Page 96 of Marry Me Not
“Oh my God, Mia. I’m so happy for you.” I really was. After everything that Mia’s dad had put her through, she deserved to be outrageously happy. “Are you going to say yes?”
She blushed. “Yeah. I’m not getting rid of him. The other day, he took forever to get ready for brunch, so I told him I was ditching him. He came out buttoning his shirt and said, ‘Try it. See how far you get.’ Don’t know why that kind of turned me on.”
I giggled. “I get it.”
“But why are you asking? Something to do with your husband? Have things been warming up between you two?”
Carefully, I lifted my vase off the wheel. “Things have definitely changed compared to a few months ago.”
Mia looked pleased. “Well, that’s good, right? Your situation is completely different from mine. You and Cosimo are already married.”
“Yeah, but the marriage started off as just business,” I said. “And I wonder if it’s better to let it stay that way.”
“If you’re starting to feel things for him, I think you should lean into it,” Mia said. “Give it a proper chance. If you stay guarded the whole time, you might never find out how good it could be. There’s no reason to hold back.”
I bit down on my lip. No reason besides the fact that no matter what was starting to happen between Cosimo and me, there was no long-term future here.
He might want me physically. He might even like certain parts of me. But I’d never been confused about one thing—he would never want me as his wife. The real kind. He’d made that abundantly clear.
“Do you think a don’s wife can afford to be this gullible?”
I was still that girl. Still too trusting. Still too eager to give people chances. And the more of myself I gave to Cosimo, the more it would hurt when it ended. “I guess it’s just a bit scary.”
Mia nodded. “I get that. But you have to be brave sometimes.”
I was still trying to figure out what bravery was supposed to look like when Mia gave me a sly little smile. “By the way, I had a feeling you were going to ask me something like this.”
“Why?”
“Romolo mentioned that you and Cosimo are going on a honeymoon.”
I blinked.We were?
“He told me Cosimo canceled a bunch of meetings because he’s going to Italy for a few days, and I made the obvious assumption.”
Something inside me sank. Cosimo hadn’t said a word to me about it.
Wait. Italy? He was going toItaly?
Grottaglie. He was going there. Without me.
What. The. Hell.
“You have to send me pictures,” Mia said, too distracted by her vase to notice the expression on my face.
I grabbed a towel and wiped my hands. “Mia, I have to go. I’m sorry. I just remembered something urgent at home.”
She looked up and frowned. “Is everything okay?”
“Yep. Fine. I’ll call you later.”
The next moment, I rushed out the door and slid into the car waiting for me outside. “Is Cosimo at his office?”
The driver met my gaze in the rearview mirror. “Boss’s home.”
“Great. Take me there. Quickly.”
If Cosimo thought he could fly to Italy to chase down a leadIgot him without so much as telling me, he was about to find out otherwise.
