Alicia smiles. “I think he’s going to make a great husband and an amazing father. Sophia and Nicky adore him. It’s not that Matteo doesn’t love him, but Tony has Matteo’s whole heart. Sometimes it feels like Cesare and I come in a close second and third to his Nonno.
”
A pang hits me, I try to ignore it. “Dominic wants to wait for a few years on kids.”
Bethany nudges me with her shoulder. “Best decision we ever made, to wait a few years. It was amazing to be able to sleep in, make love all over the house without worrying about anything other than the windows being closed. I adore Mass, my little chunky monkey is an awesome laid-back baby. And we still have to live our lives on his schedule. We are doing the night nanny but I’m seriously considering seeing if days can be added too. Kids are so demanding. You’re young, enjoy your freedom for a little while.”
I simply nod, too afraid to open my mouth and ruin everything with the truth.
“Sweetie, if you need more help then don’t wait until you can’t take it anymore. If Che has taught me anything, it’s to let go of what you think you should do and just do what works for you. Seriously, if it weren’t for Tony there twice a week as well as the nanny, I would never have gotten through it.”
Alicia turns to me. “Tony has been so happy for the last few weeks. He must have told me a dozen times he always wanted a daughter. A word of warning, he can be a little...um, bossy. Then again, if you’ve been able to put up with Dominic you’ll be fine with Tony.”
“Totally bossy, like giving your kid a toy you told him you don’t want her to have and her falling in love with it.” Chloe rolls her eyes. “It’s really annoying the way the Sabatini men know everything and are always right.”
“Thank you! It’s like, can I be right just once here, damn it?” Bethany fumes.
Alicia laughs. “I love it. I love letting Cesare be right and take control. He loves it too.” She sobers for a moment. “Don’t get too carried away with it. If you do they tend to run right over you. At the same time, let them have it. They like taking care of us—it makes them feel good. Why resent it? What good does that do?”
A sigh. “That’s true. When I stopped fighting for control in our relationship, that’s when things got easier for us. Enzo said it was because he stopped worrying I was going to run and he could be more relaxed. He was much happier and in the end so was I. It’s scary giving up control, but when you trust in the other person it’s actually not really.”
Chloe’s phone goes off with a text. She checks it and starts laughing. “Look, Allegra is standing on her own. Any day she’s going to take off and start walking.”
She shares her screen with me and my heart aches at the picture of the baby girl standing proudly on her own. Then it happens, more phones are pulled out. And I’m devastated at the pictures of the beautiful baby Sabatinis that I will never have.
I have no idea what I say. I think I mumble “restroom,” then I’m up and away from the table. I think I’m on my way toward the restrooms. I’m not even sure. I just need to get away. One after another I’m going through doors, until I’m outside.
My lungs are desperate for air. I sway and lean against the brick wall. Laying my palms flat, I take deep breaths as I focus on the feeling of the ridges of the brick.
“Miss, are you okay?” The man is only a few feet away. He’s dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, holding a thick manila folder.
Too late I realize I’m alone out in the back of the building. “I just needed some air,” I mumble as I try to inch back toward the door.
Dominic’s hand comes down on my shoulder. “Sergeant Riley, may I introduce my fiancée, Regina Conti. We marry tomorrow. I didn’t give her a choice in the matter. Tied her up and tossed her in the trunk of my car. Here I thought she had come around—apparently she needs air.”
Dominic is mocking as he looks down at me. A shiver shimmies down my spine at his honesty in front of a cop.
“I apologize, Mr. Sabatini. I had no idea. I’ve been a little...I’ll come back next week.” He takes a step back.
“No, if it’s important enough to take you away from your wife while she needs you”—his censure is clear—“then it’s important enough to discuss now. Please, come up to my office.”
The hand is back around my arm, the way it hasn’t been since we got here. I’m marched beside him into the elevator, and we make our way to his office in our apartment. It’s obvious from Sergeant Riley’s reaction he’s never been in here as Dominic unlocks the door. Dominic flips the lights on as he pushes me down into a leather club seat in front of his desk.
Riley hands him the folder. “It’s about the rapes. I heard about another rape in Evanston. It got me thinking. I dug deeper, there were other rapes in Evanston along the red line. Come to find out it’s not just the three, now four, it’s seven in total.”
Dominic’s frown deepens as he looks through the file. Shaking his head, he takes the folder to what looks like a printer. He sets the thick file in it and hits a button. Then he’s back at his desk. “Thank you for making me aware. I’ll handle it from here.”
By the time he’s done speaking the documents have finished going through the feeder at the top. He puts it back in the folder and hands it back. “How is your wife doing?”
The man’s head goes down. “Not well. She’s on me to finish the paperwork for the fostering we planned on doing. I still want to, only not right now when everything is so...” He shakes his head. “I’m thinking a foster kid doesn’t need to come into all the pain going on in the house right now, they have enough as it is. I tried to talk to her about another round of in vitro. We still have four good embryos, a boy and three girls left. The money is the problem though. It will cost another twenty thousand and that’s with insurance.”
A small sigh. “We appreciate you covering the funeral, we didn’t have the money for it at all. We’re looking at another loan as is if we try again. She’s not excited because the place is only willing to implant one embryo, and it’s already not taken twice in the past. She says if we do that we might as well go to Greece where they will implant all four. It might end up costing the same or even a little less.”
Dominic shakes his head. “My sympathies for you and your wife. I’m willing to extend an advance on your payments as a one-time thing for the rest of this year.”
“You would do that?” Riley’s eyes go big.
“An advance, not in addition to your regular payoff, yes.”