You’re in the top two,” he says.
“I need you to stop, though. I can’t deal with it, Aurelio. I’ve made my decision, and you know what? So has CJ.”
“What do you mean so has CJ?”
“He’s done with me. Told me as much this morning. There’s only so much rejection a person can take, you know.”
Aurelio snorts. “A million bucks says he’s not anywhere near done with you.”
“I’m not betting on that.” I laugh. “That’s demented. Also, you should try focusing on your own love life.” I get up from the bed and walk out of the room. I need to get away from everyone.
I make it to the bottom of the stairs when I pause. CJ is standing at the front door talking to a woman. A very attractive woman, who currently has her hand on his arm.
Huh, I didn’t know he was seeing anyone.
I should have expected he would be. But it was him who suggested just last night that we got married. It was him who pulled me into his room this morning and slammed his mouth against mine.
This scene doesn’t bother me. I’m happy he has someone. Right? Even as my chest aches and it hurts to breathe… I’m okay with this. This is my choice. He will never truly be happy with me, but he can be with someone else. Her.
The woman makes eye contact with me. “Hello,” she says sweetly, causing CJ to turn around and notice I’m just standing here in the foyer of his parents’ house staring at him and this woman like a damn fool.
“Hi, sorry, I was just on my way… somewhere,” I mumble, feeling my face heat up. I turn and walk towards the other side of the house. I can go out to the backyard, jump in the pool, and drown.
I manage to make it all the way to the pool without seeing another soul—thank god.
Taking a leap off the edge, I jump into the cool water. Fully clothed. I let myself sink under the surface, the entire world disappears, and I embrace it for as long as I can before I have to come up for air.
When I do, I find Aiden staring at me. “Thank fuck! I thought I was going to have to jump in after you.”
“Why?” I wipe the water out of my eyes.
“Because you weren’t coming up for air. Why are you swimming?”
“I felt like a dip. It’s really nice in here.” I spin around to float on my back.
“In your clothes?”
“I didn’t pack a swimsuit,” I lie.
“Right. So I hear you’re set to be married off when you go home,” Aiden says.
I stand back upright. “That’s not going to happen.” I roll my eyes. The way rumors spread in these families puts any soap opera to shame.
“So you jumping into the pool has nothing to do with your pending nuptials, then?” Aiden asks. His hands in the pockets of his trousers as he stares down at me like he’s trying to figure out a puzzle.
“Nope.”
“Would it have anything to do with my brother and the guest he was just seeing out at the front door?” Aiden raises a questioning brow.
“Why would I care who your brother has visiting him?” I sink back under the water, because it’s easier to avoid this topic than face it.
When I come back up, it’s not Aiden’s face I’m met with. It’s CJ’s. Where the bloody hell did he even come from? I look around for his friend. She’s nowhere to be seen.
“What are you doing?” CJ asks.
“Well, back home, they call this swimming. Not sure what you lot call it here.”
Aurelio kicks his shoes off. Then he removes his watch, placing it on the ground by the pool, followed by his jacket, his phone and his wallet.
“What are you doing?” I finally ask when he starts unzipping his slacks and pulling them down his legs.
“This is a five-thousand-dollar suit. I’m not ruining it by jumping in a pool,” he says before he does just that. Jumps into the pool wearing just his black button-down shirt and boxers.
“What…?” My question is stopped when CJ’s hands reach for me.
Taking hold of my arm, he pulls me through the water until I’m right in front of him. “Why did you jump in the pool, Dani?”
“I wanted to swim.”
“I’m going to need you to stop lying to me.”
“I want to,” I whisper.
“I’ll ask again then. Why did you jump into the pool?”
“Because everything hurts. I needed a distraction.”
CJ’s hand brushes aside the hair that’s stuck to my face, tucking it behind my ear. “What hurts?”
“My heart, my soul. Everything.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t…” I shake my head. This is too much.
“Because why, Dani?” CJ’s words are soft.
“I can’t have you,” I admit.
“But you already have me,” he says. “You stole my heart a long time ago, darling, and you have never given it back.”
“I shouldn’t have done that. I wish I could go back. Back to when we were just us. No plans for the future, no ultimatums. Just us.”
“You don’t want to plan a future?”
“I don’t get to have the same kind of future as you do, CJ. No matter how much I want it. I can’t have that.” I know he doesn’t understand what I’m trying to tell him. “I want to pretend, for just a moment, that we’re back there. In a time where it didn’t hurt to love you.”
I lean in and press my lips to his, fully expecting him to pull away.