Page 95 of Tailored for You

I opened my mouth, then promptly shut it.

“Well, that’s enough terrorizing people for me.” Rafael slapped his leg and stood. “It’s only noon, so who knows? Maybe I’ll find someone else to bother while I twiddle my thumbs and wait for your call. Remember, if he’s dead, he can live in Harper’s memory as less of an ass.”

Rafael strolled out, closing the door behind him.

I got up and went straight into Enzo’s waiting arms. I wrapped my arms around him, finding calm and solace in his embrace.

In my last battle with Charles, I realized how alone I was in the world. I took every punch he threw at me, got in a few of my own, but still, I came home every night to an empty home and no one to lean on when I cried tears of frustration.

Those months put me in survival mode, and I recognize now that I never stopped. Every day felt like I was barely keeping my head above water.

I hugged Enzo tighter, hoping I didn’t screw us up because it felt like I finally had a partner to weather the storms and bask in the rainbows when it was over.

“I’m looking into Apple,” Enzo said as he rested his cheek on the top of my head. “There is something we are missing. She's deep into this mess with him; I just don’t know how far.”

“She’d do just about anything for Charles,” I said, though my voice was muffled since my face was still pressed against his chest. I pulled back an inch to speak and because I needed air. “They’re similar. They’re together but not, and that’s how they both like it. I heard Apple was sleeping with a married man a month or so back.”

“That’s good to know. I’ll investigate that angle.” We stayed in each other’s arms, silent and swaying.

After a while, curiosity got the best of me.

“Were Sly and Antonia a thing in the past?” I asked.

“A thing?” Enzo pulled away and rounded his desk. He opened a drawer, grabbed some papers and his computer, and stuffed them in a briefcase I’d never seen him carry before.

“Sly isn’t known for being,” I paused, trying to find the right words.

“The man will stick his dick into anything. It’s going to get him killed,” Enzo huffed. He came back to me, holding my hand as he pulled me to the door. “He’s a shrewd businessman. But with women? I’m surprised Martina hasn’t killed him yet for his antics.”

I giggled, remembering how Martina groaned that one day she’d be planning Sly’s funeral because he was going to anger the wrong woman.

“Let’s get lunch, amore. Then we can look at the documents some more and send Antonia our notes.” My heart skipped a beat at his use of the term our.

“Okay.”

CHAPTER 29

Serena

I flung the windows open. The studio was stiflingly hot.

The fans did nothing but blow hot air around and move the fabrics I was trying to cut.

Or maybe the fans were working, and I didn’t notice because I was anxious and frustrated since my meeting with Charles. He was quick to react. So far, I’d heard nothing.

The man only worked when it came to causing me misery. The more pain he could cause, the happier he was.

After reading Antonia’s notes, I made some of my own, adding context and color where I could to give her as much to work with as possible. I gathered all correspondence with Charles, sent over all missed visitation notices, and everything else that pertained to him, Harper, and me. There were so many pages that it could’ve been a thick book.

After Antonia read through everything, she told me I was a saint and had more than enough to win. It didn’t matter if Charles had the judge in his pocket; the violations of our divorce decree and custody were irrefutable.

It was validating to know I wasn’t blowing Charles’ failures out of proportion. I’d worked hard to keep a level head for Harper’s sake, but it skewed my perception of right and wrong. I tried to keep the guilt at bay—the guilt of letting Charles’ behavior go unchecked—reminding myself that I was acting now.

Then there was Apple. I had no idea why she was so interested in tearing me down. I left. She won. Yet, I was still the subject of her torment, like she was a high school bully.

I considered what Enzo had mentioned about the attacks potentially tying back to Charles or Apple.

Charles wasn’t capable of the level of sophistication. He was careless, and no doubt would have left breadcrumbs trailing back to him.