Page 68 of Wild and Wicked

“What a fucking asshole. Jesus! Do you think you should change the locks?” Liza asked.

Gianna hadn’t considered that, but it wasn’t a bad idea. “I really don’t think he has a key anymore—or he wouldn’t have taken Mrs. Pasquet’s—but I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

“What are your plans this week? I was thinking we could get together for dinner at my place with some Chinese food. Maybe discuss the possibility of setting you up on Bumble.”

Gianna sighed, not wanting to commit to the dating profile until she’d taken the pregnancy test. Not that she could tell Liza that.

“My work schedule is pretty insane this week, thanks to the days off. How about the weekend? Friday night?” Gianna should know by then if she was or if she wasn’t.

God only knew how she’d break the news to her best friend if she was.

“Sounds good,” Liza said.

Gianna’s phone beeped, another call coming through. Glancing nervously/excitedly at the screen, she was disappointed to see her boss’s name. “Hey, Liza. I gotta go. That’s my boss calling.”

“Okay, I’ll see you Friday. Later.”

She disconnected the call with Liza to answer the one from her boss.

“Are you home?” her boss, Donna asked, instead of the usual greeting.

“Yeah. Got home a few hours ago. What’s up?”

“Oh, thank God. We’re dying on the vine here, Gianna. Both night managers called in sick. There’s some virus flying around, and everyone is dropping like flies. I’ve been here for twenty-eight hours, and now…dammit, I’m starting to get a sore throat. I hate to call you since it’s the last day of your vacation—”

Gianna was already on her feet. “Let me change my clothes and I’ll be right there.” She intended to go in armed with all the disinfectant cleaning supplies she had on hand.

“You are a lifesaver,” Donna replied.

Gianna didn’t mind helping because her boss was really awesome. It was that fact that had kept Gianna working at the hotel as long as she had rather than looking for something else.

Regardless, there was no room for advancement where she was, and with Rafe and Gio building her dream inn, it was time to move on.

“I can be there in half an hour.”

She and Donna said their goodbyes, the relief in her boss’s voice so evident, Gianna didn’t mind missing the last night of her vacation.

She hadn’t been looking forward to sleeping alone. Five nights snuggled up with Elio had ruined her for her own bed. At least by working tonight, she could put it off for another night.

Gianna wondered what he was doing right now. Part of her was tempted to text him, but she wasn’t sure how he’d feel about that.

While they’d talked constantly this week, sharing so much of themselves with each other, it occurred to her now, there were a lot of important things they’d left unsaid.

* * *

It was early Wednesday evening when Gianna dragged herself home from work, weary to the bone. Donna hadn’t exaggerated about the illness sweeping through the hotel staff. Gianna had worked double shifts ever since Saturday night. She had spent two days cleaning rooms when every maid but one called in sick.

Gianna had also covered for Donna, who had indeed gotten the killer flu, so in addition to serving as a maid, a desk clerk, and even a maintenance person in one instance, she also took over the position of manager, working herself to exhaustion.

Donna had returned to work this afternoon, taken one look at Gianna, and told her not to come back until Saturday, proclaiming she’d earned a couple days off.

Gianna had intended to go straight home, but halfway there, she remembered her refrigerator was completely bare, so she stopped by the grocery store. Placing the bags of food on the counter, she dug through them until she found what she was looking for.

She’d been too busy to grab a pregnancy test before today. Hell, she’d been so overworked, she hadn’t had time to even stress over the possibility.

But now that she had it, she was anxious for the results.

Walking to the bathroom, Gianna opened the package, read the instructions, then pulled down her pants.

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