Page 64 of The Art of You

Now she’d have to sleep alone. . .

No, don’t go there.I can’t join her in bed.

“What’d that water ever do to you?” Enzo tossed another flippant comment at me, but he was right.

When I looked down, the bottle was mangled between my palms.

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled, turning to the side to see Bella swapping the chocolate for the Advil.

“How many did you take?” Her accusing tone wasn’t lost on me, nor the fact of how much I rather enjoyed how much she cared about me.

“The normal amount.” I decided to take this moment tolocate the recycling bin. I left the kitchen before she called me on my BS, hoping to down-boy my cock in my environmentally friendly pursuit.

The laundry room was around the corner from the kitchen, and I took a second longer than necessary to toss the bottle in the appropriate bin as I listened to the indistinct chatter from the Costas in the other room.

Everyone in the kitchen shared that last name, and now I was standing there wondering if Bella’s first name would sound better paired with mine.

Isabella Ashford. Bella Ashford. Mrs. Ashford.

“You okay?” If anything or anyone was going to kill the throbbing pain of unrelieved tension in my sweatpants, it was Constantine getting the drop on me as I stared at the recycling bin.

I cleared my throat and faced him. “I’m as to be expected,” was the best I could give him. At least I was finally able to speak directly to him, a marked improvement from before. “Tell me you all have something, and that’s why your brothers are so relaxed.”

“Truth?” He lifted a dark brow, doing the scrutinizing thing again. But now I understood it was from a place of worry not anger.

I folded my arms. “Ideally.”

“They’re just good actors. Although, they’re probably overdoing it. I ordered them to zip their mouths about Kit’s story and the truth about your op. Told them to behave normally. Thought you’d prefer that after the day you’ve had.”

Figured.“So, no leads? Alessandro said you had news to share once we were together.”

“We do have some stuff, and the conversation Alessandro had on your behalf with your father while you were on a walkearlier was enlightening. I just wish we had more to go on.” He motioned for me to leave the laundry room.

“You assign someone to keep an eye on Adelina? I assume she’s still chasing leads, and I don’t like her doing that alone,” I said as we reentered the kitchen.

While I’d been gone, Bella had parked herself next to Callie at the kitchen table in front of the bay window.

“Yeah, I pulled two guys from here to stay with her,” Constantine confirmed, settling in front of his laptop again. “And Marc is now in Arlington.”

“Why’s he in Virginia?” I asked. “I thought Marc was keeping tabs on Agent Clarke? Or was that Kit?” I was losing track.

Enzo’s mask fell when our eyes met, and his apologetic, sad look of regret hit me hard. I was having enough trouble concentrating, and I definitely wouldn’t have survived this conversation had Constantine not done me a solid and told them to remain quiet about what they’d learned.

“Marc’s watching Clarke, which is why he’s in Arlington,” Constantine affirmed.

“You told Marc he didn’t F up on Friday, that one of the valets probably eavesdropped on me, right?” I wasn’t sure why Alessandro was smiling until I rewound my words and replayed them. “Fuck up. I meant,fuckup.”

“I was getting worried that knock to your head may have crisscrossed your wires. Made you start watching your mouth like Enzo’s been trying to do,” Alessandro joked.

“I’m in agreement with Maria. They have a daughter and twins on the way,” Callie said, defending her sister-in-law. “One day, I’ll be asking the same of you.”

“Good fucking luck with my brother on that one.” Enzo shook his head, then shrugged. “What? My family isn’t here.”

“Anyway, we were talking about the case, weren’t we?”Constantine, always the dad of us all. “And yeah, Marc’s aware but still feels bad. Teamguy mentality, nothing to do about that. Not going to change him as much as I can’t change you.”

True.

Alessandro removed my phone from his pocket and walked over and set it on the counter next to me. “Your father’s going scorched-earth on his whole staff. I’m sure he’ll be calling again. I had to silence the ringer before I threw your phone in the Atlantic. He’s not happy.”

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