Anna seemed to get that words wouldn't help. She sighed, hurried to the door, checked the hallway was clear, then locked it softly.
She came back to my bedside, gave me an apologetic smile, leaned in close, voice dropped to a whisper, almost air.
"Miss Lombardi asked me to pass a message privately."
That name made my muscles lock up. I pushed up on the bed, sitting straight, staring at her warily.
"She says she can help you escape this place."
"But on one condition: you vanish forever. Never show up in Enzo's life again. You and the baby disappear completely. No traces left."
I stared at Anna's face. She didn't look relaxed. Her eyes flicked to my swollen belly, sympathy spilling out.
In Anna's eyes, who'd known everything from the start, I must've been a joke, lost in some fake dream.
Time to wake up.
I met her gaze. "I agree."
Chapter Twenty
Enzo
Valentina finally let go of my arm.
She'd clung to me through the entire dinner. Even though I'd tried to keep it quiet, word of my argument with Chloe outside the church had spread like wildfire. Damage control meant Valentina and I had to put on a show of unshakable devotion to kill the rumors.
It was smart. Effective PR. My brain knew that. My body just refused to cooperate. All night, she'd been hinting for me to put my arm around her waist. I never did. Not once.
Eventually, she gave up on getting me to play along and just latched onto my entire arm instead, smiling and making small talk with the guests, using me like a piece of furniture that couldn't talk back.
Fine by me. I wasn't in the mood for this charade anyway.
The torture lasted two hours. When it finally ended, we climbed into the back seat under everyone's watchful eyes. Valentina pressed close beside me.
Luca fired up the engine. We were headed to the office to deal with the stock transfer mess.
I closed my eyes. All I could see was Chloe.
I knew she was still angry. She had every right to be. Making her happy again was the only thing I cared about right now. But it was fine—we could fix this. There was still room to repair what we had.
Chloe couldn't leave me. She was carrying my child. No matter how pissed she was right now, she'd stay in my villa, stay under my protection, and time would smooth everything over.
Time healed everything. And I had plenty of it. As long as she stayed in that house, I'd have endless chances to make things right.
The thought settled my restless mind a little.
But dealing with today's business would drag on until dawn. I probably wouldn't get back until morning.
The last time we'd seen each other, we'd had that vicious fight. She was pregnant, her emotions raw. Thinking about our argument made me feel something I rarely felt—guilt.
The car glided through Manhattan's bright streets and passed a flower shop on the corner. Small place, buckets of flowers crammed in the window. But my eyes locked onto a bucket of clean white daisies in the corner.
I'd noticed before that one of the employees kept those flowers on her desk. Later, I realized it was Chloe. She seemed to really love those simple, wild little blooms.
When I got back in the car, Valentina saw the flowers in my hand and raised an eyebrow with a little laugh.
I ignored her teasing expression and spoke to Luca. "Stop by the villa first."
