"Hey, babe? You okay?"
No response.
I got out of the shower but left it running. I didn't want to not trust her, but that text from Chris had shaken me to the core. It had changed what I had thought I'd had with Alexis. Now, when I looked at her, all I saw was betrayal, which made me question her every move.
As I quietly walked toward the doorway of the bathroom to see what was holding her up, I heard her talking to someone and realized she was on the phone. My body automatically tensed.
"Sure, I can stop in next week at that time. Will the tests be ready then?"
I held my breath as I took in her words. Who is she talking to? She's talking about the tests.
"Okay, thanks. Please tell Dr. Kramer that I'm really anxious to know the results as soon as possible."
Fuck, she is pregnant!
At this point, I'd had enough of her lying and was about to storm into the room and confront her. But just then, her phone rang and I heard her quickly pick it up.
"Hey," she whispered into her phone. I could hear an edge of panic in her voice.
I wondered who had just called and why she was whispering.
My question was immediately answered and the answer knocked the wind out of me.
"Chris, I really can't talk right now. I emailed you and told you that I'm out of town this week. You shouldn't have called."
There was a moment of silence.
"Yes, I'm going to know the test results next week."
There was another moment of silence.
"Chris, I already told you. I don't know what I'm going to do if the results all come out positive."
Pause.
"Yes, of course I'm going to keep the baby if it comes to that! How can you even ask that?"
I could hear my heart pound violently against my chest of her words. My hand held the doorframe for support as I tried to digest what this all meant.
"Thanks. I'm glad you're there for me. But hey, I have to go."
I could tell that Chris was still talking on the other end.
"I just can't. I'll call you in a few days, okay?"
As I listened to Alexis's words from the other side of the open bathroom door, my chest tightened at the thought that I'd lost her to another man.
Was she ever mine to begin with? When that question popped into my head, I realized that I couldn't take this any longer.
"Hey, what happened to you?" I popped my head into the room, knowing I'd surprise her.
Let's see how you get out of this lie.
Alexis looked up at me with wide eyes and a stunned expression on her face. She opened her mouth but no words came out. She quickly recovered and a rehearsed smile spread across her face.
"Hey, sorry. I was just on the phone with-"
"-work?" I finished her sentence, knowing very well she'd lie about this too.
Her face turned bright pink as she looked down at her phone. "Yeah." Her voice was soft, and I could tell she was trying to decide on something.
Is this when she's going to tell me?
She cleared her throat and looked up at me, a sinful smile spreading across her face. "I'm ready for that shower now," she purred.
Bitch. She's just like my mother.
"Are you sure there's nothing you need to take care of with whoever you were talking to? You look upset. It must be something urgent at work if they're going to call you when they know you're in Italy on vacation."
"Uh, yeah, the issue's been resolved. Um, they just needed me to confirm something real quick," she stammered out.
She threw the phone aside and walked toward me with a smile on her face. It was not the same warm smile that caused my stomach to flip. This one was fake seductive smile. She should know that I could tell the difference. After all, I was Damian Castillo-I'd perfect that signature smile.
She wrapped her arms around my wet, naked body, pressing her body against my half-erect cock. "Didn't you promise me that you'd angry fuck me?"
"You have no idea what you're asking for," I warned. Anger fumed inside me as the number of times I'd caught her lying to me was piling up.
Before I could call her out on her bullshit, she pulled me back into the bathroom. "Come on, big daddy. I've been a bad girl. I need a good spanking."
And as I watched her breasts bounced as she ran into the shower, my anger turned into lust as my cock hardened to its peak.
Fuck it. I'll wait until we get back to SF to confront her. For now, I'm going to fuck her and get my fill of her before she's just another fucking number in my black book.
***
"I can't believe this will be the last sunset we get to see in Italy," Alexis sighed as she sank deeper into my arms.
"Yeah. I'll miss this place."
We were sitting outside next to the vineyard with our glasses of wine as we watched the sun begin to set over the terra cotta tile roofs of the neighboring villa in the distant horizon. The air was sweet and comforting-a result of the warm Tuscany sun and the rich aroma of wild jasmines around us.
I looked down at her and drank in her natural beauty. I wondered what she was thinking at this very moment. Is she thinking of him? A sharp stab of pain pierced through my chest at the thought.
She turned around to look at me. "Damian, you've been distant." Her voice was low and sad.
"Have I?" I frowned and tried to look confused by her comment. Of course I'd been distant, but I couldn't admit that to her. I still wanted to give her the chance to confess.
Concern painted her face as she held my hand up to her cheek. "I miss the gentle way you touch me sometimes."
"Me too." They were the only words I could muster as a mix of conflicting emotions swirl inside.
"I love you, Damian." Her voice was pleading, and that scared me. "I don't know what the future holds for us, but I want you to know how much I love you."
I held my breath at her words for fear that I would lose my cool if I said anything. I wasn't sure how to respond. I wasn't about to say "I love you" back-not if she was really pregnant with another man's child. I felt like a fool for even having said it once to her.
So I chose to stay silent.
But her words seem to hang in the air as she looked up at me expectantly.
I pulled her into my arms and smiled down at her before kissing her gently on the forehead. "The sun is about to disappear into the horizon. You don't want to miss this." I turned her around to face the departing sun. As much as I thought I wanted to see her in pain, the sadness that filled her eyes was too much for me to bear. Against my better judgment, I squeezed her tightly against my body as we watched the sky dim into darkness as the sun left us.
As we took in our surroundings in silence, I sighed at how simple this moment was yet how happy it made me. Tuscany was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever been and a place like nowhere else I'd ever been. The area was ripe with vineyards as far as the eyes could see. You could feel the beauty and history as they were soaked into every corner of this rolling countryside. If there was a Heaven, this was probably what it'd look like. And here I was, enjoying this unbelievable place with Alexis, and as much as I wanted to hate her, something felt right with her here beside me.
"I wish we could stay here forever." Her voice was distant as she looked at the warm crimson horizon. "I wish it could just be the two of us forever like this in this magical place, away from our normal lives." She looked over at me. I saw the twinkle in her eyes dim with specks of sadness.
This week went by so quickly. I had told myself that when this week was over, when we were back in SF, I'd know exactly what to do. I would probably confront her and leave her. But now that we were approaching that point in time, I felt like I wasn't ready to let go just yet. I was no longer so sure of things. As the gentle breeze blew past us and I inhaled the light coconut scent of her hair, I realized that I wished for the same thing she had moments ago-that we could stay here forever. Just the two of us in our own little Heaven.
"Me too," I finally said. "Me too." I felt a potent wave of loss wash over me, as if something inside me knew I was about to lose something I couldn't yet articulate or comprehend.
I closed my eyes and held Alexis tighter around me as I tried to savor this perfect moment with her.
CHAPTER FOUR
Alexis
"Alexis Blythe?"
I looked up nervously from my chair in the waiting room and saw a nurse with a kind round face look up from her clipboard.
"That's me," I answered timidly. I got up from my seat and walked toward her.
"Hi. Right this way. You'll be in the room three doors down on the right. Dr. Stevens will be in to see you shortly."