The Breakup (16 page)

Light peeked around the edges of her curtains. Aja looked at the clock beside her bed. It was time to get up, the babies were waiting.

Aja felt tired, hot, and cranky. The day had gone reasonably well, but she was glad it was Friday and she had two days off. She was going to spend the weekend seriously rethinking the idea of working for a living. She wanted to make it on her own, but changing diapers was not her idea of a classy job. She decided she needed to go to town and get some adult conversation and company. She would start with Julianna’s restaurant for dinner. Her pay check was small, but she was quickly losing any reservations about spending the trust fund.

Julianna was ready when Aja arrived at the restaurant. “Aja! You here. Come we have fun stuffs plan.”

Pietro stood behind his sister, a huge grin plastered over his face. “I thought it was just going to be us.” She wasn’t in the mood to fend off his advances.

“No. Pietro come and Bill, too.”

“Bill?” That sounded like a thoroughly American name.

“Yes. I meet… um…
la scorsa settimana
… no know how say.”

“Last week,” Pietro broke in, proving again he knew more English than he let on.

“Men. Can’t trust them,” Aja grumbled.
 

“Aja, what wrong?” Pietro asked.

“Nothing. I’m fine. Where are we going for dinner?” Aja asked Julianna, ignoring Pietro.

“You see. Very special.”

“It can’t be as nice as your place, Julianna.”

She grinned at Aja. “No, but almost as nice. I not hafa cook.”

They walked together to the restaurant, Julianna linking her arm with her brother and forcing Aja to walk on his other side. Pietro pulled her arm through his and she jerked it away. He just raised an eyebrow at her, smiled, and kept walking. He and Julianna bantered back and forth in a mixture of English and Italian, which she didn’t bother to try following.
 

Aja didn’t usually suffer from grumpiness, but the lack of sleep, thanks to the dream, had combined with the howling babies. Plus, she couldn’t seem to shake an uneasiness that had been with her since she woke up. It felt like Stephen was there, around every corner. Every time she looked up it was with the expectation of seeing him glaring at her. It wasn’t a nice feeling. Her encounter with him had shaken her more than she’d realized.

They arrived at the restaurant. Aja had to catch her breath. The building was obviously one of the older buildings, though it was well maintained. Candles lit up every corner and gave it a cozy, romantic air. Soft Italian opera music played in the background and waiters brought out platters of aromatic food. Each table had its own alcove, giving them a sense of privacy and intimacy. Julianna rushed over to a table with a happy exclamation; she’d apparently found Bill.

“Does she know him at all?” Aja asked Pietro.

“She just meet, but I make sure he safe.” Pietro puffed out his chest and she laughed. He was such a comical character. She could never tell if his posturing was serious or an attempt to keep her laughing, but - whatever it was - it worked.

“Good. You smile. I like it when you smile, Aja.” Pietro dropped his voice when he said her name and it sounded like a caress. She pulled away from him and walked to the table. It was a good reminder not to let her guard down around him. He could be a very seductive man.

Aja reached the table and Julianna gestured towards her date with a smile. When she saw him, Aja jumped back, tripped over a waiter, and fell into a tangle of legs, arms and pasta.

Stephen leaned down, took her hand, and pulled her to her feet. “Now, Aja, whatever is the matter with you. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Who this?” Pietro asked.

“Let go of me,” Aja yanked her arm out of Stephen’s grip.

Pietro moved closer, angling himself between them.

Aja turned to Pietro and pointed at Stephen. “He’s trying to hurt me. That’s why I’m in Italy. He tried to have me killed.”

In a flash, Pietro rushed Stephen.

She screamed just as Pietro’s fist connected with Stephen’s aristocratic snout. Aja pulled Pietro away from Stephen as the manager showed up. He proceeded to throw them all out of the restaurant.
 

Julianna kept asking if Aja was okay while she picked pasta out of her hair. Aja couldn’t take her eyes off Stephen.
What the hell is he doing here? How did he find me?
Pietro wouldn’t take his eyes off Stephen either. Aja could tell Pietro was ready to attack him again.

“What are you doing here, Stephen?” Aja’s heart thumped in her chest, nearly choking her.

“I came to see you, love.”

“Don’t call me that,” she hissed at him.

“Why not, you’re my girlfriend, aren’t you?”

“No! I’m not and you know it.”

Pietro looked back and forth between them, confusion on his face.

“Who this, Aja? Your boyfriend?”
 

Oh yeah, so now he knows what a boyfriend is.
“No. He’s not my boyfriend, Pietro. He’s my enemy.”

Pietro’s face cleared in relief. Then his eyes narrowed. “I beat him up for you?”

My
hero
. “No. Please, Pietro. It’s fine, let’s just go.”

“So, already moving on to another victim, huh Aja? Better watch your cock, partner, she’s dangerous around them. Nearly chewed mine off.” He let out a loud, angry laugh and a shiver went down her spine.

“What do you want, Stephen? What are you doing here?”

“I came to serve you with papers. I’m suing you for cutting off my cock, my love.”

Pietro’s eyes flew wide in shock. “You cut off his…” His hands moved instinctively to protect himself.

“Oh for God’s sake! I didn’t cut it off. He was trying to rape me and I stabbed him. It was an accident!”

Pietro turned to Stephen. “You raped her!”

Julianna gasped.

Stephen shrugged. “You can’t rape the willing, buddy.”

Aja grabbed Pietro’s arm as he made to lunge at Stephen. “Don’t. Come on, let’s go. Please.”

Pietro gave Stephen a final shove and turned away from him with reluctance. He put his arm around Aja and began walking in the direction of the
ristorante
with Julianna following.

“I’m not going away, Aja. You’ll have to come home sometime,” Stephen shouted from behind them.

Aja ignored him and kept walking, grateful for Pietro’s arm around her. Julianna walked beside them now, confusion on her face. She kept looking back towards Stephen and then at Aja again.

“Aja. That not Bill? His name Stephen?” Julianna asked.

“Yes, that’s Stephen and he’s my ex-boyfriend. He’s the reason I came to Italy. Where did you meet him, Juli?”

“He came in
ristorante
… um… last… uh,” she looked at Pietro, her face desperate. She rattled off a stream of Italian. When she finished, Pietro interpreted.

“Julianna say he come in restaurant last week. He uh, what you say, hit on her?”

Aja nodded.

“Yes, he hit on her,” Pietro made a face like he’d bit into a bug. “And they talk. She like him. Say he charming. Then he come back today. She talk a little about new friend, Aja.”

Aja gasped. “That’s why he wanted to come out with us tonight, isn’t it?”

Julianna nodded her head. “I sorry, Aja. So sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault.” Aja grabbed her hand. “Don’t you feel bad. He tricked you like he tricked me.”

They sat down by a fountain and she told them the whole sordid tale. Pietro kept his arm around her the whole time and Julianna kept murmuring words of comfort and consternation.
 

“He asshole,” she said when Aja told how he’d cheated. Julianna said it again when Aja told how he’d come home drunk and attacked her. Pietro kept flexing his fists like he wished Stephen were there so he could pummel him.

“I sorry, Aja. You deserve better than man like him,” he said.

“Thanks, Pietro. You know how to treat a woman.”

He smiled gently, all teasing gone. “I would treat you like you deserve to be treated. As my queen.”

She looked deep into his eyes, feeling like she was drowning in their dark depths. On their own volition her lips found his and she kissed him like she’d been dying to kiss him since they’d met. His sympathy had broken down all her defenses.

Aja pulled back when she heard Julianna snicker. Embarrassment heated her face.

“See. You need Pietro,” Julianna said.

They sat quietly together for a few minutes, before Pietro got up and pulled Aja to her feet. “Let’s walk back.”

“Yes,” Julianna said. “You both stay my home.”

Aja looked at them with a smile. She hadn’t been in Italy long, but already she’d found true friends. “Thank you both. Thanks for being there for me, and thanks for kicking Stephen’s ass, Pietro. It’s needed a good kicking for a long time.”

He laughed. “Welcome, my queen.”

Pietro slung an arm around each of their shoulders and walked them back to Julianna’s house.

“I make dinner,” Julianna announced.

“I take shower,” Aja said and they all laughed.

Pietro came to her in the middle of the night. “Aja?” He asked quietly.

She opened her eyes and saw him standing just inside the door, wearing only his underwear. It was dark in her room, but the light from the street highlighted his amazing body. The sight sent electric shocks running across her skin.
He is gorgeous.

When she didn’t protest, he walked to the bed and sat down beside her. Aja looked up at him.

“Aja. So beautiful.” He brushed his hand down her face and closed her eyes. She opened them again when his lips brushed hers.

“Pietro. We can’t. Not yet.”

“I know.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I miss you.”

Aja groaned.

“What wrong?”

“Well, you’re doing your damnedest to make me want you, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

It was as simple as that. But, she couldn’t. She didn’t know what she wanted. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She wanted the man in front of her, who obviously wanted her too, but she didn’t want to do any more stupid things. She was afraid sleeping with Pietro at that moment would later be classed as a stupid thing she did while on holiday in Italy. Pietro deserved more. He needed a woman who could love him fully, not just lust after him. Because that’s exactly what her feelings for him amounted to. Lust. Raging, white-hot lust. She also liked him very much - he was a special guy. But, she wasn’t in love with him and that’s what he needed. So, as much as it pained her to admit it, she couldn’t sleep with him. Not yet anyway. If she happened to fall madly in love with him over the next few days or weeks, she was jumping in headfirst. It had been so long since she’d had sex, and he was making her want him pretty badly. Her resolution of only that morning nearly collapsed under the weight of Pietro’s magnetism.

Pietro leaned over and kissed her again, then got to his feet. She almost cried to see that delicious backside leave her room, but she clamped her hand over her mouth. It was good that he was leaving.

He turned at the door. “I’m falling in love with you, Aja.” And then he left.

Chapter 21

Julianna was prepping the kitchen for breakfast, and Aja knew she would just get in the way, so she went for a walk. She wasn’t going to let fear of Stephen keep her housebound. Nevertheless, she kept a watchful eye out, and kept her walk to the streets near the
ristorante
.

The streets were quiet. Shopkeepers were opening their stores and they smiled at her as she passed.

She turned a corner and the smile on her face disappeared.

“Good morning, Aja.”

“What are you doing in town?”

Marco smiled. “I’m often in town. I have to buy supplies, talk to the shops that carry our wine, and lots of other things. Why? Should I not be here?”

“I was just surprised to see you, that’s all,” she turned to walk away.

“Hey. Wait a minute.”

“What?” She turned back, her arms folded.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Yeah. We had a nice evening together and then you went off on me.”

“Went off on you?”

“Will you stop repeating everything I say.” Marco was getting irritated.
Tough shit.

“You treated me like a piece of meat, and you ask what’s wrong with me? You think you can just take whatever you want, like you’re entitled or something because you’re the boss’s son? Well it doesn’t work that way.”