“That’s it?” He seems both surprised and suspicious.
I press the phone between my ear and shoulder so I can roll up my sleeves. “Well, he mainly wants a relationship with his daughter.”
“Ah. I see. Okay, then. Our lawyer will be sending you the contract today for the Romanovs to sign. It will include a clause for Anatoly to marry Giada.” He chuckles. “Now go get your girl, Son.”
The sun breaks through a clump of clouds and warms my face.
A weight has lifted, and I feel a genuine, effortless smile come over me. Just one more hurdle. But it’s a big one.
Chapter 44
Lennon
It’s Friday. A whole week has gone by since I’ve seen Sandro. It’s been quiet. My body is mostly healed from the car crash. I had a breakthrough with a client this week. I should feel happy. But the joy I should feel is just another unattainable thing. I feel nothing. My world is void of color and I’m swimming in a gray soup, slowly drowning.
“This too shall pass,” I tell myself as I pull my hair into a high ponytail and reshape my curtain bangs to frame my face. Adding concealer to brighten the dark circles under my eyes, I realize it’s not enough to hide the effects of my dark mood and lack of sleep, so I try a tinted moisturizer and some cream peach blush. I look into my own eyes. Then I give up. Nothing is going to hide the truth. And the truth is I’m devastated. Crushed.
I was doing just fine before Sandro came back into my life.
Were you?
“Shut up,” I whisper as I look for my sneakers. My bedroom is a mess, and I need to do laundry, but I haven’t found the energy to care about that either. “I was doing well enough.”
Life isn’t some fairytale where you live happily ever after. It’s messy. And painful. And you have to take joy where you can find it. We were lucky to have the time together that we had. Just because our story is over doesn’t mean it wasn’t an epic romance while it lasted.
And that’s what I will hold onto. That I once had a love that defied logic, that defied the world.
Holding onto that for dear life, I slip on my shoes and head to my shift at the diner.
***
Luckily, the diner has been packed all night. It’s kept me busy and out of my head. Just what I needed. There are only two tables left.
I approach Mr. and Mrs. Brighton with their check. I’m so glad they didn’t stop coming in after the near robbery. I’d miss hearing about their grandchildren and Geraldine’s garden. “You two going dancing after this?” I smile.
“Honey, the spirit is willing, but the body is weak,” Geraldine chuckles.
Bill cocks his head and then looks up at me, a twinkle in his eye. “How’s that knight in shining armor of yours?”
My smile fades. “Oh, he’s not… mine.” I feel something soft brush against my ankles. I glance down and gasp. It’s a fluffy yellow and white kitten.
“Mew,” it chirps. Its green eyes meet mine, and I have the strangest sense of déjà vu. It looks just like the kitten I found whenI was fifteen.
“What in the world are you doing in here?” I bend down, scoop up its weightless body, and cradle it to my chest. “Are you lost?”
It immediately begins to purr like a tiny motor.
Something hard pokes me in the chest, and I dig into its fur to see what it is. It’s wearing a thin pink collar and on the collar…
I gasp.
“Oh my God, there’s a…” I hold the kitten out so I can get a better look. “There’s a ring.” A stunning four- or five-carat, cushion-cut diamond with five small emeralds hugging each side. Who would be so careless to lose a ring like this?
And then I feel him. The magnetic energy of his presence has the hair on my arms rising.
I turn, holding the kitten tight.
Sandro is standing just inside the door. He’s dressed casually in dark sweatpants and a form-fitting, gray T-shirt stretched across his muscular chest and arms. His dark hair is mussed like he’s been running his hands through it, and his expression is tight and serious.
