Chapter 13

Thirteen

Elena – Three Weeks Later

I tilt my head and turn sideways, looking in the mirror.

My maxi dress flows a little, so I press it tight against my stomach, furrowing my brows.

“Elena, what on earth are you doing?” Holly, my friend since college—well, my only actual friend—asks, and I look at her in the mirror.

Her dark brown eyes show humor, and I stick my tongue out at her, making her chuckle.

“Am I showing already?” I ask, looking at my belly again.

She hums. “A little bit, but that’s normal for thirteen weeks.”

Normal, really, normal….

I turn and look at her, scoffing, “None of this is normal, Holly.”

She nods, causing her dark brown hair to fall over her eyes, and she pushes it away. “I know. What Romeo did was wrong, but you can’t change that now. All you can do is brace yourself for the outcome, and yes, for thirteen weeks, it is normal to have a swell, though most people would probably believe it’s a food baby.”

I shake my head, smiling at her, proud that she’s training to become a midwife.

“Bracing myself for the outcome is easier said than done, Hol, especially when I feel like I’m dying on the inside,” I murmur, and her eyes soften.

When the man you fall in love with, the man who was promised to your older sister, hurts you the way he has with me…. How can I brace myself for the outcome when said outcome is me leaving him?

How can I brace myself for the heartbreak I’m going to feel watching him marry my sister?

Done with my screwed-up life, I sigh and change the subject, “Still can’t say his name, huh?”

She narrows her eyes. “Nice change in conversation.” I smirk, and she continues, “And no, it’s not that I can’t say it, it’s the fact I don’t want to, and I don’t care how immature that makes me. He’s a lying manwhore.”

I nod. “Who you are not afraid of despite his….” I pause for a moment, trying to figure out the right word, and she mumbles, “Profession?”

I grin. “Yeah, his profession.”

She chuckles. “No, I’m not afraid of him. We had a love-hate relationship for nearly five years, and he, God….” She sighs, and my heart instantly hurts for her as she admits, “He made me fall for him only to keep pushing me away, sleeping around with that flipping nurse because he thought I needed to finish school first, but he never made me feel unsafe, like he could hurt me physically.”

I nod, my eyes going back to the mirror again, but instead of looking over my small bump, they land on my wedding ring, knowing exactly how she feels.

Loving a Russo consumes you, but they don’t care if they hurt you emotionally.

After watching me for a few minutes, she asks, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I chew the inside of my lip. “A part of me, a small part, doesn’t want to, but the rational part knows I need to do this.”

She looks at me with concern. “What about the contract, the proof he’s shown you? Why would he go through that if he wanted her?”

I look at her and shrug. “I don’t know; it’s something I haven’t been able to figure out yet.”

She furrows her brows, crosses her arms over her chest, and asks, “Did you believe the contract when you read it? Did you understand his actions, I mean?”

I smile sadly and admit, “I did, and then he spent the evening with my sister, hanging off his arm a few days later?—”

She cuts in, “To keep you safe though, right?”

I raise a brow and ask, “Who’s side are you on?” causing her to smirk and refute, “Yours, always yours. I’m trying to help you see reason, to keep all options open, because I know you’re in love with him, and no, you know it’s not Stockholm Syndrome, before you even mention it.”

I snort before sighing and admit, “I thought it was at first,” making her grin. “I did rationalize that. The contract was always in the back of my mind, but then he jumped on top of her, leaving me to fend for myself against spraying bullets.” I frown. “He kissed her while I struggled to breathe.”

Holly steps toward me, and I give her a sad smile. “She’s been calling him nonstop, and two days ago, he left his phone on the bed when he was in the shower.” She raises a brow, and I deny, “I wasn’t snooping. I went to grab some more of my clothes. Sarah forgot to grab them, and I saw it on the bed. I planned to ignore it, but then it lit up and, surprise-surprise, it was my sister. I went through their text thread only to see everything deleted, so I went onto his pictures, and he had dozens of naked photos of her.”

Holly’s mouth opens in shock, and she stutters, “W-what….”

I nod and walk over to the bed, grabbing my purse and admitting, “I went through the phone. She calls several times a day, the logs he, for some reason, hasn’t deleted. He has a locked folder I couldn’t access, and there was only one picture of me from our wedding day, which was set as his screensaver, and even that, I think, is more for show.”

She opens her mouth to say something, but before she can say anything, someone opens my door, making us both jump, looking that way.

I narrow my eyes at the intruders while Holly glares hard.

“Holly,” Leonardo says, smirking, his eyes taking in her jean shorts and crop top.

Holly replies, “Manwhore mafia asshole,” with a curled lip, and I snort.

Leonardo looks my way with a raised brow in question, but I grin wide and state, “Best friend trumps cheating husband’s brother.”

Romeo growls while Leonardo’s face goes red, clearly not happy I told my best friend his ‘profession,’ and he snaps, “He hasn’t cheated on you, Elena, and maybe it's about time you grew the fuck up, and realized that before you ruin your marriage, because now your just being pathetic.”

My eyes widen in shock at his words, especially when I thought he was my friend. Holly goes to take a menacing step toward him, but I grab her arm while Leonardo doesn’t back down or even look sorry for his words.

Guess brother trumps sister-in-law, too, huh?

Ensuring he sees my hurt, I nod and ask, “So my husband spending all his time with the woman he was originally promised to over the last four years, keeping a protective arm around her at events I was forced to go to didn’t ruin my marriage?”

Romeo narrows his eyes while Leonardo snorts, “It was put in the contract by your own mother that he is supposed to protect her at all costs, or he’d lose you. If you haven’t noticed, your sister caused a lot of shit over the years so that she could spend time with him. Stop blaming my brother for your insecurities, Elena.”

Holly growls, but I squeeze her arm and question, “My insecurities?” I hum trying to act nonchalant when my heart is being smashed into pieces. I tap my finger on my chin to try and hide the wobble in my chin, the urge to cry hitting hard, and summarize, “Funny, here I thought my problems stemmed from the fact I got shot twice and was not even thought about until an hour after the incident, when my husband threw his body over my sister’s, and stayed on top of her to keep her safe while I was in danger. Heck, he placed me at the back of the room, unprotected, despite knowing there was going to be an attack.” Leonardo stills, and I continue, “I thought my problems stemmed from the fact my own father sold me to protect his precious eldest, and I was made to feel second choice all my life, and the fact I got whipped by a belt as a kid because of my own sister’s lies.”

I take four menacing steps and get in Leonardo’s face, and I sneer, “I have spent the past four years of my marriage being made second best, Leonardo.” He flinches, his eyes wide at my using his full name. “I wasn’t even an afterthought when I got shot and because of you and your manwhore ways, I got water instead of the contraceptive shot that I wanted, because bringing a baby into a marriage where my sister is always first is sickening!”

“ Farfalla …” Romeo tries, but I ignore him and shove Leonardo hard, showing both men my anger, causing sharp pains to shoot through my leg, but I ignore it.

Leonardo stumbles in shock, and I shout, “Last time I checked Leonardo,” he cringes again, “he didn’t need my sister to fawn all over him, to hang off his arm to fucking protect her; he also didn’t need to make out with her while I was bleeding out on that restaurant floor, the same restaurant I didn’t even want to go to, the same restaurant my so-called husband forced me to go to just so I could watch his arm around her all night, embarrassing me before everyone who believes they should be together.”

I take a step back, breathing hard, Leonardo’s eyes wide, his face pale. I look at Romeo, ensuring to make eye contact with him as I ask Leonardo, “Tell me something, Leo. Did your precious brother here tell you about all the naked photos he has of my sister on his phone?” Romeo’s eyes darken. I continue, “Did he tell you about all the calls?” I look his way, his face pale. “So tell me, dear brother-in-law, am I insecure, or am I just done being someone’s pawn?”

Holly comes up beside me, linking her arm with mine, and I say, “If you don’t mind, not only is this my private space that you’ve both barged in, but we have an appointment to get to.”

Leonardo’s eyes soften toward me, and he nods. “Always knew you had a fiery side, sorella .” I flinch at that word, making him frown.

His frown deepens when I whisper, “Don’t call me that anymore. I’m no longer your sister, after today, I want nothing to do with you.”

His mouth drops open in shock as Romeo growls, “Leonardo, take Holly home, now!”

I snort as Holly says, “I drove myself, Romeo, and like hell would I ever get in the same car as that manwhore. I’d probably catch something just sitting in the seat.”

I grin at her words as Leonardo growls, but I ignore him and make eye contact with Romeo. “I have a meeting with my cousin, so why don’t you do me a favor and move.”

Romeo smirks, crossing his arms over his chest and commands, “Leonardo….”

I frown but soon gasp as Leo charges toward us, bends, and throws Holly over his shoulder. He gives me a wink like he didn’t just destroy whatever friendship we had with his nasty words as Holly screams, “Put me down, you walking STD!” before he turns.

She kicks and punches him, causing him to grunt when she hits her mark between his legs, but he continues to limp out the room, not once putting her down despite clearly being in some pain.

“If I wasn’t so mad right now, I’d probably laugh,” I murmur as Holly’s screams echo through the house.

As soon as the front door slams, I look at Romeo and raise a brow. Nothing but anger radiates from him as he growls, “Did you think Maxim wouldn’t let me know you wanted to view one of his apartments?”

“That traitorous little…” I sneer, hurt he’d go behind my back like this, only proving I can’t trust him anymore.

Romeo remarks, “He’s not a traitor, El; he told me because you’re my wife, and he knows I won’t allow you to leave me.”

I scoff, “So what? I’m supposed to stay with my lying, cheating husband, who’s done nothing but show me how little I mean to him?” I chuckle darkly. “Yeah, no thanks. Papa put those stipulations in about pregnancy for a reason, and that reason is so I’m not stuck in a loveless marriage. It’s probably the only good thing he ever did concerning the contract.” I curl my lip at him, trying to ignore how hot he looks with his black shirt tight across his muscles, the scruff on his face making me want to run my nails through it. I snap, “I did start to believe that you felt something for me, that everything was just so I could be yours, but you were just playing me, using me so you could have your cake and eat it too, you?—”

My angry ramblings are cut off when Romeo growls and grabs my neck, slamming his lips against mine, shocking me.

He licks the seam of my mouth, and I try to shove him away, only for him to grab my hands, trapping them behind my back as he turns us, pressing me against the wall, my lips opening with a gasp, giving him the opening he wants.

I try to wiggle my body and fight him as he shoves his tongue in my mouth, and pushes his hips against mine, his member rubbing against me. Shamelessly, I instantly become wet, and I’m not proud of myself, but I moan, closing my eyes, my libido taking over.

Stupidly, very stupidly, I kiss him back, my hunger taking over my body. He lets go of my hands, instantly grabbing my dress, pulling it up as he grips my butt, lifting me.

I wrap my arms around his neck, my legs around his waist, pulling him tight to me.

He groans, leaving one hand on my butt, the other going between us. Without breaking the kiss, he undoes his slacks, then tears my panties, and thrusts himself inside me. Without letting me get used to his size, he moves hard and fast, immediately hitting the right spot inside.

“If you think…that I’d allow you…to leave me…you have another think…coming,” he grunts between thrusts, and I gasp, my belly tightening, weeks without him showing.

“Fuck, that’s it…. Squeeze me, farfalla ,” he growls, then bites my bottom lip as he tilts his hips, his piercing rubbing against the sensitive tissue inside.

“Come, El, fucking come….” He groans, his thrusts becoming more violent, and blackness hits, my belly tightening, my clit pulsing as wetness spills between us, and he groans, “Fuck, you’ve just squirted, baby….”

He kisses me again, his tongue tangling with mine as he thrusts one, two, five more times, and then stills, coming inside me.

He doesn’t break the kiss, only slows it to more loving as he removes his shirt, my fingers instantly touching his bare skin, before he pulls me off the wall and walks over to my bed, laying us down, his body going over mine, his member still inside me, keeping us connected.

Gently, he nips my bottom lip, then skims his down my chin and throat as his hands bring up my dress. He moves back a little to throw it over my head, and then takes my nipple into his mouth through my bra.

He kisses down my body, then presses his lips to my little swell several times before going lower.

He rasps, “Just so you know, I’ve canceled all your plans today.” He kisses my pubic bone. “I hope you're not tired, farfalla , because I’ve fucking missed your body.”

With that said, he takes my sensitive clit into his mouth and sucks hard, causing me to arch and moan loudly.

I know we shouldn’t be doing this, that I’m going to leave, but right now, my body has taken over, and I need this; I deserve some pleasure, and I know I can’t seem to give it to myself properly, and I won’t cheat, even if we are separated.

I’m going to enjoy this and use him like he’s used me all this time, and then tomorrow, well tomorrow, I can regret it…..