“For what?”
“For Enzo. No one needs to be exposed to him early in the morning.”
I smirk. “You should be apologizing about the spider.”
“I’m sorry about that too.”
“I have to apologize as well.”
He furrows his brows. “For what?”
I lower my gaze. “For eavesdropping on your conversation.”
He places his finger under my chin and lifts my face to his. “That was very naughty of you. I think I have to punish you for that.”
I should laugh, but instead I ask, “Did you really mean what you said? Does your decision to settle with your ex-wife have anything to do with me?”
“In part, yes. Does that scare you?”
I’m scared, yes, but not about that. I’m afraid one day Alistair will get tired of me. I don’t share any of my insecurities with him though. Instead, I say, “No. It makes me happy.”
“Good. I want to make you happy, Goldi.”
“I love you, Alistair,” I say despite the deep-rooted fear that I’m not good enough for him.
I kiss him again, not wanting to hear the sound of his silence. He hasn’t said he loves me, even though he’s done many things that show he cares about me.
He tangles his fingers in my hair, keeping me in place while his tongue mingles with mine in a slow, sexy dance. I’m so ready to go back to his room, and the bulge pressing against my belly tells me he is too.
Alistair pulls back and stares into my eyes. “I love you too, Chiara.”
My breath catches while my heart takes off in a mad race. “You do?”
“Yes. You have no idea.”
He crushes his lips against mine, melting my anxiety away.
34
Chiara
I spent the entire weekend with Alistair, which was amazing. In consequence, I can’t walk properly today. The first-period teacher is not in the classroom yet, but Robbie is. I purposely tried not to think about our fight while I was with Alistair, but now it’s all coming back to me. Our gazes lock, and even with the distance, I can read the remorse in his eyes.
I’m still mad at him, but I choose to be the bigger person and pull out the chair next to his.
“Hi, Chiara. I’ve called and left you several messages,” he says.
“I know.”
“I’m so fucking sorry about that whole mess. Please say you forgive me.”
“What you did was shitty, Robbie. You could have asked me instead of spying. You know how embarrassing that was?”
“True. I could have asked, but can you honestly say you’d tell me the truth? Besides, anyone walking by could have heard you. It’s not like you guys were being quiet.”
Hell, I thought we were.
“Shhh.” I glance around, afraid others are listening to our conversation, but the classroom isn’t full yet, and the students present aren’t near us.
“Sorry. I know what I did was bad, but I did you guys a favor. I’d totally cover for you if needed.”
Cazzo. We were careless that day.
“All right. I forgive you. Can we please stop talking about it, please?”
“Sure. Have you thought about—”
“I’m not going to cover for you,” I grit out.
“I understand. Phillip wasn’t sold on the idea either.” Robbie shrugs, looking defeated. “He’s sorry for manhandling you.”
“He didn’t manhandle me.”
“Well, apparently Mr. Walsh thought otherwise. When Phillip came back, he was as white as a sheet of paper.”
“Yeah, Alistair wasn’t happy. But it’s all good.”
Valerie drops in the seat in front of us, forcing our conversation to a stop.
