Page 247 of The Devil's Fire

I kicked my head back in laughter at Cara’s passionate rant.

“I’ve missed you so much!” I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug.

“But to answer your question, I suppose I was scared when I first saw Tank Man.” She gave me an amusing look before continuing.

“I saw him first from a distance, and all I could think was, ‘If that man hits me, one blow and I’m as good as gone’. Then I got to see him up close, and it hit me just how enormous he was. That’s when I started thinking about how I wanted to climb him.” She bit her lip, wiggling her brows at me.

“Only you, Cara.” I said with a laugh as she chuckled. “I’m happy for you, and soon you’ll be Mrs. ‘Tank Man’ Bellavia.”

“I can’t wait for that. To get a new name, a fresh start, and just leave that crappy name behind for good. No offense.”

“None taken.” I gave her a dismissive wave. I would have felt the same if my father had abused me.

“It wasn’t always like that, you know. I gave Lorenzo a lot of hell in the beginning. I didn’t want this engagement and tried to get out of it by being a psycho-bitch to him. But I guess along the way, I just fell for him.” Cara chuckled to herself, and it had me smiling.

“You being a psycho to Lorenzo? I would pay to see that!”

“Yeah, you should have seen when I set fire to his car.” A mischievous look was on her face.

“You set his car on fire?!” My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

“Sure did. Yet, he still asked me to marry him.”

“Holy shit.” I said, processing the things she had just said. “You know, when Damiano visited me back home, he asked me to marry him.” I revealed.

“He what?” Cara gaped at me with her eyes wide in shock. “And you said no?” She asked, barely believing her own two ears.

“I didn’t say no. I just suggested waiting because I had barely wrapped my head around the fact that I was, well… pregnant.” I kept my gaze down, taking a deep breath, as talking about it was still painful.

Cara wrapped her arm around my shoulders to offer comfort, and I responded with a small smile to assure her that I was okay.

“I was overwhelmed and felt like everything was moving too fast. I wanted us to take one thing at a time, take it slow, because why should we rush?” I continued.

“But?”

“With everything that has happened, it made me realize more than ever that there is no one else I would rather be with than him, so why wait? Everything can be gone in the blink of an eye.”

“Sounds like it will be a yes next time.” She said with a smile, and I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

My eyes went to the manor when I felt someone watching me. I found him immediately standing on the balcony. My entire body fluttered at the sight of him, and my heart beat just a little faster, too. I gave a small wave, and he returned it, a smile playing on his lips.

“Definitely.”

I walked back inside the manor, now in search of Luca. I felt like I owed everyone an apology, given the tension that lingered between us. He was upset with me for leaving and furious about the incident with his girlfriend.

I knew that wasn’t going to help my case, but I hoped he would eventually soften up. Luca was like a brother to me, supporting me when I confided in him about my pregnancy. Despite my initial freak-out, he remained excited and tried to calm me down.

I made my way to the kitchen, following the sound of voices, only to find Ava and Raffaele, who was busy flirting with her.

“I know you like it wild, baby. I can rock your world.” Raffaele was standing close to Ava, who leaned against the counter with a raised brow, clearly amused.

They hadn’t noticed my presence, and I had to put a hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh at Raffaele’s attempt at a seductive voice.

Part of me considered leaving them alone, but for the sake of amusement, I decided to stay and witness how he played his game.

“I don’t do small dicks.” Ava teased with a playful smile.

“Nothing small about me, and you know that. You can even check for yourself now if you want.” Raffaele caged her in between his arms with a smirk.

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