“Fine,” she grumbled behind me. “We’ll chat later.”
No, we won’t.I pushed through the double doors to the kitchen.
No question for the remainder of the day, I would be on edge anticipating Ciro’s return. I totally expected him to waltz in at the busiest time to knock me off my game. Or try to corner me in the parking lot after the bistro was closed.
Ciro Remotti wasn’t one to back off when he wanted something or someone. He’d pursued me relentlessly before we got together and wore me down. I wouldn’t put it past him to do it again. But why after so much time had passed?
As much as I believed I was strong against his charms, the tingling sensations between my legs said otherwise.
After everything that had happened between us, I didn’tregret being with Ciro. I would never regret loving him. Because if we hadn’t met, if I hadn’t fallen in love with him, I wouldn’t have my precious baby.
My only regret was not being the right woman for him.
8
CIRO
Rage engulfedme after leaving Isla at the bistro. She seemed different. More mature and in control of her emotions, which wasn’t good for me. It shouldn’t surprise me after nearly a year and half. She was still so young and was changing and growing every day.
But I hadn’t expected her to flat out reject me.
“Everything okay?” Paolo asked.
I grunted making my way to the SUV.
Paolo didn’t say a word and opened my door. I sat in the passenger’s seat, wholly confounded. Why San Francisco?
I took in my surroundings. It was busy like LA, with cars and people everywhere. I’d never cared for the Bay Area and its foggy, damp climate. The weather alone would depress me. Warm temps and clear skies were more of my vibe, which was why I was buying up resorts and casinos in Southern California. I was thoroughly shocked that Isla had moved up this way.
“Where to, boss?” Paolo started the vehicle. I hadn’tnoticed my door was closed, or when he got into the driver’s seat.
“I’m not ready to leave.”
“Okay, so then what?”
“We sit and wait.” My cell phone chimed with a notification. I dug it out of the inside pocket of my blazer to find a message from Roman. Of course, my brother had to pester me about Isla. “Fucking, Roman.”
“He sent me a text too.”
“He did?” I ground my back molars. “What did you tell him?”
“Nothing. I left the message unread.”
“Ah. That’s probably why he’s texting me now.”
“Should I reply?” Paolo asked, appearing concerned he’d made the wrong decision.
“No. I’ll deal with my brother. You just do your job, which is anything I want.”
“Yes, boss.” Paolo put the car into drive. “To the hotel then?”
“No. We leave when I say so.” I knew what Paolo was doing. He wanted to get me away from Isla before I did something stupid. What could be more stupid than losing her in the first place?
“All right,” he replied in a frustrated grumble and turned the dial to park.
Probably against my better judgment, I decided to read Roman’s text. I was bored sitting in a non-moving car. I might go insane having Isla in reach and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it, short of taking her against her will.
But then, Roman had every right to be angry with me for leaving abruptly. We were preparing to open a new casino in Canada next month and we’d recently found out we had ahalf-sister named Jinx, living in North Dakota with her biker husband, Silas Knight, a,k,a Spectre. They recently had their first child, Marco, and my father was over the fucking moon happy to have a grandson.
