find the perfect toys, buy an obscene number of diapers. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s our first child.”
That made it sound like there would be more to follow. “Alright.” I had an important meeting today, but Bates could take care of it. Siena was becoming more irrational with every passing day, probably because she was in pain most of the time. Her petite frame made carrying a child strenuous. “We’ll take care of it today.”
She finally relaxed once she got her way. “Let me change and we’ll go.”
I stepped into the hallway and called my brother.
“Where are you?” he barked. “You should have been here fifteen minutes ago.”
“I can’t come in today. I need you to handle this.”
“Are you kidding me right now? This is a huge deal for us. Your balls better be stuck in the vacuum or something.”
“I have other priorities I have to take care of right now.”
His silence was a sharp indication of his rage. “The only other priority you have is Siena—and that’s not a priority. You’ll see her after work.”
“We need to get stuff for Martina. She’s having a meltdown about it.”
“Do it after work.”
“Bates, I’ve worked for our company day and night for the last decade. I’ve worked weekends and holidays. I’ve lived for our company. But right now, this is more important. I’m going to be a father, and everything is going to change. When you have a kid, you’ll understand. And I’ll handle the office then so you can address it.”
He sighed into the phone. “I’m never having a kid, so we don’t need to worry about that.”
“Whatever. I need to do this. I know you can handle it.” I hung up before he could rip into me again.
We sat in the back seat of the car and headed to Florence where we would do our shopping. We were buying everything we might possibly need, and we had a separate car that would hold all our things.
I wore my black leather jacket with a green shirt underneath. Spring had arrived, but it was still cold as winter overshadowed the new season.
Siena was cozy in her jeans, an olive jacket with a fur hood, and a blue scarf. Tan boots were on her feet. Her distended belly was enormous now, and she constantly rubbed it like she could feel Martina move deep inside. She sighed every so often, like she was breathing through the distress.
There was nothing I could do for her at this point. No amount of back rubs or foot rubs would take away the discomfort she felt every single moment. She peed several times during the night and had morning sickness when she first woke up. Sex had become less appealing to her.
Which sucked for me.
I grabbed her hand and held it on my thigh, doing the only thing I possibly could in that moment. Affection was all I had to offer.
She rested her head against the back of the seat and sighed. “I loved being pregnant through most of this. But now I just can’t wait for her to come out.”
“You’ve done a great job, baby. You made it look easy.”
“Liar.” She smiled at me. “But thanks for saying it anyway.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I reached for it to check the message. I grabbed my pack of cigars by mistake and put them back before I retrieved my phone. It was a message from Bates, a quick question about the numbers. He should be in the meeting right now, so he probably hoped for a fast response. I typed back my answer right away.
Siena lifted her head and stared at my pocket. “Cato, do you smoke a lot?”
“No, not a lot.”
“When do you smoke?”
“Mainly at work. Sometimes in my office.”
“Well, you can’t do that anymore.”
No one ever told me what to do, so I gave her an incredulous look. “I don’t smoke around you, and I always give my suit to Giovanni the second I get home. I’m not exposing you to it.”
“That’s not why, and you know it.” She shot me that fierce expression, a warning of a bloody war. “Martina needs you to live as long as possible. Smoking cuts down your life expectancy by ten years. I understand why that wasn’t important to you a year ago, but things are different now.”
“I don’t smoke cigarettes. I only smoke cigars for—”
“A cigar is the equivalent of seven cigarettes. Don’t try to fool me, Cato. You aren’t as smart as you think you are.”
We