The tour of my place takes almost twenty minutes before we all head back to Dante’s SUV he bought a few weeks ago in preparation for the baby.
We’re settled in the restaurant, and Chloe is close enough I can smell her light perfume. Christ, I want out of here and as far away from her as I can get.
“I heard from Phil, you went in and out of New York last night.” Phil is our pilot. “What was up? You hate flying in and out.”
“No biggie, it was a bad deal. Yesterday was a shit day. A waste of time all the way around. I never should have gone, but I really shouldn’t have come back so soon.”
Dante frowns, he knows something off. “You aren’t skipping out on tomorrow.”
“I said I was going, I’m going.”
“You aren’t one for wasting time, Enzo. What’s the matter? You losing your touch?” Bethany teases.
“Hardly. It happens, things aren’t always what they seem. Sometimes you don’t know how rotten something is from the inside out until you get up close. No loss long-term though, I got out before I wasted any more time or money.”
“Because money is so important,” Chloe spits out at me.
“It makes the world go round. If you didn’t have enough money you’d never be able to complete your little family plan. Dante, were you aware your VP wants to go through in vitro to have a kid by herself?”
Dante sucks in air as he drinks his orange juice and chokes on it. Bethany bangs on his back. “Breathe, honey.” She looks at me with daggers in her eyes. “God, Enzo, I can’t believe you just drop news like that out of nowhere.”
“It was how it was dropped on me. I figured he might want to know.”
“Fuck you. You have no right to pass judgement on me for my personal life decisions. Go to hell.” Chloe dumps her ice water in my lap.
Then she’s up and gone.
Fuck, that’s cold.
“Jesus, what the hell is the matter with you? Quit being a miserable fuck. Just because you fucked up and got hurt doesn’t give you the freedom to go around hurting everyone else,” Dante yells as he goes after Chloe.
Bethany sighs. “Man, do I miss alcohol.”
“Do you think I’m a miserable fuck?” I lean back, prepared for her to give me her typical honest answer.
She studies me. “Hmmm...I think the wrinkles you’ve acquired over the last two years have given you a very distinguished look.”
“You can’t give me a simple yes or no?” I’m surprised by her lack of response.
“Enzo, there is nothing simple about you or the question. I do think it’s interesting for the first time in almost two years, you are actually showing emotions other than boredom or annoyance. I knew Chloe was going to flip your switch, but I had no idea it would be this big. I’m not going to tell you not to do whatever you’re going to do; I’m not dumb enough to waste my breath. I will say, be careful. Chloe isn’t like the women you’ve dealt with in the past, she’s hard on the outside to protect her soft inner core. And if you hurt her—”
“Yeah, I know, Dante will kick my ass.”
“No, she’ll hurt you right back. The problem with that is it will hurt her too, and you guys will just go round and round. She’s good people, real, genuine, and she deserves the same.”
The memory of Chloe’s face frozen in agony after she threw my father at me flashes brightly. “I think I’ll get my own ride home.” I watch as Chloe gets into a cab at the end of the block with Dante whirling away in exasperation.
Bethany is watching too. “Yep, you might want to exit out the back.”
I laugh. I’m not going out the back. Dante ignores me as I hail a cab. I really wish I’d stayed in bed and ignored his call this morning.
***
Chloe
Slamming into the cab, I try to swallow my sobs, only I can’t. I fucking hate Enzo Sabatini.
“It’s okay, miss. You cry all you want, there’s tissues back there.”