Page 68 of Dangerous Deception

I love him for it.

This is what I want to do with my life.

Too much blood spills in my world, and the least I can do is spread some joy with paint and put some of Raffaele’s obnoxious wealth into the hands of people who need it.

“Can I have this one?” David looks up at me, blinking slowly as he holds an orange paintbrush in his fist.

“Of course you can!”

“Excellent.” He pumps his little fist. “I wanna paint a card for Mommy.”

“Do you need any help?”

“Can you help me paint all the stars?”

“Of course I can.” With David in tow, we settle around a small table and begin painting while my mind drifts a little to Raffaele.

He’s been so busy the past couple of days and insisted I remain at the hotel. Not that I mind. It’s so luxurious that it almost feels like I’m still on holiday, and it’s closer to the hospital, so I can spend as much time here as I want.

I just hope the board member will listen to my proposal. People like that always want money, right?

“What if I do it like this?” David suddenly flicks his paintbrush up into the air, sending a flurry of paint splattering all over the table, my clothes, and then my face.

“Ah!” Blinded by a fat glob of white paint, I stumble upward out of my seat while fighting to remain calm so that none of the children panic.

“I’m sorry!” comes David’s voice through the darkness created by the paint in my eyes.

“Adelina!” Caterina is by my side in an instant.

“I’m fine!” I assure her and David quickly. “I’m fine. It’s safe paint for the kids.”

“That doesn’t make a difference,” Caterina snaps.

Managing to open one eye, I squint at her as my other eye turns into a ball of fire. “Caterina, please. Watch the kids for me? I just need to get cleaned up.”

David starts to wail croakily. “I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay buddy, it’s okay.” I ruffle his hair as I scoot past him. “Caterina will help you clean up.”

Caterina shoots me areally?look but then turns to help David dry his tears while I stumble toward the door. Of all the places where I could get paint in my eyes, the hospital is probably the best one. Grabbing my bag from the chair by the door, I head out of the room and hurry to the nearby bathroom. It’s not the first time this has happened, and I’d much rather not bother any medical staff for something I’ve taken care of before.

The sharp cleanliness of the bathroom makes me wince, so I hurry inside and make a beeline for the sink. The tap is cold against my fingertips as I jerk it on and rinse my face with as much water as I can cup between my hands. Slowly, my vision begins to clear, and the burning sensation fades with every handful of water I drown it in.

Blinking quickly, my blurry face appears in the mirror, complete with one eye bloodshot from the paint. A few more blinks and another thorough rinse with water, and I can see again.

“Damn.” Turning the tap off, I use several paper towels to dry off my hands and face, dabbing gently around my eye. “This might be the one thing I haven’t missed.”

Sniffling through the tears that sprang up from the pain, I dry myself off the best I can and then rummage around in my handbag for my makeup. Fixing my face before I return to the kids will make the whole thing seem far less dramatic, and I don’t want David to stress about an accident.

He’s got enough to worry about.

Clutching a handful of my makeup, I scatter it across the bathroom counter and then freeze as I lock onto something I scooped up by accident.

A tampon. It must have been rolling around in the bottom of my bag for emergencies and got caught up with my mascara and concealer.

But now that I see it, something hits me and a rush of tingles darts across my shoulders.

When was my last period? Was it before Italy?

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