More silence passes, and I worry I’ve really fucked up here. We are adults, so why didn’t we have this very basic conversation before having sex? Well, because I’m so miserable and she’s so stubborn that we had to have sex before either of us ever felt comfortable communicating. That’s why.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
She pulls away from me and sits up, her eyebrows scrunching together. “For what? This was both of our doing.”
“I know, but you didn’t have any control early on… I should have asked or used protection or…”
“Please. I practically forced myself on you the first time we had sex without thinking of the repercussions. It’s more my fault than yours. That was the stage where I was flirting with you, hoping that would help me escape.”
I give her a look.
“It was never that fake.” She shrugs. “I was constantly battling to stuff my own feelings down.”
I squint around the room, looking at all the presents, decorations, and half-eaten cake. “Is that what all of this was? This birthday stunt? You’re not going to escape from me now that I’ve actually fallen for you, are you?”
“Not unless I want you to chase me.”
She climbs onto my lap so that she’s facing me; my cock aches for her even after everything that we did last night on this boat.
“Hmm, now that sounds like a fun game to play.”
The captain makes an announcement that we’re docking now. I curse under my breath that there’s no time for us to do anything. So, I compromise with a kiss, my thumb rubbing her stomach.
“I’m worried it’ll all be too much,” she whispers.
“What do you mean?”
“You know me. I have my independent streak. I need to accomplish things to feel okay. What if the baby makes me deeply unhappy?”
“I’ll do whatever I can to help. We’ll hire anyone we need. It might be rough the first couple of years, but you’ll still be the same Sofia. I’ll never let anything kill the spark you have.”
I think about how often she works out and how difficult it’ll be to adjust to being pregnant. I’ll need to find a way to keep her mind occupied to help her cope with that—a job, maybe?
I’m exhausted from travel and all I want to do is lock me and Sofia in our wing and not talk to anyone else for a long time. Sofia made it manageable, and I feel like I did bond with everyone, but the entire trip was introvert hell. I suppose I can handle talking to my sister, finding out about how she spent her time alone in the castle with only the staff. Hopefully, she feels relaxed and more like herself after Marco’s death.
I walk with my arm around Sofia as we make our way back to our wing.
“That was fun,” Sofia gives me a light smile.
“We should do it again. But next time, just the two of us on a secluded island.”
Sofia agrees and continues talking, but I notice Elio in the hallway, freaking out that someone isn’t answering their phone.
“Sorry, love.” I kiss her cheek, and take a few steps forward and ask him, “Is there a problem?”
His anger turns to… fear as he notices me. He quickly masks it, though, as he glances down at the floor and then back up to me. “It’s my mother. I can’t get a hold of her.”
“Is she ill?” I try to keep my demeanor looking concerned, but something seems off about this conversation. He’s lying to me.
“Not sure. I missed five phone calls while we were traveling, and now she’s not answering her phone.”
“I’m sure everything is fine, Elio.”
“Right.” He gives me a quick nod, then turns his back to me to look at his phone some more.
I get back to Sofia, and we continue walking in the long hallways. That’s one annoying thing about living in this place: when I get home I still need to walk five minutes.
“What was all that about?” she whispers when we’re out of earshot.
