Chapter 14 #2
"How is it?" I ask, genuinely curious. "Living on a farm with Dolan?"
"It is perfect, Rosie. Like, genuinely perfect in a way I did not think my life could be.
" Her voice goes soft, dreamy. "We wake up with the sun, and Dolan makes breakfast while I feed the chickens.
Then we work on the farm—we are trying to grow vegetables, which is harder than it sounds—and in the evenings we sit on the porch and watch the sunset.
It is simple and quiet and exactly what I needed. "
"You sound happy."
"I am. Happier than I have ever been." She pauses. "And it sounds like you are finding your own version of happy too. Even if your version involves three mafia men and no door on your bedroom."
"Dante says I can earn the door back."
"By doing what?"
"I have not figured that out yet. I think he just likes having access to my room whenever he wants."
"That is both creepy and kind of hot."
"Erin!"
"What? I am just saying. The man took your door off because you would not come to dinner. That is some serious commitment to getting what he wants."
We talk for another twenty minutes, about nothing and everything, about her farm and Dolan's terrible jokes and the neighbor's goat that keeps escaping and eating their vegetables.
About Gabriel teaching me video games and Luca stealing bites of my sandwiches and Dante kissing me breathless in the back of cars.
"I miss you," I say finally, because I do, because even though I am finding my place here with Dante and Gabriel and Luca, there is still an Erin-shaped hole in my daily life that no one else can fill.
"I miss you too, Rosie. So much." Her voice gets thick with emotion. "But I am glad you are okay. I am glad you are finding something good in all of this mess I left you with."
"You did not leave me with a mess. You gave me a chance at something I did not even know I wanted."
"Still," she says quietly. "I am sorry. For putting you in this position. For asking you to take my place. For running away and leaving you to deal with the consequences. I know it was not fair to you."
"Erin," I interrupt gently, sitting up on the bed. "I would do it again. In a heartbeat. You know that, right? I would walk down that aisle a hundred times if it meant you got to be happy with Dolan."
"I know," she whispers. "I love you, Rosie. You are the best friend I have ever had. The best sister."
"I love you too," I say, and my voice cracks slightly on the words, tears stinging my eyes. "Stay safe out there with your chickens."
"You too. Try not to start any more wars with mafia dons."
"No promises."
She laughs, and then the line goes quiet for a moment, both of us just breathing, holding onto this connection across the distance.
"I should go," she says finally. "Dolan is making breakfast for dinner and if I do not get out there soon he will eat all the bacon."
"Breakfast for dinner?"
"It is a thing we do now. We are very domestic and disgusting."
"Completely disgusting," I agree, but I am smiling.
"Says the woman who is potentially dating three men at once."
"Fair point."
"Call me if you need anything," she says, her voice serious now. "Anything at all. Unknown number or not, I will always answer for you."
"I know. Same goes for you."
"Love you, Rosie."
"Love you, Erin."
The line goes dead, and I sit there for a moment just staring at my phone, feeling lighter than I have felt in weeks, like someone has lifted a weight off my chest that I did not even realize I was carrying.
She is safe. She is happy. She is raising chickens in Texas with Dolan, and even though the whole situation is completely insane, it is working.
Maybe insane is what we both needed.
I am still sitting there, phone in hand, processing the conversation, when I hear footsteps on the stairs. Heavy, deliberate footsteps that I have learned to recognize.
Luca appears in my doorway—because of course he does, because I do not have a door to knock on—dressed in all black, clearly about to head out for whatever business he and Dante have tonight with Frank Lucas.
He looks good—unfairly good—with his hair styled and his shirt fitted and that dangerous energy he always carries like a second skin.
"There you are," he says, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "Gabriel said you got a phone call. Everything okay?"
"Wrong number," I lie automatically, because I am not ready to explain the Erin situation to anyone yet, not even Luca. Not until I have processed it myself.
He studies me for a moment, and I can see him deciding whether to push, his green eyes narrowing slightly. But then he just smiles and pushes off the doorframe, moving into the room with that easy, predatory grace.
"You look happy," he observes, stopping in front of where I am sitting on the bed.
"Maybe I am."
"Good." He reaches out, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering against my jaw in a touch that sends warmth spreading through my chest. "You should be happy, Fiorella."
"Is that an order?"
"A suggestion." His thumb traces my bottom lip, the touch gentle but deliberate. "Though I am not opposed to making it an order if that is what you need."
I roll my eyes, but I am smiling. "You are impossible."
"And you love it." He leans down, and I think he is going to kiss my forehead or my cheek, but instead his mouth finds mine—soft and slow and sweet in a way that makes my chest ache and my breath catch.
When he pulls back, I am breathless, my heart racing, and he is grinning like he knows exactly what he does to me.
"What was that for?" I ask, my voice coming out more breathless than I intended.
"Do I need a reason to kiss my wife?" He straightens, adjusting his jacket with casual movements. "Dante and I have to go. Meeting with Lucas. We will be back late."
"Be safe," I say, and I am surprised by how much I mean it, by how much the thought of something happening to him makes my chest tighten.
"Always am, Bella." He winks, then turns to leave, pausing in the doorway to look back at me. "Sweet dreams, Fiorella. Try not to miss me too much."
"I will try to contain myself," I say dryly.
He laughs, and then he is gone, his footsteps fading down the hallway, and I am left alone in my doorless bedroom with the ghost of his kiss on my lips and the sound of Erin's voice still echoing in my head.
I lie back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and find myself smiling.
Two months ago, I walked down an aisle in a wedding dress that was not meant for me, marrying a man I had never met, sacrificing my freedom for Erin's happiness.
And somehow, impossibly, I ended up here—in a doorless bedroom in a Manhattan mansion, married to a man who kisses me like I am precious, potentially falling for two others, playing video games with Gabriel and getting my sandwiches stolen by Luca and standing up to mafia dons at dinner parties.
My life is absolutely insane.
And for the first time in a long time, I would not change a single thing.
I hear footsteps on the stairs again—Gabriel, probably wondering if I am coming back to finish our game.
"I am coming!" I call out, pushing myself off the bed and heading for the door.
Time to go destroy Gabriel at video games.
Or, more likely, get destroyed by him again.
Either way, it sounds perfect.