CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Someone shook my arms, and I swatted them away. I watched every hour tick by on the clock last night until five in the morning when the bottle of wine I had consumed finally did me in.
As a general rule, I never got drunk. I hated the feeling of being out of control. That all went out the window last night when my thoughts and heart were racing, competing for my attention. The idea of leaving Kon and spending the rest of my life tied to Nico had tormented me. Every time I convinced myself to walk away from my family, Emilia’s cautionary tale of standing up to Dominick would reel me back in.
I didn’t want to worry about my family lying in wait for the right moment to mow down the man I loved. Even worse, what happened if Kon and I crashed and burned? I would have given up everything for a chance at nothing. Between Rocco and my dad, I had already lost too much.
“Get up. We need to get ready,” a woman said.
“What?” I mumbled, my voice sounding like I had swallowed a bowl of pebbles.
“Carmela, open your eyes and get out of bed. It’s past noon. The day is almost over. We have things to do.”
I unsealed my dry eyelids and blinked a few times. “Emilia? What are you still doing here?”
“I’m here to get you. We’re going shopping for your engagement dress.”
I flopped onto my back. “I don’t care what I wear. I have plenty of stuff in my closet. In fact, I think I’ll wear what I wore to my dad’s funeral. That’ll make a statement.”
“Yeah, well, do what you have to, but we’re going shopping. There’s this cute little boutique on Third. You’ll love it. It’s a great location.”
“Wait.” I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed, rubbing my eyes. “Did you say Third?”
Kon lived right off Third, and she was right. There was a cute boutique right around the corner.
A grin spread across her face, and I couldn’t speak for a second. I couldn’t remember a single time I’d seen Emilia look happy. “Yes. Third. It’s a hip area with lots of interesting people.”
“How’d you know?”
She shook her head. “You’re so naïve, Carmela. If you want to live in this world, you need to learn to play with the big boys. You can’t tiptoe around with your eyes and ears closed. You need information so you can be one step ahead of them.” She tapped the bottom of my chin. “Close your mouth and stop looking at me like I’m a lunatic. You need to get dressed for this to work.”
“For what to work?”
Emilia bent over and whispered in my ear. “We’re going to walk into the store, pick up a stack of dresses, then I’ll disappear into the dressing room, and you’ll slip out the side door wearing something entirely different. You’ll head out the door and off to your man’s place. I’ll cover for you for an hour and not one minute longer. Got it?”
I searched her face for duplicity. I didn’t see any. “You’d do that for me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get all emotional on me. I’m doing this for me, not you. I fully intend to stick it to my father every chance I get.”
“All right. Well, thanks. I guess.”
“An hour should be ample time to tell him goodbye and get your ass back to the store.”
My head dropped against my chest, my stomach pirouetting with excitement and an overwhelming sadness. I wanted to see Kon so damn bad, but I hated that this would probably be the last time I’d see him. Maybe forever.
“Stop it.” Emilia flicked me in the forehead. “I know what you’re thinking, and you need to erase those sentimental, weepy thoughts from your brain. You’re doing the right thing. If I could go back in time, I would never have dragged my husband into this crap. It wasn’t fair. It was downright selfish.” She swallowed, and her lower lip wobbled. “Don’t make the same mistake as me.”
“You’re right. I’m fine. I can do this,” I declared, even though I wasn’t sure I believed it.
She gave a curt nod of her head and pointed to the bathroom. “Good. Go.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Konstantin
“Stop calling me,” I growled under my breath, declining the call from an unknown number for the third time.
I switched my phone to vibrate. I needed to focus or I’d never get caught up. Alesio had wrapped up the groundwork for the car export venture in Chicago, and I needed to get my ducks in a row for a shipment to Russia within the next week. I didn’t want to hit a snag on our first run.
On top of that, my dad was out of town, which meant his work fell on my shoulders. People were bouncing in and out of my office all week, and I couldn’t get anything done, so I decided to work from home today.