Chapter 20
1119 Words
Everything seemed to slow down as soon as those words came out of his mouth.
“You love me?”
“Yes, I am in love with you.”
“I can’t do this, Jackson. I think you should go.” I said, standing and walking toward the door.
“Please, as soon as we get to one year, I will divorce her and we can be together.”
“Does Sophia know you are going to divorce her after a year of marriage?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Not exactly. After a year, I will have solidified my partnership with the firm. I need Sophia to do that. Her uncle is the key to me getting my partnership.”
“Does she love you? Is this real for her?”
“It was real for me till I walked into the bakery and saw you.”
“If that was the truth and you love me as you say, then you should have been honest with me from the start.”
“Would you have been with me knowing I was about to marry another woman to become a partner at my firm?”
“No.”
“I couldn’t risk losing you.”
“But now you have lost me forever.” I opened the door and stood to the side waiting for him to leave.
“I’m not giving up this easily.”
I couldn’t help but laugh and I didn’t seem to make it as bitter sounding as it came out.
“Go plan your wedding, Jackson.”
He stepped onto my porch. “I love you Marie and I will do whatever I need to do to win you back. I know you feel the same way about me.”
I watched as he walked down the steps and got into his car and drove away. As he drove away, I noticed Luca’s car still in the lot but no Luca.
Thankfully, I had a few minutes alone because right now I felt overwhelmed by Jackson and Luca. Not to mention Colton getting married on top of everything.
Laying down on the couch, I couldn’t help but feel like my life was a mess. How did I get to this point? What was it about me that attacked men that couldn’t be just mine?
Wasn’t I worth more? Did I have some underlying Daddy issues since my father had nothing to do with me?
I shouldn’t have been able to fall asleep with all of the thoughts running though my head, but next thing I knew, I loud knock was waking me from my nap.
I pulled the door open to find Luca holding a dozen roses. “Hey….these are for you.”
“Thanks.” I said, sounding groggy.
“Did you fall asleep?”
“Yeah.”
“How did the talk go?”
“Why are you here Luca?”
“I told you to get you back. Now that I am sober, I promise to never make that mistake again.”
“Luca, I don’t think I can ever trust you again.”
“Let me try.”
“How did you find me?”
“Come, I will explain in the car. We have a little girl that we need to go shopping for and spoil for the first time in her life.”
As soon as we were in his car, I asked him again. “How did you find me, Luca?”
“You won’t let that go?”
“No…you talk about trust but you can’t answer a simple question.”
“ OK, but remember once I tell you…..you can never go back to not knowing.”
“I can handle it, Luca.”
“My family isn’t in bed with the mafia….we are the mafia. When you called me, I had one of my guys find the towers you pinged. So I knew you were in this town. Honestly, I saw the bakery and I knew you would go there first to find a job.”
“Mafia?” I asked, my own voice sounding foreign.
“Not like what you are used to seeing on TV, but we are dealing with something that I will tell you all about once we are married, but those details now could put you in danger.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was in shock. Had he told me he was in the mafia before he cheated, I wouldn’t have thought twice but to accept him and his lifestyle, but hearing him say this now made me want to run again.
“I know it’s a lot to take…but I am still the same guy you fell in love with once upon a time.”
“You are also the same man that cheated on me.”
“I know and I will spend the rest of my life making up to you.”
The rest of the ride to the store was silent. I needed to think, but being around him made it so hard for me to focus.
I wanted to be strong but he made me feel so weak.
Getting to the mall snapped me out of my daze.
Luca looked like a little kid in a candy store as he walked through and picked out clothes.
“How do you know what size she wears?”
He smiled. “I looked at her coat and it was a 3t and it almost fits so.”
“Smart.”
After filling a cart full of all kinds of clothes and coats, he made his way to the shoes.
“How do you know what size shoe she wears?”
“I told her I needed to fix her lace and took her shoe off and checked the size.” He said laughing. “Being in the mafia is easier than trying to get clothing sizes from a 4 year old.” He whispered in my ear.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and laugh a little myself.
“What about a toy?” Luca said, looking at me as we loaded bag after bag into his car.
“ Could we look to get her a doll?”
“Let’s do it.”
We managed to make our way to an American doll store. Where we found a doll that looked like Bella. He also picked her up a bed and a few outfits for the doll and Bella that matched.
As I watched Luca finish shopping I felt something in me stir. He was going to make such an awesome parent, but it would not be with me.
- Writer
