Page 7 of Forbidden Pregnancy
“My stomach isn’t the strongest, honestly.”
My stomach has grown even weaker since the situation at the fertility clinic.
“Say goodbye to your problems, Myra.”
The stinging scent of gin burns my nostrils before I even lift the highball glass. If I can smell the cocktail from this far away, I know my girl Rachel has my best interests at heart. This drink will get medrunk.
Halfway through the gin and tonic, my boundaries aregone.I tell Rachel all my damn business and run up a tab for the next three cocktails. My stomach is a lot stronger than I thought, because I don’t feel too drunk to function or make sensible choices. I feel drunk withcontrol.
“And the other thing is… I’m only here because all the guys I thought I would end up with have broken my heart.”
“Ugh, was he Puerto Rican?” Rachel says. “My lastthreePuerto Rican ex-boyfriends had girls on the side. Fucking ridiculous. I thought Hispanic men were family-oriented, you know?”
“No. Not Puerto Rican. Worse. He was in the mob.”
Rachel laughs. “Shit. The mob? He wasn’t a Taviani, was he? Because Luigi just got married to a black woman.”
“No, his last name was Corsini.”
Shame courses through me and it’s hot enough to burn my clothes off. I haven’t said the name “Corsini” out loud in years. I haven’t wanted to. He was supposed to be my forever person, but I’ve never had a relationship that was so much of a fucking roller coaster before.
Corsini. I tutored his sister for SAT prep while putting myself through business school. I didn’t think much of the fact that herolder brother sat through every lesson, watching me. I did what any woman would…I fell for him.Hard. Too hard.
I swear, the strangest coincidence happens once I tell Rachel his name.
“Oh my God… MYRA BRENT?!”
I turn around and standing at the entrance of Belladonna’s is a face I haven’t seen in years. It must be either eleven or twelve. She’s not a little girl anymore, but I recognize her instantly. My stomach lurches. Holy shit. Am I old?! I haven’t tutored anyone in years – I learned my lesson after the Corsini family – but she was always one of my favorite students.
I always wondered how she ended up.
“Do you remember me?”
I stand up. Slightly tipsy, but fully aware.
“Of course I remember you.”
She races over to me and has her arms around me in seconds. I hug her back, feeling Cosima’s bones pressing into my soft flesh as I hold her close. She’s still so tiny, even if she’s much older now. Cosima Corsini. She was a little firecracker. She used the ‘F’ word. That little white girl was one of those women born wild. Even now, her hair is dyed scarlet in a shaggy, shoulder length trendy grunge haircut. Thick black eyeliner rims her eyes, which I always thought were so damned cute.
“You don’t look a day older!” Cosima says excitedly. “I can’t believe I’m running into you tonight. Michael thinks I’m still at his stupid apartment, but I climbed down the fire escape.”
Michael.I’m drunk enough that my stomach does a backflip when I hear his name. Cosima recognizes the fear on my face.
“Don’t worry, he isn’t here tonight.”
Good.
“He’s a fucking asshole,” she says. “I always used to wish he was dating you instead of literallyanyof those girls he would bring around.”
“Your brother wouldn’t be caught dead with a woman like me.”
Cosima rolls her eyes. “What? A hot, curvy woman smarter and better than him in every way?”
“You don’t have to flatter me.”
“I don’t want to! Let’s catch up. Rachel, can you get me a vodka cran?”
“Sure thing, CC.”
