Mattia dipped her head, scrutinizing my expression. “Fabio?”
I blew out a breath and nodded, taking a look at my family that I loved so much and loved me back. “I will be.” With them, I could get over anything. Even the woman that kept forcing herself inside my head.
And my heart.
CHAPTER21
Gabrielle
A block off the stretch in Astoria known as Little Egypt, I held my little cup of Egyptian caramel coffee while Zoey munched on pickled carrots, baba ganoush and a sandwich of mashed black beans.
“You should eat something. Try the pickles with the baba ganoush. They’re the best. So yummy and the best cure for hangovers,” she said.
“You should order another serving then…since you did all the drinking.”
“Gah, don’t judge me. I was doing it for you.”
“Thank you, hun. I’m forever in debt to you for drinking up the whole bottle of temptation.”
She snorted, a little piece of carrot coming out of her nose. Quickly, I gave her a tissue and checked to see if she was okay. She waved a hand in dismissal, coughing a laugh. Then after she could breathe again, she continued devouring that sandwich as if nothing happened.
I’d never been to this restaurant before, but if their food was as good as their coffee, I should come here every day, and I should definitely switch from cappuccino to Egyptian caramel coffee.
“Speaking of temptation, you should call him,” she said.
“Are you crazy? What would I do that for?”
“For starters to apologize for saying the stupid nonsense you tried to convince him with instead of explaining none of what you felt for him was fake.”
“You know why I did it.”
“To push him away because you’re terrified he made you feel something again.”
“No.” I made a face to cover my lie. “I did it because…he’s an asshole. There was no way in hell we could have worked, not even for a week. He’s a baby.”
“Twenty-six isn’t that young, and you’re not the only woman who gets into a relationship with a younger hottie. Ever heard of J. Lo?” She shimmied her ass in her seat. “Shakira?”
I rolled my eyes. “I meant his behavior. The second he knew about the bug, he became like… I don’t know like a child that just knew Santa wasn’t real.”
“He was hurt. He wouldn’t have if he really didn’t like you, boss.”
Pausing for a moment, mulling it over, I took a sip of the rich coffee. “He just wanted to win a challenge to prove to himself he could have any woman he wanted. He couldn’t handle rejection. He couldn’t handle anything.”
“Gabi, you know how much I love you, but I don’t think you’re right. He doesn’t strike me as a man who can’t handle shit, and you said it yourself he’d been through a lot at a young age and survived. That says something.”
“If he’s that mature, why didn’t he understand I did what I did because I had to? Like if he were in my place, wouldn’t he have done the same thing?”
“So he made a mistake and his pride got in the way. Didn’t you do the same thing, only crueler?”
“Oh c’mon. Whose side are you on?”
She licked the baba ganoush off her lips and wiped her mouth. “Yours, boss, and because you like him, I’m asking you to stop being so proud and call him.”
“Who said I liked him?”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “Were they your panties that were melting when he was about to bang you against the wall or someone else’s?”
My stare widened as I looked around to see if anyone was listening. “Shut up.”
