My stomach bottoms out. I feel sick. Because if he doesn’t touch her, I know what that means.
Dante glances around, looking up and down the street, and then he ushers the woman inside, and the owner closes the door behind them.
Ulysses looks anywhere but at me.
I feel stupid and small, wishing the earth would open up and swallow me.
Keeping my head high, I say, “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll have lunch with Jazz.”
Trying hard not to cry, I give him the address even though he likely knows it.
“Do you want me to come up?” he asks as he parks in front of her building.
“No.” I get out before he can come around the car and open the door for me. “I’ll be fine.”
For once, Ulysses doesn’t insist. He probably understands that I need a moment to find my composure. He does, however, follow me to the entrance.
A neighbor exits the building. He nods in greeting and holds the door for me. Thanking him, I slip past him into the lobby.
“Wait.” Ulysses presses a palm on the door to keep it open. “Do you have your phone?”
I take my phone from my handbag and show it to him.
“Good.” He glances around the empty lobby. “Call me if there’s a problem.”
I try to smile, but my attempt is weak. “It’s Jazz, Ulysses. There won’t be a problem.”
He considers that for a moment, and then he gives me a tight nod before stepping back and letting the door swing shut.
My heart falls to pieces as I climb the stairs. I ignore the elevator in lieu of the exercise. I need to move, to run. I don’t know where to. I just want to get away. I want to trust Dante, but what I’ve seen… I don’t know what to make of it. Did I push too hard this morning? Did I win that fight only to drive him into another woman’s arms, one who doesn’t challenge his control and make him feel weak?
When I turn the corner on Jazz’s floor, I’m so lost in the memory of Dante and the woman together, of what a handsome power couple they make, that I almost don’t spot the people on the landing until it’s too late.
I stop dead.
Jazz is leaning next to her door, wrapped around Reino’s body and kissing him as if it’s going out of fashion. One hand is fisted in the front of his shirt and the other in his hair. Her leg is wrapped around his ass. Reino is tilting his hips forward, all but dry humping her against the wall.
Despite myself, a smile finds its way to my lips. I knew it. The attraction between those two is palpable. What Reino did is wrong. His actions hurt Jazz deeply. I hope they can talk it out.
Backtracking quietly, I leave before they see me.
Ulysses stands outside with his phone in his hand, scowling at the screen. His brow creases when I exit not five minutes after entering.
Vigilant in a flash, he shoves the phone in his back pocket. “Is everything all right, Mrs. Morici?”
“You know what?” I move around him. “I think I’ll rather take a walk.”
I need time to think.
The car is parked on a yellow line on the curb, but he leaves it there and falls into step behind me.
One of Dante’s cars rounds the corner. I recognize the driver. The car rolls slowly down the road as he follows me.
Too upset to pay attention to them, I stumble ahead blindly. My shoes are pinching my toes. Blisters start to form on the back of my heels, but I ignore the discomfort. I just need to get away.
I walk for a long time. Finally, when I can’t stand the pain on my heels any longer, I take off the shoes and carry them in my hand. No one minds the woman who walks barefoot down the sidewalk, and I’m grateful. I just need space to breathe and think.
I only realize that I’m close to the condo when the park comes into sight. This isn’t far from where I ran into Dante on a different day when I also needed to be alone.
