Chapter Sixteen #4
I laugh gruffly. “Bullshit. I’ll always need you around.”
He looks dubious.
“You think I don’t want you in my life now?” I shake my head. “That’s not even a little true. It’s my wish you’ll come to live with me, Marcello, and his family.”
He widens his eyes. “What?”
“I don’t want you to go back to Millhaven. You obviously need to recuperate and get your strength back. But even when you’re strong again, I want you near me. When you’re discharged in a few weeks, I want you to move into Marcello’s home with me.”
“I can’t live with you and your alpha.” He looks horrified at the idea.
I grimace. “His home is a mansion, Fabio. We have our own wing. His family has their own wing. You could have your own wing. You’d have all the privacy you could ever want. Way more than you ever had back in our little apartment in Millhaven.”
“I can’t imagine living with you, your alpha and his family. That sounds horribly awkward.”
“That’s because you haven’t met Marcello or his family yet. They’ll love you immediately, I’m positive of that. Once you’re strong enough to live on your own, then we can decide what you want to do, okay?”
“I don’t know, Elio,” he murmurs. “Maybe I should just go back to Millhaven.”
I scowl. “You’d just leave me like that? I thought we always promised to live near each other. You’re just throwing that out the window now?”
He drops his gaze. “I… I don’t want to leave you. But I also don’t want to be a burden anymore. It’s time you lived your life how you want.”
“Okay, well, if that’s truly how you feel then you’ll come live with me because that’s what I want.
We always said we’d stay close to each other.
I don’t just want to see you on holidays, Fabio.
I want you in my everyday life. I want you to know my child and to be a part of their world.
If you move away, I’ll be gutted. You need to stay with me for now.
It’s the most practical solution until you’re stronger. ”
“Yeah, I can imagine Marcello would love having me around.”
I huff. “He’s always known we’re a package deal, Fabio. You’re the reason I met him.”
“Still.” He scowls. “Why would he want me underfoot?”
“I’m telling you, he wants you there. Family is very important to him. I think he’s nervous to meet you, in case you hate him, but he wants you to live with us. Honestly, when you see his family home, you’ll understand why it’ll work.”
He meets my gaze. “I’m still upset you lied to me.”
I sigh. “I know. I’m… I’m sorry I lied to you.”
He grimaces. “I know you meant well.”
“Yes, I did. All I cared about was keeping you alive.”
We sit there for a while, not speaking. The lounge is quiet. Somewhere down the hall a machine beeps at steady intervals and a therapist counts reps for another patient.
Eventually, he says quietly, “So, once I’m discharged, if I do what you want me to do, I’ll be living in a crime lord’s mansion.” He shakes his head. “I did not see that coming.”
“I didn’t see any of this coming,” I say softly, relieved he’s accepted he should live in Marcello’s home at least temporarily. “But I think it’s actually turning out to be pretty amazing for once. You’re healthy, I’m in love and pregnant, and we don’t have to worry about money anymore.”
He sighs. “Yeah, so long as this alpha of yours doesn’t fuck you over.”
“He won’t.”
He presses his lips tight, obviously still not trusting Marcello is a good guy.
“You know,” I say, “Once you’re strong enough, you won’t just have to take online classes anymore. You can pursue your teaching degree like any other student.”
“Yeah, although I’m not sure that’s what I want anymore.”
“I thought it was your dream to be a teacher.” I frown.
He lifts one shoulder. “To be honest, that wasn’t really my dream. Mom was a teacher and I think I wanted to honor her memory. Plus, it sounded safe, respectable, practical. I wanted to make you proud by getting a good job after all you sacrificed for me.”
My chest tightens. “You don’t owe me anything, Fabio. I did what I did because I love you. I just want you happy. Healthy. That’s it.”
His smile is pensive. “Well, I’m on my way to being healthy. Now I need to figure out my happy.”
I squeeze his shoulder. “I get it. We haven’t had much time to think about what would make us happy. We haven’t had the money to dream. We’ve been scrambling to survive for too long. But we have the luxury to dream now. And even though you might hate hearing me say this, it’s because of Marcello.”
“I just pray he doesn’t destroy us.”
“Nah. He’ll only protect us.”
“Hope you’re right,” he murmurs.
I ignore his pessimistic comment. “And yeah, we’ve been through some rough times in our life. But the hard times just made us stronger. What’s that Ernest Hemingway quote Dad always used to tell us? ‘The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.’”
He looks thoughtful. “I’d forgotten he always used to say that.”
I smile. “How about we do our best to be strong at the broken places, Fabio?”
“Okay,” he says quietly. “I like the idea of being the strong one for once.”