I shoved her hand away. “In love? Who said anything about being in love?”
She sat back down. “I’m just saying don’t beat yourself up over it. Good riddance, and hope heisfucking his dead-brother’s wife!”
“Izzy!”
“I’m sorry, that came out cold. The most important thing is that you’re out of there. And you’re not going back.”
“Where’s Effie?” I suddenly realized the little girl wasn’t here.
“She went swimming with her best friend, and they were going to have dinner together after. I should go get her soon.”
“You should have seen Marco’s face when I drove away.”
“I bet that was something.”
“Izzy, I overheard something this morning at Franco Benedetti’s house. I wanted to talk to you about it.”
“What?”
“Salvatore and his father were talking. I’m not sure if Dominic was there or not, but I heard his father say something about taking care of Luke.”
She didn’t seem surprised by what I said.
“They know you’re trying to stir things up, Izzy. You have to be careful.”
“That’s Luke. Not me.”
“Well, then you need to tell him to be careful. What’s going on with you and him, anyway? I saw how he looked at you at the church, and he was here the other day. Are you two having an affair?”
“An affair. It sounds so illicit.” She picked up her teacup and dumped its contents into the sink. “You’re caught up on this affair thing today, aren’t you?” she asked, her back to me.
“Is he Effie’s father, Izzy? Is that why Papa—”
She snorted and looked off to the side. “Luke is not Effie’s father.”
“Who is?”
She turned and met my gaze, her expression cooler. “It’s not important. What is important is figuring out what we’re going to do to keep you away from Salvatore.”
Isabella’s cell phone rang, and she eyed the display. “I have to take this. I’ll be right back.”
She walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, surprising me with her sudden secrecy.
“This isn’t a good time,” I heard her whisper. Then I heard my name before she hung up and returned to the kitchen.
“Who was that?”
“The mom who took Effie swimming.”
“Oh. You could have talked to her.”
“It’s fine. She was just checking in. Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich.”
“No, I’m good. I think I’ll go lay down if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, go ahead.”
I stood, feeling this space between us, something strange that hadn’t been there before. But then she walked over to me and hugged me.
