“No. I need you there.”
“Go,” I encourage Giulio with a soft smile. “I’ll be okay if you drop me off at home.”
He doesn’t take it lightly. “I don’t know…”
“What’s going on with you two?”
I let Giulio take the lead. “I was hoping to speak to Bryce. Apparently for him, if there isn’t a wedding band on a woman’s finger it’s a green light saying come and fuck me.”
Marcus’ jaw drops and he looks my way. “What?”
“After I met Bryce at the bar last night, he was adamant for me to stay. We had a few drinks and…he went too far.”
“As in?”
Giulio steps in. “Unwanted advances. We’re talking borderline sexual assault.”
The tension between us all simmers. I’m still adjusting to the fact that I’m in Giulio’s house and recovering from a hangover.
“So you’re telling me he’s a threat?”
“I think you were out of your goddamn mind hiring him. The man doesn’t have any interior design skills. Last week I brought him along to a client’s house, and do you know what he suggested for a contemporary design? An orange granite kitchen counter-top and a mint backsplash?”
Marcus shrugs, unfazed. “Maybe it’s a common trend where he’s from. Don’t be so hard on him; he’s worked hard to make it to where he is now. Remember what I said? Deal with it.”
Giulio shakes his head. “I can’t just deal with it when I’m questioning his ability to perform well in my company and his intentions with my wife.”
“She’s not your wife anymore.”
You are enough.
Being you is enough.
My heart drops into my stomach. I can’t take the drama anymore. “Giulio, please take me home. You need to go to that meeting and I will be fine on my own. Come on, let’s go.”
I can see it in his stance that he’s torn. He eventually gives. Marcus leaves without saying goodbye and ignores mine. That’s nice.
Giulio and I don’t say a word as he drives me to Helena’s. Our new normal is something we’ve been involuntarily forced into. I can barely tolerate it on top of all the angst. The tension between the half-brothers sparked a tension that renewed our new normal, back to that tense silence.
Before Marcus intervened, we were two different people, caught inside a make-believe fantasy, one without the water rising. Despite all of the chaos, this morning our laughter and smiles blanketed out the worries.
But that isn’t real life for us…not anymore.
Call me delusional but I somehow make it to Notti Designs an hour after Giulio drove me home. He wanted me to rest and take it easy, but I couldn’t stay cooped up at home any longer. The dizziness turned to guilt and I don’t want to let go of my dedication to my job.
Helena’s the first one to deconstruct my plan in a phone call during her lunch hour. “Girl, why the hell are you there? You should have stayed home!”
“I couldn’t stand it any longer,” I admit, flashing Lee my keycard. He smiles and allows me through to the elevator. There are a few people already waiting. “Plus, it’s the least I can do for Giulio. He’s done so much for me.”
“True, he’s been incredible with you. That Bryce must have been a nightmare. What an asshole! I had a terrible feeling when you didn’t answer my texts. I wanted to come over last night, but I figured you needed the rest.”
“Yeah, trust my phone to die. It was…up there with one of the worst experiences in my life, next to having Addilyn taken. I couldn’t get him off me and I know he was drunk but—”
She cuts me off. “That’s still no excuse to act the way he did.”
“Exactly. It’s never okay.” I blow out a breath, waiting for the elevator doors to open. “But as I was saying, last night with Giulio was so raw and intimate. We haven’t been like that since before the separation. It just proved how much I miss him and the people we once were.”
“I truly believe that with time you’ll get there again with him. If he didn’t care, he would have never gone to the extent you described before. Lencia…it’s obvious Giulio still cares.”
“But everything is so different now. He cares because I’m the mother of his children.”
“We both know it’s more than that.”
Deep down, I know that too.
Silence overtakes me until I push through. “So, how’s work going?”
“Nah, ah! We’re still on you, girlfriend. I would eliminate all interaction with this Bryce.”
“Oh, I will. Whenever Giulio and Bryce are in the same room there was always this tense energy. Now I know it’s because of Bryce straying from schedule and forging Giulio’s signature. Oh, did I forget to tell you that the reason the intern set to replace Amanda didn’t work out was because Bryce and her got it on in his office?”
“Oh my god, get out! Giulio caught them?”
“I’m not sure what exactly happened but it was Bryce himself who told me that the incident occurred. Apparently he doesn’t see it as a big deal and we both know what that means…”
“That he doesn’t give a shit about the company.” Helena finishes my thought with a scoff. “But that’s between them so don’t worry about a thing, hun. You do what’s best for you.”
“I know, I just hate being in the middle of it. Oh, I have to go. He’s walking up to me.”
“Who? Giulio?”
“No. The one from last night.” My rushed words come out as barely a whisper as Bryce nears the elevator. I don’t think he’s seen me yet. The elevator doors answer my prayers and the second they slide open, I rush inside.
“Bryce? Oh my god. Let me speak to him and give him a piece of my mind!”
The reception begins breaking up. “It’s okay, honey. I have to go.
