I shot a quick glance at him.“Why are you being so stubborn?”
He grabbed my hand and opened it, depositing the pills inside.“Take the fucking pills, Francesca.Now.”
Without a word, I immediately tossed the pills onto his plate.The look of shock on his face almost made me laugh.Thank goodness I was able to hold it in.
“When you're no longer in pain,” Stefan said with a slow, steady, obviously ticked off tone.“We'll have to work on your manners, Mrs.Sovrano.”
That actually made me giggle.I nodded.“Ditto, Mr.Sovrano.”I glared at him and then rolled my eyes.Just then, there was a knocking sound coming from somewhere.
“Oh, good.She's here,” he said and pushed his chair back.He stood and pulled my chair back.Then he grasped my hand and pulled me up.
I dropped my fork on the table and said, “What the heck are you doing?”
He didn't answer me, of course.Instead, he just pulled me along behind him while we walked a mile to the front door.Or at least it felt like a mile.When we finally got there, he pulled the door open.“Dr.Vitale.Come in.”
8
Francesca
What the heck was a doctor doing here?
“Mr.Sovrano, when you said your wife was having an emergency, I left immediately.”The doctor looked at me and smiled.She stuck her hand out and introduced herself.“Mrs.Sovrano, I'm Dr.Vitale.It's so nice to meet you.”
I shook her hand and said, “It's nice to meet you, too, Dr.Vitale.Thank you so much for coming.”I mean, I wasn't sure why she was here—but I had a good idea why Stefan had called her.And I didn't need to be rude to the poor woman because he was an idiot.
“Shall we go into a room and discuss what's wrong?”she asked.
I glared over at Stefan before I answered, “Actually, I'm fine.As you can see.My new husband has a tendency to exaggerate.But thank you so much for coming all this way.”
Stefan cut in and squeezed my hand.“Actually,” he said in a firm voice, “I'd like you to check my wife over.Let's go upstairs.”His grip on my hand tightened, and he walked us in the direction of the huge staircase.
“I don't need to see a doctor.I'm completely fine,” I said under my breath.I was more certain now than before about why Stefan had called the doctor.And I was ready to kick my new husband directly in the shin.
“I disagree, wife.You're in pain, and you need to see a doctor.”
My cheeks began to heat because, yeah, I knew exactly why the doctor was here.And I was completely mortified.
“That is not a reason to call a doctor,” I whispered to him even though I knew darn well the doctor could hear me.
But Stefan was insistent.“Yes, it is a reason to see a doctor.And you're seeing one.Now.”
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
A large part of me wanted to push my new husband down this very, very long staircase.
“You've lost it, Stefan.Like, completely lost it.”
We arrived at the second floor, and Stefan took a left.The hallway was so grand.And tall.I couldn't believe this place was real.And that Stefan lived here.That was just crazy.
He walked us down to the very end of the hallway—which took about a year.We passed by so many rooms, I'd lost count.
He stopped in front of two huge doors and pushed one open.“This will do,” he said, pulling me inside.There was an enormous four-poster bed to the left—that apparently, we were going to.“Show the doctor—” he started ordering, but thankfully the doctor took over.
“I'd like to talk with your wife first, Mr.Sovrano.If you don't mind.”
