Amedeo, Her Italian Billionaire(60)

Salvatore laughed. “Fine. You’ll figure it out eventually.”

Amedeo chose to change the subject. “How’s your love life?”

Salvatore waved a hand. “Dry spell.”

“What about that woman you were with?”

“She’s a pain in my ass. We parted ways. She went off to some third world country to build houses. Something I wasn’t interested in doing.”

“I can see why, but I thought you guys were close,” Amedeo said.

“So did I.”

The two fell into a companionable silence as Salvatore drove them to his house. It was the same size as Amedeo’s, but further out into the country. No gate on the property, but it was surrounded by woods.

They settled on his back deck, each one with a beer in his hand. Amedeo pondered what Salvatore had said. Was he falling in love with Violet? Maybe this time away would be good. He needed to reassess his feelings and how he dealt with her.

His phone rang. It was his driver.

“Hello?”

“She ditched me,” he said.

“Violet?”

“Yes. She went into a store and must have gone out the back door. I can’t find her.”

Amedeo sighed. Violet was that pissed that she wanted nothing to do with him? This was worse than he thought. , He rubbed a hand down his face. “Sit tight. Let me call her. I’ll call you back with instructions.”

He disconnected then dialed Violet’s number. She didn’t answer. In fact, it went right to voice mail so he knew it was turned off.

“Violet, call me back. Where are you? I’m a little worried.”

Salvatore gave him a knowing smile. He punched his brother in the arm. “Shut up.”

“She’s a grown woman, Amedeo. She can do what she wants. She actually doesn’t owe you any explanation.”

Amedeo slumped in his chair. Salvatore was right. They’d made no commitment to each other. They hadn’t made any promises. She could do what she wanted. He frowned then dialed his driver.

“You’re off for the night. I’ll get my own way home.”

“Thanks sir. You aren’t mad?”

“No, you aren’t her baby sitter.”

They disconnected. Amedeo wondered how he was going to fix this.





Chapter13



Violet sat in Kalia’s kitchen, drinking juice. She hadn’t wanted water so her friend poured her that. Kalia sat across from her.

“I have some ice cream, too. That usually makes me feel better,” Kalia said.

“I’m not sure anything will make me feel better. I just don’t think I can do this, K.”

“What? Motherhood?”

“Yes. I don’t think I can raise a child. I have no role model,” Violet said.

Kalia nodded. “I think every woman goes through that terror at some point in their pregnancy.”

“How would you know?”

“I have sisters, remember? All of them have been pregnant.”

“How did you manage not to be?” Violet said.

“Staying away from men who don’t wear condoms.”

Violet snorted. “I did that and had one that broke.”

“I’m betting you and that Italian Stallion were pretty hot and heavy that night. You might have broken a lead shield.”

Violet tried not to smile, but that night had been full of passion. As had all of their lovemaking sessions. Amedeo had more stamina than any man she’d been in bed with. Her mouth dried at the thought of making love with him.

She shook herself. That wasn’t the problem. “Probably. I wouldn’t be in this position if we had used a lead shield.”

“You’d be homeless, too and without a job.”

Why did Kalia have to be the voice of reason? She wanted her friend to sympathize, not tell her what a fool she is. “I’m going to be shaping someone’s life. Mine is a mess. How can I tell someone how to be a human?”

“Oh, Violet. Things aren’t as bad as you think they are. Really. It may not be how you planned it, if you planned it, but it’s not bad.”

“What do you mean if I planned it?”

Kalia frowned. “Don’t take your crabbiness out on me. I’ll send you back to Amedeo. What I meant was that you’ve gone through a lot of your life by the seat of your pants. It’s not a bad way to live, but now you don’t have to. You can have a regular job and regular hours. Plan a life with this child. Give that child structure that you might also need.”

Violet thought about that. She had been pretty content with her schedule and her life. Amedeo liked things that way and she’d followed along. She had melted into his life and she couldn’t complain about it.

“Still. Maybe it would be better to let Amedeo have this child. I could visit.”