Page 51 of Till Death Do Us Part

I wondered if Felice spent a lot of time here. It didn’t smell like him, and after I went searching for his cologne, I found the unopened box. Maybe he spent more time at the house I’d gone to on Halloween night?

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and my watch lit up. Babbo had texted me back, telling me to text him when I got to her house. Her parents’ place was about an hour outside of Chicago. But the streams of texts were coming from my group chat with my sisters.

Isabella:Roma, did you know someone hit Jack in the head at the museum?

Talia:Does he know who?

Alina:Is he okay?

Lolita:Shit. What did they hit him with?

Y:No. Is he okay?

Isabella:He went there to see you, Y. I told him you’d be working. He has a concussion.

Y:I saw him. We talked for a minute or two in the office before I left. Not sure where he went after. That’s terrible.

Lolita:Are you home yet, Y? Should I come home?

Alina:You can’t leave, Lo. Who’s going to watch my kids?

Isabella:Y, you should crash at Lina’s place after you go the hospital.

Talia:I’ll meet you at the hospital, Y. Don’t want you to go up there alone.

Y:I’m on my way to Elsa’s. We’re almost there. I planned on spending the weekend with her. Didn’t want to be home alone.

Isabella:You have to go up there. He’s hurt.

Lolita:Isa, she doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to. She’s spent enough time in that place.

Talia:Chill out, Isa. They’re not even married yet.

Alina:It would be the right thing to do, Y.

Isabella:Elsa’s parents don’t live that far from me. I’ll have Carlo drive me and I’ll ride back with you. I’ll spend the night at Babbo’s.

Irritation and panic started to claw at my chest. Isabella wasn’t going to let this go. She was going to try to force me to go to the hospital. I had to stop her trajectory. She was probably changing her clothes as we texted.

Y:No. I’m going to wait. To be honest, I don’t feel comfortable just showing up there. I hardly know him. And he was being somewhat pushy at the event. It made me uncomfortable.

Talia:Pushy how?

Y:I think he wanted to kiss me. Not ready for that.

Isabella:You’re being ridiculous.

Lolita:You’re being ridiculous, Isa.

Talia:I agree with Lo. I’ll bend his ass like a pretzel. Don’t think I won’t.

Y:I’m out for now. Don’t want to wake Elsa’s parents. Night.Ti amo.

I didn’t feel like watching my screen explode with texts. Isabella and Alina would form a team, and so would Talia and Lolita. It was usually me and Lolita, and Talia took whichever side she felt was right. This time, she was taking mine.

Before I could turn my phone off, it rang. Babbo. I answered on a whisper. He wanted to make sure I arrived and to tell me about Jack. He asked me a few questions, then said he was disappointed Jack would even attend the event.

“It was for a good cause,” I whispered.

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