She shrugged. “Not sure I’m ready to talk about it.”
“I can give you space if you want.”
“Please.”
He left her to do some work, but kept checking on her. Finally he couldn’t wait any longer. He sat down. “Violet, what happened today? Why are you upset? Please tell me.”
She let out a long breath as if it pained her to speak. “I saw Tory today.”
“Damn it. I’m sorry for whatever she did.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“No, but she’s inserted herself into your life because of me,” he said.
Tory had lied to him about staying out of Violet’s life. He would have to confront her again. He might really need that restraining order. He hadn’t wanted to go that way. It would be embarrassing for her parents and they were nice people. How had they spawned such a psycho daughter? Maybe by giving her everything she wanted.
Now the world had to live with her this way.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
He squeezed her hand. “What did she say?”
“She said that you would take this child and raise him or her yourself. That I’d be left out in the cold.”
What an awful thing to say. Amedeo bet that if she weren’t pregnant and hormonal that Violet would have had a snappy comeback to Tory. In her normal life, she’d eat Tory for breakfast.
Now Violet was out of her comfort zone. She wasn’t living in her neighborhood and she was flush with pregnancy hormones. No wonder it had upset her. Violet didn’t know what to say to Tory and he hadn’t made it clear enough that he wasn’t going anywhere.
He kissed her hand. “Do you trust me?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t trust easily.”
“You can trust me, Violet. I’m not going anywhere. Even if for some reason we aren’t lovers, I’m not kicking you out. I’m seeing this through until the birth of this baby and we decide how we are raising it. We will both be in this child’s life. I would never leave you out of the picture.”
She blinked a few times, but he wasn’t sure he’d gotten through. “I’ve never found a man I could depend on.”
“You have now, I promise. This is my child, too. Of course I want to get the baby tested, but I’m pretty sure you haven’t lied to me,” he said.
He interlaced his fingers with hers, his gaze never wavering from her face. He willed her to believe him.
“She was awful, Amedeo.”
“I’ll get a restraining order. I promise. You can count on me.”
“I want to. I do. I just have learned the hard way not to rely on anyone. This whole situation has me on edge,” she said.
He brushed a hair out of her face. “I know. I’ll do my best to be a little more sensitive.”
***
Amedeo grimaced as he waited for Tory to open up the charity shop where she volunteered on the weekends. He needed to speak to her somewhere she wouldn’t make a scene. That would be the only way she would be rational. For once Tory had to understand what he was saying.
She needed to stay away from Violet. To stay away from him. There was no future. He’d moved on. He was going to help Violet raise this baby.
If Tory didn’t understand this time, he was going to talk to her parents. They would rein her in. He didn’t want to resort to that because Tory was a grown woman. He chose to treat her that way.
Or he could treat her like the child she was resembling these days.
He saw her park her car in the lot. She hadn’t noticed his car. He was by himself today. No need to involve anyone else in this. Besides, his Maserati needed some exercise. He gave her a few minutes to make her coffee and get settled.
Despite how pissed he was at her, her didn’t want to ambush her. That probably wouldn’t get the desired result.
The charity shop was connected to a hospital in name, but not location. The store sat in a strip mall outside of Princeton. The shopping center wasn’t busy this early, but would be soon. Amedeo didn’t shop so he assumed that it would be.
What did he know?
He climbed out of his car, locking it behind him. Violet was safely at work, in a better mood since their conversation. This was his responsibility and Violet didn’t need to be upset. He hadn’t told her where he was headed.
He’d tell her when he was back at the office.
A bell jingled above the door as he entered the shop that sold the detritus of people’s attics.
“Just a minute,” Tory called from the back.
Amedeo waited by the counter.
“Sorry. I had some items to check in.”
He knew the moment she saw him. Her smile dropped off of her face. A frown replaced it. Guess he looked sufficiently mad at her for her to choose not to charm him. “Amedeo.”