Page 27 of Be With Me
“And how can you be so sure? Zo, back me up here.”
Zo tilted her martini glass between her fingers. “There are plenty of arranged marriages in the world. Not all of them are bad. My own parents’ marriage was set up by their families back in Serbia.”
The two of them were so casual about this. Probably because, unlike me, they’d had time to accept it. To rationalize it.
But had they forgotten about Fabi’s mom?
Her mother had been abused by Fabi’s dad. That alone was horrific. But knowing now that he was a mafia don made it worse. Going to the police? That probably wasn’t even an option for her.
And it wouldn’t be for Fabi, either.
If history repeated itself, she’d be trapped.
“Look, Cosimo wouldn’t dare lay a hand on me. My brother would kill him if he did.”
She sounded sure. I wasn’t. It seemed to me these men treated women like cattle, no better than property.
I met her gaze. Her expression was resigned.
But I was worried for her. So, so worried.
She’d been carrying a heavy weight these last few months. She hadn’t chosen this. Any of this. And knowing she thought she might lose me over something she had no control over? That had to have been unbearable.
I sighed. “Fabs, I forgive you. And I’m not going to ditch you as a friend. Come on. You really think I’m capable of that?”
Her eyes shimmered, and her grip on my hand tightened. “I’m sorry for being such a coward.”
“You’re not. But no more secrets, okay?”
She nodded. “No more.”
Zo lifted her martini. “Let’s toast and put this behind us. To us all being in the same city again.”
Yes, at least we had that. If Fabi needed anything, we’d be close to her. We could help her.
Nina set her glass down. “Your turn, Mia. What happened yesterday? With the broken lamp?”
The question wrenched me back into my own problems.
Romolo’s card was somewhere at the bottom of my purse. I should have tossed it into the bin, but something made me keep it.
“The lamp wasn’t like a…family heirloom, was it?”
Fabi waved a hand. “Not at all.”
“Good.” I sighed. “Here’s what happened.”
I told them everything.
Every ridiculous, mortifying detail. Romolo Ferraro and that woman barging into the bedroom. Me throwing the lamp at him. My business problems. Him showing up at my studio today.
And his offer.
His damned offer.
“I told him there was no way I’d ever dress him,” I said. “I mean, I can’t believe he thought I might agree to something like that.”
“He’s out of his mind,” Nina said without hesitation.
