Until Her - Ami Van Page 0,66
into a fist beneath her palm.
“Did Pietro Romano do this while he was alive?” he asks.
“I don’t think so but things started changing when…when Don Pietro became a recluse,” she replies.
The gleam in his steel eyes says she’s sparked an interest.
“I don’t know much about his life other than his business dealings but his obituary said that he died in his sleep peacefully.”
She nods at him. “I don’t know why they didn’t mention that he had a heart attack,” she informs him.
She can almost feel his mind running with the information but doesn’t say anything more. She waits for him to ask instead because she doesn’t know what’s considered relevant information at this point.
“What was he like before he died? Was his health failing?”
“I honestly can’t be sure if it was,” she replies thoughtfully. “He kept to himself more and more in the past year before his passing. Not even Isabella or Cristian visited with him much even though they lived on the estate. He tolerated my presence even less in those days. He went weeks at a time without having me clean his bedroom or do his laundry,” she answers.
“A year before he died,” Adam mumbles. “That’s about the time Eden opened its doors.”
She nods. “Yes.”
The memories of that day still fresh on her mind. The torture and the torment of it all. A tear escapes unintendedly. It warms its way down her cheek but Adam catches it before it falls.
“What’s going on inside that head?” he asks. “Is it Eden?”
She nods.
“I can’t have kids Adam,” she blurts out.
“What?” he asks as though he’d been punched in the gut.
His brows nearly touch each other and she was sure he was going to pull his hand out of her grasp in disgust.
“They saw how profitable the business was and…and they saw how much I can help them with their negotiations. But,” she pauses and breathes through the chokehold in her throat. “One of the girls got pregnant within a month and Cristian…Cristian wanted to put me on a more long term birth control so that doesn’t happen but…”
“Isabella decided it should be permanent,” he finishes.
She nods at him.
Unable to look at his beautiful face. She holds onto him while she can.
Men don’t want damaged goods. And she is beyond damaged now. As it is, she can’t even be seen in public with him. After this information, she doubts he’d want to be seen even if they could dance at a ball.
He gathers her in the warmth of his arms. He holds her so tight that they are both shaking in their seats, next to each other. In each other’s arms. It’s too much for her fragile emotions. It doesn’t just quake the ground she stands but it breaks the dam and the floodgate of sobs escape.
“We can fix this,” he whispers.
But for once, she can hear the uncertainty in his voice. If he doesn’t have the conviction behind his words then she’s sure that it’s hopeless for her. She nods into his chest anyway. At least she can make him feel as if he can do more. At least he won’t feel like an endless pit of misery…like she does.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“It’s been days, Adam. You’re still going to sulk about it?” Derrick asks from the seat next to his in the back of the SUV.
“No. That was nothing new,” he answers.
Derrick thinks this is still about their fight. That ship has sailed into a shitstorm long ago.
“I need to find a way out of this brother. I can’t be strapped to that harpy. She’s not good enough for Jazzy and she’s definitely not good for our fucking business.”
He can’t even say what Isabella has done to Ariana. His mind is still working that out. He’d never even thought of having more kids but it was by choice. For Ariana, she’s had that choice taken away.
“We stall,” Derrick answers. “Not our style. I know. But we stall until we find a way out.”
He looks Derrick over because that’s usually not his style. Maybe for once, he wanted Derrick to let his demons free.
“I know Stella fucked up. I know it sounds fucking selfish to let you sit in this situation for this long and the minute you say you can’t handle it, then we go to war. You know we’d all do it for you.”
Yes, he knows and believes it. That’s the problem.
“It wouldn’t be war, Derrick. It’d be a fucking slaughter.”
It’s the truth. They may be Kings in their lake