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Chapter Forty-Four
‘You look beautiful.’ Lorenzo smiled warmly as I got into the car and shut the door after putting Leo in the back. Luckily he was fast asleep.
‘Thanks,’ I replied reluctantly, hoping he wasn’t just buttering me up before he dropped the news that he’d decided his mum should move in permanently or something. It was nice that he noticed, though, seeing as I’d made an extra effort.
Of course, Lorenzo looked as hot as ever. He was wearing his fitted blue jumper and dark jeans.My favourite. I still didn’t know how it was possible. In all the time we’d been together, it didn’t matter how little sleep he had, he’d never once looked terrible. I’d said this to him before and he’d said it was just my eyes seeing him like that.
Anyway, now wasn’t the time to get distracted.
‘So…you said you’d made a decision?’ My heart began beating faster. I was anxious to hear what was coming next.
‘Sì.’ He reached for my hand and took a deep breath as if he was plucking up the courage to tell me something bad. Or maybe that was me just overthinking. Best to just let him speak before I started fretting. ‘As I explain you before, my mamma is very important to me,’Oh, here we go…I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. ‘She has done many good things for me. Always been there to help me. Want the best for me…’If only you knew the half of it,I wanted to scream. Even though I’d let him hold my hand, I could already feel my finger twitching. I wanted to reach for the phone and play him that message so badly right now. Then he’d see that Mother Marta was about as sweet as vinegar… ‘I know she can be difficult sometimes, but it hurt me that you did not want to welcome her into our home. That you would like that I put her on the street when she needed our help…’
‘Now, hold on.’ I pulled my hand away. ‘I never said we should put her out on the streets. I just suggested that maybe she could stay with someone else.’ At least he’d acknowledged she could be a pain and wasn’t perfect, though, which was something I thought I’d never hear.
‘I would never say that to you if it was your mother,’ he said.
That was true and that’s why I’d agreed. Because in the end I knew that even though I wasn’t her biggest fan, it was the right thing to do. But equally, I’d said that having her there wasn’t a good idea and look how it had turned out…
‘Like I say before, Mamma is important to me. But’—he pulled my hand back and rested his on top of mine—‘you and Leo are important to me too.Voi siete tutto per me. You are everything to me. You two are my life now. These days without you and Leo have been some of the worst in my life. I do not want to spend another night without you next to me. Without our son with us.’ He lifted my chin and stared into my eyes. ‘I love you, Soph. Ineedyou. I want you to come back home.’
I felt my heart flutter. Being away from Lorenzo had been unbearable for me too. It was reassuring to know that he missed us just as much and to hear we were important to him because after taking his mother’s side, I’d begun to wonder. Speaking of which, what about the Wicked Witch of the West?
‘And your mother?’ I crossed my arms, making his hand drop.
It was all very well and good him saying he loved me and wanted us back, but as I’d said repeatedly, it wasn’t going to happen ifshewas still there. Especially after what had happened before I went to London.
‘I have prepared everything at Mamma’s house. It is ready for her to go home. I will talk to her tonight. I am sure she will be happy to be back at her place.’
I wouldn’t count on that. Marta would know that the longer she stayed with Lorenzo, the more she would drive a wedge between us. There was no way she’d leave without a fight.
‘And if she refuses?’
‘Tranquilla.It will be fine.’
Pff.
‘If you say so,’ I scoffed. ‘And what about what she did? Do you at least acknowledge that she was wrong?’
‘If that is what Mamma did, then yes. It is up to us to decide what is best for our son. We are the parents.Sì: we can ask Mamma for advice, but give Leo milk from another woman, is not good. I already tell her this.’He did?That was promising. ‘But I am sure that there will not be problems with Mamma in the future.’
‘Really?’ I raised my eyebrow. ‘How can you be so sure?’
‘Like I tell you on the phone, I have made a decision.’
‘Go on…’ I thought us coming home and asking his mum to return to her placewashis decision, so I was intrigued to hear what else he had in mind.
‘I know you have been trying to make it work here. In this town. You do the lessons with Geli, make new friends. I am proud of you. But I also see sadness. This is not where you want to be. This town is too small for you.For us. For our future. So if you want, let us go. Make fresh start. Somewhere new.’
My jaw dropped. He was ready to move? That would beamazing. I’d felt for ages that this place wasn’t right for either of us. And the same sadness he saw in me was what I saw when he worked at the restaurant. In a way, though, I was also surprised. I would have thought that after spending a week alone with Marta, she would have twisted him even further around her little finger and convinced him to stay here forever.Unless…
‘Have you spoken to Geli today?’
I know she’d promised not to play him the recording, but if she had, that would explain his sudden change of heart.
‘Geli? No. We have not spoken. Why?’
He sounded genuine. I believed him. And I trusted Geli.
