Page 99 of Bound to You

“Oh.” She frowns. “Well, she seemed pretty upset that he was going on an innocent date for charity.”

“Yeah, well, I think those two have differing opinions on their relationship status, no doubt it was a topic of conversation for them last night.”

After the scene that Alessia created, Leo pulled her to the side of the room where they were whisper shouting for the good part of an hour before he left early, his mood ruined.

Isla’s phone buzzes on the tabletop. “It’s Miles,” she says, getting up to go answer her brother's phone call.

I watch her as she stands against the open balcony doors with her phone to her ear.

Ever since her parents arrived, she’s been different, and I know she’s freaking out internally. I just wish she’d talk to me about what’s going on in that head of hers. All that she’s told me is that she’s confused, but I don’t know how to help her.

She’s pulled away from me.

She’s given me more fake smiles in the last two days than in the last two months. I can tell she feels like everything is slipping away from her. I want to help, I just don’t know how.

It’s as if her parents showing up threw a mist bomb into her world and she can’t see through it. And all I want is to be her guiding light.

“Apparently I’m needed,” she says, grabbing her purse off the table in front of me. “It’s Miles’s last night, and he wants to go out for dinner all together. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah,” I say before she presses a chaste kiss to my lips and hurries out the door, leaving the apartment feeling empty without her presence.

I mademy way down to Main not long after Isla left, I couldn’t sit there in my empty apartment alone with my thoughts for a minute longer.

I open the side door that leads straight into the studio side of Nora’s place to see her organizing her canvases, she’s shuffling around packing things into boxes.

“Cosa stai facendo Nora?”

“Oh! Mi hai spaventato Caio,”she presses her palm to her chest. “What does it look like I’m doing?” She shrugs. “I need to prepare for the possibility that I’ll be out of here very soon.”

“This is wrong,” I say as she continues packing up her stuff.

“How much did we make last night?” She asks. She knew about our fundraiser, but she didn’t want to be there herself.

“Not enough,” I say, pulling out my phone to show her the profits.

Ruby Cove is a small town, but the owners of this building marked it up high, knowing out of towners would easily pay the higher price for the prime location of the property along the waterfront.

Her shoulders drop as she realizes what I did this morning, the fundraiser wasn’t nearly enough, but I didn’t want to tell Isla how bad it is. She doesn’t know the price of the property, so she didn’t know how far off we are.

“I’ll just have to find another space,” Nora shrugs, not that there are many other spaces around. I’ve never seen Nora’s energy so down. She loves this studio with her whole heart, she’s been here twenty-five years. It’s become a part of her, she can’t lose that.

“Or, hear me out. I’ve got another idea, but you’re not going to like it.”

“Oddio.”

I swirlthe ice in the bottom of my glass, focusing on the sound of the cubes clinking against the sides of the cup in my hand.

“You want another?” Rafael asks, nodding toward my glass in front of me.

“No,grazie,”I place the glass on the soft coaster in front of me.

The cold breeze sweeps across the back of my neck as the door to Olive&Vine opens.

I’m sitting down the back at the bar, but I’m sitting in the exact position where every time the front door gets opened, the cool evening breeze floats down to greet me. It’s a refreshing break for my flushed skin.

“It’s your girl,” Rafael nods to the door.

I spin around in my chair to see the entire Beckett family being seated by their server.

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