I loved Della Roma. The people, the food, even the smell was wonderful, but tonight all I could think about was Beast and that woman. My stomach turned every time I thought of it—of them, doingiton his bed.
I wasn’t a prude—far from it. I’d had sex before—I’d even done it outside once—but seeing that woman on top of Beast, his fingers gripping her waist and the hard look on his face… I don’t know what it was, but it made me feel sick to my teeth.
“You’re awfully quite tonight, Belle,” Gregory said, taking a sip of his wine.
He was in insurance, or something serious and important, and he was much the same. He pretty much lived in a suit or khaki pants and polo top and was always well groomed. But he was nice, polite, kind, and he was really good for Jenna. He made her smile, he looked after her, he cooked for her, and when he wasn’t cooking for her he took her out to dinner. And he never, not once, made me feel like I was imposing on them. He was a good guy, he was just a little—straight, I guess. He lived in a gorgeous apartment in the center of Atlanta and had asked Jenna to move in…oh, I’d lost count of how many times, but she always said no. She liked her independence and wasn’t about to give it up for anyone.
“I’m just tired. It’s been a really long day at work,” I sighed, but smiled. It had been a long couple of weeks in work, if I was being honest, and I was seriously wondering whether this nursing thing was right for me.
Up until recently, I’d never really given it any thought. It was what I’d been brought up on because Jenna was a nurse, and I’d always assumed that I would follow in her footsteps, but doing it and learning about it where two very different things and I’d begun to wonder whether it was me, or if I’d just assumed it was me because I loved Jenna so much.
“Maybe you need to take some time off,” Gregory suggested kindly. “I’ve been saying the same thing to Jenna for a while now. All she does is work.”
“That’s just who she is.” I smiled, because it was the truth. That was all I’d ever known her to do: work.
Jenna sat back down after coming back from the bathroom. “Who are we talking about?” She picked up her wine glass and took a sip from it.
“You, my dear. I was just saying to Belle that you work too hard and need to take a break.” Gregory leaned in and kissed the side of her face.
Jenna pouted at him and then me. “I like to work,” she said defensively. “I like to be kept busy.”
“That’s what I was saying,” I said. “But he is right on the taking a break thing. I don’t think you’ve had any time off in over ten years.”
Jenna cocked her head to one side and tutted at me. “Says the girl coming off a fourteen-hour shift, huh?”
“Touché,” I said with a smirk.
My smirk turned into a huge, unattractive yawn that felt like it was going to split my face wide open. It wasn’t so much the long hours that were wearing me down, but the emotional drama that came with the long shifts. Namely, Beast. But today had just been a bad day all around and I was looking forward to Thursday when I had my day off. Jenna was covering Beast, and honestly I was so grateful to be getting some space from him. His soul was so dark that at times I felt like I was being sucked into a vortex just being around him. But I also couldn’t entirely blame him. I wouldn’t have been able to survive what he had. And despite what Jenna and everyone else that found out I was working for the Devil’s Highwaymen said, I didn’t think anyone deserved it either.
Beast was a bad man. The absolute worst. And no doubt the things he’d done in his life were horrific and would put the Devil himself to shame, but pain, in any form, wasn’t something that I would ever believe people deserved.
“Besides, I took a day off just last week,” Jenna said. “I mean, I ended up coming in after only three hours because there was an emergency, but I tried to take it off!”
I chuckled and took a sip of my margarita. The food arrived not long after and my mouth watered at the sight of the most delicious lasagna in the world. Well, certainly in Atlanta. I was good at a cooking and loved to make food for people. It was yet another one of the down sides of living in the small trailer: the too-small oven. I’d been after the recipe for this lasagna for years but was yet to learn their secrets.
Lorenzo set the plate down in front of me with a knowing smile. “So lovely to see you tonight, Belle. It’s been a while, yes?”
I nodded, inhaling the scent of the food. “It has. I started work at the hospital a couple of months back.”
“It’s good, yes? You’re enjoying the work?” he asked, genuinely curious. He waved over some of the other servers with the rest of our order while we talked, never taking his eyes off me. Lorenzo was only a couple of years older than me, but he had been running his father’s restaurant since he was seventeen, when his mother and father had retired. He was handsome in a typical way; dark hair, blue eyes, medium build, dexterous hands, and a smile that would make any girl blush.
“It is. Unfortunately it’s reallyreallylong hours. I can barely make it to bed most nights, and the most food I get to eat is beans on toast or ramen noodles!”
“Ramen noodles!” he gasped, hand on his heart.
“I know. This is the healthiest meal I’ve eaten in weeks.” I laughed and he laughed with me, but then a thoughtful look crossed over his face.
“Well, maybe in between those busy shifts of yours, maybe I can cook for you one night,” he said, turning his body to face me and not the entire table. “I have some new recipes I’ve been trying and would love to try them out on someone. Barring the ramen noodles, I believe you have a very good pallet for food, yes?”
I started to laugh, thinking that we were still teasing, but then realized he was completely serious. Lorenzo was handsome, successful, and sweet as anything. I’d always known those things about him, but our relationship was always based on friendship and nothing more… until now. I blushed, suddenly feeling self-conscious and wishing that I would have bothered to wear something nicer before coming to dinner. I was wearing a blue denim skirt and a black blouse that had seen better days, and I thanked God that I’d at least showered and blow-dried my hair before we’d come out.
Lorenzo held his hands up and smiled. “It’s okay, it’s okay—you’re a busy lady, like you said. I just thought…”
“She would love to,” Jenna said, interrupting him before I completely blew my chances. “Just let her know when.”
Lorenzo turned to look at her, his smile growing before he turned back to me. “When is best for you, Belle?”
My tongue was suddenly dry and sticking to the roof of my mouth, and my usual confidence around him had vanished at the thought of anything other than coming here for dinner with Jenna and Gregory and having some friendly chitchat with Lorenzo over food.
