We debated the shortlist and settled on a movie neither of us had seen, but I didn’t play it yet. I turned to face him instead. He’d turned off the main light when he’d come in and saw the lamp on.
His chiseled features were shadowed in the low light, but I needed to get a question off my chest. “Does it bother you that I grew up without parents?”
“What do you mean?” He frowned.
I chewed on my lip, sighing as I realized that getting to an answer meant revealing one of the things I was most afraid of in life. “You don’t pity me now that you know I’m an orphan, do you?”
“Why? Did that feel anything like a pity fuck to you?” There was no judgment in his tone, but there was concern.
I shook my head. “No, but it’s a turnoff for a lot people when they find out. They can only pretend not to pity me for so long.”
“Adaline,” he whispered my name like it was a caress. “I don’t pity you, and I could never be turned off by you. If anything, I’m more attracted to you now that I know you got this smart all on your own.”
I tried to hide my smile, but he noticed it. Scooting closer to me, he dragged me into his arms and kissed my temple. “That’s what I like to see. Eat now, baby. While you have the chance.”
When he wagged his eyebrows at me and tapped the side of my butt, I laughed. All my worries about him pitying me left my body with the sounds of my laughter. I should have learned by now that I didn’t have anything to worry about with him.
Chapter 29
Marco
“It’s been two weeks, Marco,” my mother cried into the phone when she picked up my call. “I thought I had lost you forever.”
“You could never lose me, Mama. I’ve just been busy.” I sighed but kept it quiet. Truth be told, it had taken me this long to contact her because she had almost lost me. I would never have cut her off or out of my life completely, but I’d given serious thought to her lack of boundaries.
Her behavior at dinner had been appalling, and having learned more about Addy’s past and her brother, I was truly ashamed of how my mother had treated her. Especially because Addy hadn’t done anything to deserve it, other than having been born in a different country.
It was ridiculous really.
We’d talked about it, though, and surprisingly, she had been the one to encourage me to reach out. Apparently if I kept avoiding Mom, I was proving her right about Addy.
“How are you?” I asked, scrubbing a hand along the back of my head.
“I’m good. Aldo has been keeping in touch with me.” Her voice trembled, which made me feel like an absolute asshole. “How is your girlfriend?”
“Why do you want to know?” The question came out sharper than I’d intended, but she needed to know not to launch another tirade against her.
She sniffed. “I just wanted to know how she was doing. I’m your mother and she’s your girlfriend. Am I not allowed to ask?”
“That depends, Mama.” Another sigh left me, but I didn’t bother trying to keep it quiet this time. “If I thought you were asking because you were genuinely interested, I’d have told you. But I just don’t know.”
More sniffling came over the line, and it made me feel like a stake had been driven into my gut. “Bring her back to the house next time you come.”
My eyebrows shot up. “I’ll see when I have time to come over again. We’re—”
“You’re never going to come see me again, are you?” she wailed, but I knew her fake crying when I heard it. “I knew you were lost to me as soon as you told me about her.”
No, I wanted to retort. You thought she was the best thing since sliced bread before you found out where she came from. I bit my tongue, though. I really didn’t want to hurt my mom any more than I already had just by getting involved with Addy. Tearing into her about how she’d treated her would only make things worse.
It wasn’t necessary. My mother knew me well enough to know how upset I was with her. Besides, I hadn’t been raised to rip apart the person who meant the most to me in the world just because she’d made a mistake.
“I am going to come see you again, Mama. I’ll make it happen sometime soon, okay? I can’t promise Addy will come with me, but I’ll let you know.”
She let out a defeated whoosh of air, but at least she stopped pretending to cry. “Fine. I’ll be waiting by the phone. Don’t let me down, Marco.”
“I won’t.” I never had. “Love you, Mama.”
“You too, sweetheart. Don’t forget about me, okay?”
I rolled my eyes but nodded. “Of course not.”
After I hung up with her, I sat in my office for a long time. My computer kept chiming with emails and alerts, but I ignored it all. I needed some time to think.
Addy and I had only known each other for a few months. Something had definitely changed between us after that dinner, but it was the opposite of what my mother had set out to achieve.
Instead of driving us apart, we were closer than ever. It was like we’d skipped a couple of steps in the usual course of a relationship by being forced to face so many deeply personal issues so early on.
Combined with the fact that we spent all day together at the office most days, it felt like we’d been together much longer. I was pretty sure if one had to calculate how many hours most new couples spent together at the beginning of a relationship, ours was going on a year.
Since she ended up sleeping over at my place most nights, we spent almost all twenty-four
