“I can do these things,” Salvatore says, cutting in.
“I want her here when the baby comes for sure, though, and it would be better if we all got used to each other.”
I study her, and for some reason I feel like she doesn’t have any female friends in her life. Not that I do, either, but still. I have a feeling that’s why she’s worried. She has no one to go to if she needs to ask questions.
“Does her being here make you feel at ease? I know stress is not good for the baby,” Salvatore asks his wife.
She nods. “Then she stays,” he says simply, going back to cooking. I sit there, not sure what to say.
“Maybe we should do a more formal interview. Ask me about myself and make sure you think we will be a good fit.”
“Your grandfather raised you in a small town outside the city after your parents took off when you were five. They were never to be seen or heard from again, and they won’t be. Your grandfather passed soon after you entered college, leaving you with no family. Nor have you shown any romantic links to anyone. Ever. You graduated early from high school by taking summer school and getting all your credits done. You received a full scholarship into the accelerated nursing program that let you, once again, graduate in three years, which you did at the top of your class. You fit,” Salvatore says with his back to me. He’s at the stove, his back to me, and I just sit there, shocked. I guess he doesn’t need to get to know me. He already knows everything about me.
“Salvatore Castello!” Thea yells, making him turn from the stove to look at her. “Did you just inform this woman her parents are dead like it was nothing?” Her face is turning red. The man actually looks a little scared at his wife’s anger.
“Don’t upset yourself. The baby, angel.”
She glares at him. “Don’t use the baby to try to get out of this.” She narrows her eyes more.
“It’s fine. It’s fine,” I say, cutting in. I was glad when my parents left me at my grandfather’s. They were a mess. My grandfather’s house wasn’t great, but I lived in peace without weird people coming and going. “I figured as much. It doesn’t really feel like news. I’m more offended by him knowing so much about me,” I admit.
The anger fades from Thea’s face. “I know it’s…” She waves her hands in the air like she can’t think of the words. “Weird or whatever. I’m not going to lie to you, Emma. I’d be upset if Salvatore didn’t know all this stuff about you. We live in this house for a reason. It’s safe. We have to make sure anyone who enters these walls isn’t a threat. I mean, you’re going to be helping me care for the most precious thing in the whole world to us. Tell me, even if you didn’t live our life, if you had the means to do so, you wouldn’t do the same?”
I don’t hesitate, because she’s right. “I would.” Some of my anger lessens. It’s not like there’s something in my past I care to hide.
Salvatore sets two plates in front of us. “Thank you,” I say, meeting his eyes.
“Thank you,” he says back to me.
I smile at him. Maybe he isn’t as bad as I thought he was going to be. He’s intense at times, but there’s something underneath that I feel like I can trust.
“Your things will be here soon and we’ll put you in your own wing of the house for now. You’ll have lots of privacy.”
“My things will be here soon?” I ask. I don’t even know why I do. Of course they will be. Salvatore comes around the counter island to his wife. “I’m going to go do a few things.” He glances over at the kitchen entryway. I follow his line of sight to see a man standing there.
“Okay.” I barely hear Thea’s response, because all my attention is on the man standing there. A man who I’ve been running into over and over for almost two weeks. Every time I see him, I turn and run the other way because of the things he makes me feel.
“Oh, hey, Gio,” Thea says. I pull my eyes from my stalker mystery man to Thea. She’s all smiles. “Emma, this is Gio. He’s our baby’s godfather and uncle,” she says with the proudest smile on her face.
I look back at Gio. I finally have a name to go with his face. His eyes are on me like they always are. He walks into the kitchen, coming closer and closer to me until he’s right in front of me and I have to lean back to look up at him.
He looks like he always does. His dark hair is a little long, with a five o’clock shadow on his strong jaw. His light brown eyes appear to have a gold ring around them, now that I’m close enough to see. His olive skin is smooth, but every bone in my body is telling me his hands are rough.