Page 65 of His Beautiful Revenge
The oncologist smiled at her. “Ready for the big day? I’m going to get all those suckers out. You’ll see that I do.”
She smiled at his optimism. “Doc, give me the hard truth. Do you think you can get them all?”
He nodded. “Look, I’m not being gung-ho or telling you what you want to hear. From your scans, the tumors are where we can get them and, with a course of chemo I don’t see why you shouldn’t go into remission. Obviously, there are no guarantees, but I’m very optimistic.”
At home, she packed her overnight bag for the stay, then, on a whim, she called Norah in Italy. It had been a few weeks now that Norah had been in Tuscany and Zulika missed her friend.
“Hey, babe.” Norah sounded relaxed and happy and it made Zulika’s heart lift.
“Ciao, Bella.How are you?”
Norah laughed. “I’m very good, thank you. Had my last appraisal at the hospital today.”
Zulika laughed, knowing what that meant. “Well, I’m glad I called before the orgy began. How’s the wedding planning coming along? Have you met Giacomo’s family yet?”
“His brother and sister are coming tomorrow. I met his parents. His mom is lovely.”
Zulika heard the slight tension in her friend’s voice. “And his dad?”
Norah hesitated. “He’s hard to read. I’m not sure he doesn’t think of me as a gold-digger yet.”
Zulika made a disgusted noise. “I hope Giacomo put him straight.”
Norah half-laughed. “I haven’t said that to Giacomo. It’s just the impression I got. I may be wrong. God, I miss you, bub.”
Zulika felt a pang. “I miss you too. Hopefully we’ll be together soon.”
“How're things going with Lando?”
Zulika smiled. “Blissful. But, you know, early days.”
“How are you feeling now? Do you have any news for us?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Norah about her surgery, wanting to hear her friend comfort her and tell her everything was going to be okay.
But she knew Norah would want to drop everything and fly back immediately, and there was no way Zulika would deprive her of her time with Giacomo—not after everything they’d been through.
Later, when Orlando got home with Ferma, they cooked together, Ferma holding court about her day and a show-and-tell she had nailed as her father and Zulika moved around each other. Ferma knew about Zulika’s surgery and when Zulika went to kiss her goodnight later on, she hugged Zulika tightly. “I know everything is going to be okay, Zully. I just know it.”
Zulika had hidden the tears in her eyes as she hugged the little girl.
Orlando was undressing as she went into the bedroom. She smiled at him and he took her into his arms. “How’re you feeling, baby?”
She leaned her body against his. “Exhausted, I’ve got to admit.”
He pressed his lips to hers and she responded, sighing into the kiss. “Baby, everything is going to be okay.”
She chuckled. “Your daughter just said exactly the same thing.”
“Smart girl. Takes after her dad.”
She laughed and climbed onto the bed, tugging him after her. “Come lay down with me.”
Orlando cradled her in his arms and Zulika felt safe in his strong hold. “Lando?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“If anything does go wrong …or they can’t take all the cancer out …”
