His Dirty Bargain (Dirty Billionaires 3)

“Had. I was at the restaurant, you weren’t.”

“Because of Bethany.”

“I get it, you could have called me or texted me to let me know instead of letting me sit there and eat alone. Whatever. I’m glad someone was here for her. I need to go.”

“Were you not even going to tell me about the Adam NDA thing?”

“I would have, but you didn’t want to talk to me.” She’s looking through me, anywhere but meeting my eyes. “I have to go, I’m already later than I promised.”

I want to tell her she’s wrong, that I wanted to talk to her a dozen times a day, that I hit send but hung up before the call connected more times than I can count. But she’s already gone.

22

Chloe

Three days, it’s been three days since Enzo got back, and it’s now been seven days since we slept in the same bed. Seeing him after he’d been gone was a body blow that almost took me off my feet. I missed him so much every cell in my body was coursing with electric pulsing need. Only for him to look past me, his focus on Bethany. Shame spins in me at resenting Bethany for being on the receiving end of Enzo’s care, but I couldn’t help it when I wanted it to be me so badly. Going to Russell’s was a lie. I needed space, time to figure out how the hell I was going to handle the next few days, along with the rest of my life. The problem was no answers came when I crashed in on Russell. Instead we got falling down drunk. When I got home it was to find a note from Enzo saying he was sleeping in the guest room on Bethany and Dante’s side because he wanted to be near Bethany in case she needed anything. All over again it felt like he was choosing someone else over me, even if logically I understood the why behind it.

The next night I hung out with Bethany since Dante still wasn’t home. We ate too much junk food and chocolate and ended up falling asleep on their huge sectional sofa in their living room. Yesterday Enzo and I moved into the house. It should have been a celebration, and it was for a time, while Bethany and Dante were there. Then we had a stupid fight over what went where until I couldn’t take it anymore and walked out and spent the night with Russell. At least I finally figured out what I’m doing with my two-flat, Russell and Adam are going to buy it. We agreed on slightly below market rate. They are going to turn it back into a single-family home.

I hated sleeping in my old bed. I hated that he didn’t even bother to call or text me to find out where I was. Now Nonna is here in Chicago, and there’s no way I’m going to be able to avoid sleeping with Enzo tonight, not with Nonna in a room not far from ours. It’s not that I don’t want to sleep with him, I miss him, but I’m afraid we’ll paper over the problem with sex and not resolve what’s really wrong.

I’m not really hiding at work, it was true I got stuck dealing with an issue on the multifamily property Enzo bought me. Since it was larger, with twenty units I went ahead and am employing Sabatini Real Estate to handle the management. An issue came up with a current renter, so I sat down with the manager who will be handling it to go over what I’m wanting and expecting. So Enzo picked Nonna up from the airport. I only finished around a half hour ago. Okay, maybe I am hiding. I’m just not sure how I’m going to get through the next few hours, which will be the hardest. Enzo and I can’t be in the same room for longer than ten minutes without getting into an argument, and not the fun ones like we used to have. We’re careful not to be mean, but still, everything hurts.

“Chloe? You’re still here? Everything okay?” Dante fills the open doorway of my office.

I pop up from my chair. “Yeah, good. I’m fine. I just wanted to finish up.” I grab my purse. “I better head out.”

He frowns. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m good, really. Don’t forget, our house tomorrow for dinner.”

“Tomorrow, your place. Bethany tell you we get the keys to our place on Friday?”

“No, she wasn’t sure if it would be Friday or next week.”

“Yeah, they were able to get the bathtubs in sooner. Do we need to bring anything tomorrow?”

“Nope, we’re good.” I escape without any more questions.

I’m barely through the door when Nonna is in front of me, giving me a hug. The scent of lilac and heather clings to her, she’s worn it since I was little. I take a deep breath.

“Nonna, I’m sorry, I got stuck at work.”

Waving a hand, she laughs. “That’s fine, it’s good, it’s given me time here with your man. You did well, very well.”

Her hand wraps around mine, then she’s bringing my hand up. She frowns as she looks up at me. “Where’s your ring? No ring?”

“That’s my fault, Lillian, she didn’t like the one I got her. She’ll get a wedding ring she likes better.”

Nonna frowns. “No engagement ring now?”

“I don’t mind, Nonna, really. He has horrible taste. It’s fine. I don’t need an engagement ring.”

She looks from me to Enzo. “Lorenzo, you do not honor your wife?”

I don’t dare look at him. “Nonna, I don’t want an engagement ring. Please let it go. I do want something to eat. Are you hungry enough for dinner yet?”

Another, darker frown. “No, I’m not hungry. I think I’ll rest now. A short rest though, wake me in an hour.”