“Oh. Well, can you come up? Denise is here. She says she has something important to talk about with us. Marco and Gabe are already here.”
I looked in the direction of the bedroom, remembering Willow’s complaint about me being gone when she wakes up. I promised her it wouldn’t happen again, and for all the broken promises I’d made her, I planned to keep that one at least for as long as I could.
“I need to wait for Willow to wake up.”
Luca’s audible scoff sent a tinge of irritation down my spine. “She can come up when she’s awake.”
I could have argued but didn’t really have it in me. “I need to wait for her.”
Luca let out another loud sigh, but said, “Fine.”
“Can you keep Denise busy? Keep an eye on her, and I’ll gather everyone once Willow is awake.”
“Fine,” Luca repeated, and the line went dead before I could say goodbye.
I set my phone down on the counter and returned to the task at hand. The bacon was starting to darken and crisp up in the pan. I could see bits of it darkening much quicker than the rest of it, almost to the point of burning, but it was cooking, at least. I decided it was best not to risk it by trying eggs, too, so I took out four slices of bread and started on some toast. When the bacon was cooked to the point that I thought it would be consumable, I pulled it out of the pan, set a couple of pieces on a plate for Willow and a couple on a plate for myself, and then adorned each plate with a piece of toast. I set both plates down on the table, settled into my seat, and started eating. The bacon wasn’t terrible, even if cooked a bit unevenly. It was something I could get better at with practice, but as I looked over at Willow’s empty seat, it still made me sad.
I finished my food, then I grabbed one of my suits from the closet in the living room and went back to the second bathroom in the suite. I took a shower and got dressed, and when I returned to the living room that bled into the kitchen, Willow was sitting at the kitchen table and nibbling on a piece of the bacon.
“Good morning.”
She looked over at me. “Good morning.” She rubbed her head. “I think being a
mom means getting hungover regardless of age.”
I laughed. “Yeah, maybe.”
She looked down at the plate. “You cooked.”
I crossed my arms and kept my distance. I wanted to kiss and hold Willow just like I’d always been able to. I had to break myself of the habit of doing it, even though I knew it hurt her. “I did. I figured I’d need to learn how eventually, so…”
Willow’s eyes sparked with shock. I didn’t know if she just couldn’t believe that I actually would do it, or if she hadn’t cemented to reality the impending end of our relationship, but she seemed pained at the sentence.
“I mean…” I started, hoping to recover. “It’s just miserable in general that I can’t even cook bacon. I should know the basics. Then, I can be the one cooking sometimes.”
It didn’t really seem to help. As much as I didn’t ever want to be parted from Willow, I would be happy when her days weren’t filled with the pain I caused her. “Yeah,” she murmured. “It could use some work, but it’s good.”
“Thanks. Um, listen, I have to go. Denise is here. Apparently, she has something she needs to tell us.”
Willow looked over at me with a look of confusion on her face. “What?” I asked.
Willow blinked a couple of times. “Nothing. I feel like there was something I needed to tell you about her, but for the life of me, I can’t remember.”
“Oh. Well, if you remember, you know where to find me.”
She let out a chuckle, forced and full of hurt. “I do.” She stood up from the table, leaving a piece of bacon and part of a piece of toast behind. “Give me three minutes. I’ll come with you.”
“Fine. I’ll call the guys.”
I used Willow’s three minutes to call Luca back and tell him that Willow and I were on our way up. I asked him to gather Marco and Gabriel. They were down in the kitchen together, so they headed up as a group, and Willow and I left the suite shortly thereafter to make our way to the office. All of my brothers and all of their wives were standing outside with Denise. I supposed once I allowed Willow to involve herself in our business with Denise, the no-wives pact fizzled, bringing Stacy and Molly back into the fray. I unlocked the door and led us all in, and everyone took their usual spots, leaving the couch right across from my desk to Denise.
“All right,” I started. “What’s so important?”
An evil smile crossed her face. “Well, an opportunity for vengeance has presented itself. Dario made the mistake of bringing the new woman he is dating to the house last night. I got a good glimpse of her and talked her up enough to get some information out of her.”
Next to me, Willow gasped. I looked over at her. “You okay?”
She was as white as a ghost and staring at Denise like she was going to transform into a monster. She scanned the room, and then her eyes landed on me. “Yeah. I just remembered.”