Page 44 of Roman

We were silent on the car ride back to the hotel. Part of me was fuming. Another part annoyed. And strangely, a small part didn’t mind the thought of taking Effie to meet Nonna. Maybe if she thought I was doing what she wanted and seeing someone seriously, she would leave me alone.

“I was wondering something,” Aldo mused.

“No doubt you’re going to share,” I muttered.

“Just thinking, Effie is feeling better? The danger of a concussion has passed?”

“Yes.”

“Why haven’t you moved her into Nonna V’s room? Or another suite?”

I had asked myself that a hundred times. The past few mornings, I had woken up draped in Effie, with a raging hard-on I had to take care of myself. Those moments were torture, yet I had slept perfectly content with her wrapped around me. The thought of her sleeping next door or, God forbid, on another floor, made me anxious.

“I’m being cautious.”

“Cautious. Right,” he drawled.

“Shut it, Aldo.”

He glanced out the window, humming again. It pissed me off, but I stayed silent.

We arrived at the hotel, and I glanced at my phone. “I need to check in with Alfred. He has a question.”

“You want me to handle it?” Aldo asked, his eyes still far too amused.

“No.”

He followed me through the busy floor, the machines and tables already full. Piped music filled the background as we left the louder part of the casino for the more private blackjack rooms.

I stopped, the tune once again familiar. It was the same one Aldo kept humming. The one annoying me to no end.

Except now, hearing it, I recognized it. “Feelings” by Morris Albert. A sentimental, sappy love song from the seventies.

“Good thing you’re not catching feelings,” Aldo had quipped.

The bastard had been making fun of me all this time.

I spun on my heel, glaring at him. He instantly knew why.

“If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…”

It wasn’t taking out his knees, but it felt good to punch him in the face. My fist wasn’t thrilled with it, but I would live with the pain.

“You talk to Alfred,” I snapped and walked away.

“So worth it,” he called with a laugh.

I shook my hand in the elevator.

Then for some reason, I began to laugh.