“Hello, Tory.”
“Don’t call me Tory.”
He always called her Tory. Especially now that she’d dumped him. “What do you want?”
“I want to know who that woman is living in your house.”
“That isn’t any of your business. That stopped being your business when you handed my ring back to me. Three weeks before the wedding.”
It was going to be a big affair. Tory had insisted on the best. The chapel at Princeton University had been booked. Hundreds of people were going to attend. The reception was planned for a museum. All had to be cancelled. All deposits lost. He could afford it, but he didn’t want to. No need to marry again. He’d never ask that question of anyone.
“I’m sorry, Amedeo. I got spooked.”
“Spooked? You’d dropped hints for six months that you wanted me to ask you. I didn’t until I was ready. And then you run? You had ample time to choose not to marry me. Why did it have to be at the most expensive point in the process?”
“I didn’t time it that way on purpose.”
“You say that, but you’ve done that more than once. You are a selfish person.”
“Amedeo, I’ve changed. Really I have. I’m ready to commit.”
“I don’t want to marry you anymore,” he said.
Saying it to her was cathartic. He truly felt that way. His life had actually been better since she’d been out of it. His mother hadn’t liked her much. Maybe she’d been right. She’d done him a favor.
“You don’t mean that, Amedeo. We were great together.”
Probably because he’d given in to her too often. He’d lost himself. He couldn’t afford to do that again. In fact, he knew he’d never do that again. She’d taken over his life. She’d taken him over so much that he hadn’t known what her taste was and what was his.
“I do meant it, Tory. I don’t want to do that again. I’m done with you.”
“So you aren’t going to tell me who that woman is at your house.”
“Nope. None of your business.”
“I’m not done, Amedeo. I will get you back. I’ll have you.”
“I’m not a possession. I’m a person, Tory. You can’t have me, especially if I don’t want to be had,” he said.
And he didn’t. He liked his life. He liked sleeping with different women, though he wasn’t sure that was on the agenda for the next few months. He wouldn’t bring someone home to his house while Violet was there. That wasn’t fair. Not that she had any designs on him, but he saw it as rude. He might sleep in his penthouse or at the person’s house, but he would let her know if he wasn’t going to be home.
She was alone in the world and he didn’t need to make her feel worse by rubbing his lovers in her face. Besides, he was excited that she was going to have this baby. His baby. Even if he didn’t feel much beyond lust for her, he’d love the baby. He had no doubt that he could love the baby.
He also thought he’d be a good father. Well, when he had time, since he was a workaholic. That’s why he wanted Violet to raise the baby. He wanted to make sure his or her daily life was the best it could be. A mother would want that also.
“Whatever, Amedeo. I’m not giving up and I’ll be the woman living in your house. Not that skank who’s there now.”
“She isn’t a skank, Tory. I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t call her names.”
“Who is she? Are you dating her?”
“None of that is your business,” he said.
He wasn’t going to give Tory any ammunition against Violet who was an innocent in this transaction. She’d done nothing to Tory, but his ex would try to get to him through Violet. When he’d asked Tory to marry him, he hadn’t realized how vindictive she was. How manipulative. Why hadn’t he seen it?
Probably because she gave the best blow jobs ever. He’d been thinking with the wrong part of his anatomy at the time. Never again. He’d learned his lesson. Except that now he had a baby on the way, which should make him nervous, but he wasn’t. He liked kids. They said what they meant. He didn’t have to guess how a kid felt.
Kids were on his life plan, just not yet.
Tory huffed, then hung up on him. He was relieved that he wouldn’t have to listen to her whining anymore. It was enough to drive a man to drink. He leaned back in his chair, staring out the window.
He’d dodged a bullet with Tory. Of that he was sure.
***
Violet knew that the woman who came to visit was none of her business. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t curious. The woman had left and Violet spent the rest of the day a little unsettled. She’d written some code, but she wasn’t sure it was her best and would have to look it over again tomorrow.