Her Dad’s Best Friend

Then it's done. "I'll call my car for you."

"I'd rather take a taxi."

"You're taking my car."

"Fuck you, lacopo," Kelly spits. "I don't want anything else from you."

She could have gotten so much more from me than what was in my wallet, even with my credit cards in there. I think about my nonna's ring, the one that I took out of my safety deposit box for her. I can't believe that I was tricked into believing that Kelly was the kind of woman I wanted, the one that I was searching for for so long. I thought that she'd been hiding right under my nose.

Turns out that I never found her.

I feel like I'm in a meat locker right now. I feel like I'll never be warm again. Her betrayal doesn't hurt because I can't feel anything.

"I'll send over paperwork about the debt forgiveness. And that'll be the last thing you'll get from me."

She walks out, suitcases in tow. I let out a sharp whistle to let my driver know to pick her up.

"Take her back to school," I say. "And she won't be coming back."

He looks at the tears on her face. He looks at mine. I don't know what he sees there, but he says, "Right away, boss."

He loads her suitcases into the car. I watch as she slides into the back seat.

I was a fool to think that there could be anything real between us. Now I'm smarter. Mistakes are lessons, sometimes hard ones.

And if I feel like there's an ache in the center of my chest while I watch my car take her home, then that's that. I won't tell anyone. It's humiliating for me to be brought low by someone whose mother did the exact same thing. This time, though, she didn't marry me. Thank God for small blessings.

Chapter Twenty-One

Stolen

Kelly

I can't talk right now. The driver knows where to take me. All my stuff is with me. I'll still live in the place I was supposed to live in with Camilla.

I cry as quietly as possible in the back seat of the car. I try not to sniffle. Maybe if I don't make a sound I can pretend like I have some dignity left.

Everything is my fault. Yeah, lacopo traded my time for my dad's life, but I was the one who made that decision. I fell in love with him. And I accepted his ring. Then I betrayed him. I thought that we were really something. I thought that the two of us would last forever.

And now I know how wrong I was.

I swipe at my eyes with my right forearm. It's a long, long drive. I cry myself to sleep.

"Miss? We're here." I open my eyes. I'm back on campus. I may have taken off the semester, but I still have my lease.

"Thank you," I say.

The driver is kind enough to help me bring my stuff in. I'll arrange the furniture later.

I feel like there are shards of broken glass inside of me, carving me up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Iacopo interrupted my life when he stole me. And now that he's put me back on track, I feel like there's nowhere I'd rather be than his home. His bed.

There's nobody to see me here. I close all the curtains. The light is off. My bed is made with the sheets I left behind. I crawl all the way under the covers and pretend that I'm okay, even though I can't stop crying.

I feel like I'm bleeding out, like my heart has been torn out of my chest. I should be registering for next semester's classes now that I know that I'm going to be here, but I can't make myself do anything.

I think about never leaving my room again. I haven't talked to Camilla in a while, not since my departure, but I should try to talk to her.

Maybe tomorrow. I burrow deeper under my covers and fall asleep.

Tags: Source: