* * *
“Dom?” she called as soon as I walked in.
I looked down at the greasy, smelly bag I held in my hand. I swear her pregnancy turned her into a hound.
I went to the kitchen, putting the bag on the table before going to the living room she’d transformed a few months ago.
Cassie had been transforming this austere house with her light; it was nothing like it was just a year ago.
I leaned against the doorframe and looked at her sitting in the fancy pregnancy chair Luca bought her, her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, her pregnancy dress wrapped around her huge stomach.
I smiled tenderly at her. I was home now; I’d left the darkness behind at The Rectory.
“Food’s in the kitchen.”
She looked up, her face lighting up with a huge smile.
“Domenico, you are the best of men!”
I chuckled. “Let’s not say that to your husband, okay?”
She shrugged with a little pout. “He said no.”
I laughed again. “I figured.”
“Oh!” She rested her hand on the side of her stomach. “The babies are thankful too.” She gestured me forward. “Come, you can feel a heel.”
I looked down at my hands. I had to shower; no way I was touching her after what I’d done with Elodie, after the impulse I had after I degraded that woman…
I shook my head. “I’m just going to take a quick shower.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly. Here.” She pressed her forefinger against a little bump I could see on the side of her stomach.
I pointed toward the kitchen. “You better go eat your greasy food before your husband finds out.”
She muttered something under her breath as she pressed the button at the side of her chair to help herself up.
I looked down, trying to hide my grin. Food was the best way to derail her.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” I told her as she waddled slowly out of the room.
She raised her hand in a dismissive gesture, like she couldn't care less, and right now I was pretty sure that was the case; she was hangry.
I got to my room on the first floor and took a quick shower before going to the second floor to Luca’s office.
I knocked once, not really in the mood of exasperating him tonight.
I heard papers shuffling. “Come in.”
I opened the door and saw him breathe out a little breath of relief.
“Oh, it’s you.” He leaned back on his chair, ignoring the papers in front of him. “Come in.”
I walked in and leaned forward, peeking at his computer screen and the medical article on twin pregnancy.
I shook my head and looked at the empty glass on his desk. “Want a refill?”
He nodded, turning toward the screen again and rubbing his chin; it was something he did when he was preoccupied.