Page 47 of His Broken Queen

“Would you be ready to have a baby with him?”

Before I could answer, he went inside with the vodka. It was probably best if I didn’t try and finish this conversation tonight. I had no idea that suggesting we hold off on having a baby would cause so much hurt and anger. We had never discussed children before. We weren’t even married that long.

I plopped down on the chaise lounge, wondering how this night had gone so wrong. I rested my head on the cushions and closed my eyes. I would give him some time to cool down. We could discuss this more rationally when we both weren’t so emotionally charged.

Chapter 14

Romero

“Fuck!” I fought through the pain in my shoulder to get my suit jacket on. It was difficult to maneuver my arm in that position, but I needed to get dressed.

“Let me help you.” Luciana came up from behind me and pulled the jacket up over my shoulder while I slipped my arm through the sleeve. “We probably should have put the sling on first.”

“I’m not wearing the sling.” I turned around to find her still wearing the dress she had on when I left her on the patio last night. “It’s a sign of weakness, and I have an important meeting.”

“Today?”

“That’s why I’m here.” I took my gun out of the top dresser drawer and secured it behind my waistband in my pants. “Where did you sleep last night?”

My head pounded from the vodka. I had passed out on the bed and slept straight through until morning. I didn’t realize she wasn’t in bed until I reached for her and she wasn’t there. Her absence did nothing good for my foul mood.

“Were you afraid I would impregnate you if you slept in the same bed as me?”

“I wanted to give you time to cool down, but I fell asleep on the patio. I guess I was exhausted.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “I can see you’re still upset with me.”

I didn’t respond. Her observation didn’t need one.

“This meeting,” she said. “Is it dangerous?”

“No more dangerous than every other day.”

“That doesn’t put my mind at ease.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say. Would you rather me lie?”

I didn’t know why the conversation last night had left me so miserable. It wasn’t as if we had talked about having kids anytime soon. Luciana was barely into her twenties. I wanted her to finish school. We needed time to become a couple. To have our own experiences before we brought a baby into our lives.

Where was all that rational thinking last night?

“Romero.” Gio called from down the stairs. “We’re going to be late.”

“Gio is here?” Lu asked.

“He arrived a few hours ago.” I nodded toward the bedroom door. “We’ll talk later.”

She followed me into the hallway and down the open staircase to the foyer where Gio waited for me.

“Hi, Lu,” my brother said. “Are you enjoying Italy?”

“I haven’t seen much, but this house is spectacular.” When she came to stand next to me, our arms touched one another’s, but I had to resist touching her. “We had a picnic on the beach.”

“How romantic.” Gio smirked at me. “Maybe we can do a little sight-seeing now that I’m here. You know, give you a break from the bedroom.” He winked at me. “We have to go.”

Ass.

“When will you be back?” Lu asked.

“I don’t know.” I moved toward the door when Gio opened it.

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