Page 74 of The Breaker
“You don’t have to do that, Aurelia.”
“I know, but we’re family. I’m happy to help you.”
She stared at me for a few seconds, her gaze hardening in confusion, then softening when she saw the sincerity on my face.
“I would love to get to know my nephews too. I can tell Constantine thinks the world of them.” I glanced out the window. “They’re still climbing all over him as we speak.”
Beatrice brought her wine closer to her chest, then looked down into the contents.
“We could watch them overnight too, if you want to go on a date ... and see where that goes.” I waggled my eyebrows. “Friends make sure friends get laid.”
She burst into a quiet laugh, like she hadn’t expected me to say that in a million years. “Yeah, it’s been a while.”
“Then let’s work something out. I know Constantine would be happy to help.”
“I don’t know. Men aren’t usually the ones handling the childcare.”
“Well, I know he’s different.”
“He used to run Rome and hang people from the Pantheon for violating his laws ... but sure,” she said with a chuckle.
“That’s not all who he is,” I said. “He’s very loving and nurturing. You should see the way he cares for Medusa. I have no doubt he’ll be a great father, and I have no doubt he’d care for your boys like his own if you needed help.”
She turned her attention to Constantine, watching him play with the boys like he was having fun. They’d stopped the monkey game, and now they were playing dinosaurs at the table away from everyone else. He may have seen us talking through the glass and wanted us to have all the time we needed to squash our beef.
“I’m sorry about your mother. She seems so loving and wonderful that I’m sure if she understood her own behavior, she would stop it. She just needs to understand her own disappointment is interfering with her relationship with you.”
“I don’t think it’s that hard to understand. It’s been going on for years.” She took a drink of her wine. “She doesn’t believe in divorce, like most women in Taormina, so she’s not only disappointed I chose the wrong man, she’s disappointed I divorced that very man.”
That didn’t sound like the woman I knew at all, but I had to remember that we all had different sides to ourselves. That every person had a distinct and unique relationship with us, so they knew a particular version. “I’m sorry you’re in this situation, but I’m really glad we had this talk.”
“Yeah, me too.” She looked at me again, and this time, her eyes were free of their usual hostility. Now, there was affection in her gaze, a warmth that made me feel like a friend rather than an enemy. “Let’s start over.” She moved into me and hugged me with one arm.
I hesitated before I reciprocated, not expecting the relationship to accelerate to physical touching so quickly. But I accepted her hug and returned it a millionfold.
When we got home later that night, Constantine greeted Medusa with affection, then took her outside to do her business before bed. He used to have staff who took care of Medusa for him most of the time, but he didn’t struggle to adapt to the change.
When he came back inside, Medusa headed right for the stairs, like she’d been ready for bed for hours.
Constantine walked up to me, his eyes tired but still so sexy. “Looks like you and Beatrice buried the hatchet.”
“Yeah, we did.”
“And from what I could discern, it seems you were responsible for that.”
“Yeah . . . a little bit.”
He smiled at me before he circled his arm around the small of my back and pulled me in for a kiss. “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”
I sank into his touch the way I did when we first met. Turned into a pool of melted chocolate from his warm flames. “She’s going to be my sister too. I want things to be good between us.”
He kissed me on the forehead and stepped back.
“But she told me Isabella wasn’t the issue. It was actually your mother.”
“My mother?” he asked, eyebrows rising in surprise.
“Remember when you told me you’re the favorite?”
