Page 126 of War Within
Carmine snorted, causing her to stop mind sentence, understanding how her statement was presenting itself.
Chewing the inside of my cheek, I stifled a smirk.
“Okay, basically I mean, he’s getting to be too active for me during work hours.”
Understanding where she was going, I lifted my hand, hoping she would take the hint. Thankfully, she fell silent. Nestling my hands in my pockets, I lifted my chin.
“You’re telling me to hire a nanny?”
A quick glimpse at Carmine was all the encouragement she needed. As she opened her mouth to respond, her voice was nowhere to be found. Carmine appeared at her side promptly.
“You should at least consider it, Gio.” He pulled Lily into his body, holding his arm around her. “We love him, but just like you can’t take him to work with you, she can’t keep taking him to work with her.”
“Nannies are all old hags or young and irresponsible.” In my head, the argument was valid. The nanny who raised my siblings and me seemed old, tired, and quite frankly done with our shit by the time we were nearing ten years old. “There is no point.”
Smiling politely, Lily tilted her head, burying her fists into her waist. “I kind of already took two weeks off since we're moving into our new house.”
“And?” I regretted the question instantly.
“Annnd, what if I personally find you a suitable nanny during this time?”
“No. Stay out of it. I’ll find a solution.” I exited the kitchen without another word.
The following morning, I was holding Cristiano, devoting my time with him before my niece, Nora, came over to watch him. He had a rough night, so we spent many hours awake. He had just fallen back to sleep when Lily tiptoed into the nursery.
“You know you can’t sneak up on me.” I spun to face her, making sure to keep my voice barely above a whisper.
“We did end up spending the night. Carmine just left. And I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you. I was quiet because the room was.”
I snuck out with Lily trailing behind closely. Once in the hall, I shut Cristiano’s door, slowly. Sliding my hands into my pockets, I glared at her.
“Can we talk for a second?” She sighed, running her fingers through her wavy, blonde hair.
I jerked my head toward the long hallway. “Not here.”
She followed me down the stairs, through several corridors, and into the media room. Pushing the door, I rolled my eyes, knowing she possibly wanted to talk about the nanny again. At the same time, we both folded our arms over our chests, mimicking one another’s pose.
“It seems that lately you’ve been shutting down, more than normal.” She exhaled, dropping her arms. “I mean, I know you’ve never been the most open of people, but you just seem really unmoved by everything.”
Cocking my head, I arched a brow, processing her words.
“All I’m saying, is please don’t go insane. You’ve been through a lot.”
“I can only promise mydecisions won't affect my ability to be a good father. They never have.” I lifted my hand to my chin, staring at her for a moment.
She shuffled her weight back and forth nervously. “What?”
“I just realized something about you.”
I rolled my eyes as I was not one to speak on emotional matters often, but Lily and I had grown very close over the months. Just before Jane went into labor, she spilled a lot of information to Lily about herplan. Eventually, all was revealed anyway.
Lily had stepped up and been there for me after getting Jane to the hospital. She was not a mean person and did not wish death on her former friend, but her main concern was making sure my innocent child, her godson, was cared for. She and Carmine had stayed at my house more than either of theirs, making sure I was okay. Carmine and I had grown even closer, picking up where we left off as younger adults. He was once again like a brother to me, and Lily was important to me now.
“I know we've had a lot of disagreements. But for some reason, I value what you say to me. You've really become a best friend and sister to me.”
“So, then you trust me.” Her smug smile was almost too much to handle.
“Is this about the fucking nanny, Lily?” Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes.
