Page 33 of Bought By the Mafia

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s just funny how the world works. She is my friend, too.”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean by that?”

“Allison and I are friends. Been friends for a while now too. We met a couple of months ago in Central Park. Johnny and Mickey can tell you all about it if you think I’m lying.”

His puzzled expression would have been so fun to behold and I left him like that as I returned to the kitchen. The sudden presence of someone else in ‘our home’, as he liked to call it, made me forget I was in the middle of making the most delicious Sunday morning coffee. I grabbed my cup of already made, slowly turning warm coffee, and took a sip. It was still good to drink, so I sat down on one of the counter stools and watched Gio come in and make a cup of his own. I tried not to think too deeply about how he chose the same blend as the one I chose and instead let my wonder back to our new guest. She was either a creep or it was all coincidence. For now, I thought best to give her the benefit of doubt. “When did you date her?”

“Does it matter?” he said without turning to face me.

“I guess not. It’s not like our relationship is like any normal one. I mean, who cares who you or I fucked before we met, right?”

His jaw clenched and his body stiffened a little before saying, “It was before I met you.”

“Oooh. So, you were getting over a breakup.”

“And after.”

That pang returned. It was deeper and strained at my heart much longer. “An on and off girlfriend. Sounds like you two were serious.”

He faced me and looked like he was about to say something, but his gaze then lifted from my face to an object beyond me. “You’re done already,” he said in that same soft tone that was irritating me more and more for no real reason.

“This is the only thing I could find.” Behind me, Allison was standing barefoot in a white terry-cloth robe, her hair damp.

“I think Simona can help you with some clothes.”

“Huh?” The thought of her wearing my clothes made my skin crawl. It shouldn’t. It was irrational but nothing was making sense so far and Gio did not see any problems with it. He raised his eyebrows and added, “You have so many clothes, after all.”

“I do,” I replied. “That’s true, but I doubt your friend would want to wear my clothes.”

Allison agreed with me. “Yeah… I don’t know. I can just throw my clothes in the washer and wear this while my stuff is getting cleaned.”

I was with her until that last part. The thought of seeing her parading in this place with nothing but a robe on was unsettling. It was clear from how Giovanni behaved that there was more going on between them than Allison simply being an ex.

“I have something else she could wear. There are some new clothes that came in last week from the shop that had minor defects. Some sweats and a tank top. Unworn. I could give you those?”

She gave me a sweet and heartwarming smile. Her eyes were still weary and apologetic and it made me feel guilty for being hurt or jealous. “That would be great,” she said. I got up from my chair, made my way to the little room I had turned into a storeroom for the clothes we had rejected. These clothes, including the ones in my assistant’s storage room, we’re going to go to our charity, so I might as well give them to someone in need.

As I went through the racks looking for the most appropriate and right sizes, I thought it was funny that Gio thought these were mine. If he even cared to investigate before accusing me of hording clothes, he would see what a ridiculous notion that was. The clothes were of different sizes for starters and there were more than one of the same style. Whatever. He would probably come up with something else to accuse me of, anyway. I was never, or will I ever be, a good person in his eyes. Suddenly feeling frustrated, I eventually grabbed a pair of sweats I thought she would fit and a t-shirt.

Allison and Giovanni were deep in conversation when I came back. They had moved to the living room and were casually sitting on the couch with cups of coffee in hand. Their conversation wasn’t awkward or stilted like one would expect a conversation between two exes would be like. They were like old friends who hadn’t talked recently and were eager to catch up. Gio seemed enraptured by whatever Allison was currently talking about. It sounded inane to me. Something about a bird she saw in South America. When the story ended, he responded with a long ‘wow.’ I wanted to roll my eyes. One would think she was talking about saving the Amazon the way he looked so enraptured. They were both so wrapped in their conversation, they didn’t notice me entering the room.

Allison slowly leaned forward, and her robe parted slightly, revealing a glimpse of her cleavage. Gio’s gaze followed the movement, as did mine. I was sure the robe wasn’t that loose when I left. A sudden urge to grab her and hurl her out of the window came over me. Maybe claw her eyes out first. It was an irrational feeling that took me a minute to clamp down. I wasn’t going to do anything close to that. No, I’m a better person than that, but I wasn’t going to let her stay in that robe longer than necessary.

“I found this. Don’t know if it will fit, but they look to be your size.” My voice cut through their talk and they both turned to face me. Allison and Gio looked like a well-matched couple. Her pale, Nordic-like skin complemented his Mediterranean olive. An Icelandic model and her Italian billionaire boyfriend. Allison looked like she belonged here and made me feel like an intruder by her mere presence. What was up with me? I was better than this. She put her coffee cup down, got up and glided towards me before taking the sweats and t-shirt.

Allison unfurled the sweats and said, “They look good.” She took the clothes but didn’t do anything else. She just stared at me with a slight smile that was almost a smirk. It could not have been a smirk, could it? A moment of awkwardness passed between us, after which I let out a nervous chuckle. “What?” I said.

“Nothing,” she replied. “It’s just that,” she glanced at Gio and then back at me and said, “I didn’t know you two were a thing… When we bumped into each other and you took me here, I never made the connection…”

“It’s fine,” I said. “It’s a small world.”

“Right,” she said, “Of course. If I had known that I was actually befriending my ex-boyfriend’s current girlfriend…” she trailed off again.

“Oh. Gio and I are married,” I said. I was sure she knew this, but maybe the information slipped her mind. And if she was acting surprised, she was a brilliant actor because her eyes widened as they darted between Gio and me, then she said, “Oh, my god! When!”

“Happened while you were in Brazil,” Gio said.

Allison’s mask slipped a little, and I was sure I saw worry on her face before it went back up again. She beamed, a little too much if you were to ask me, and said in a cheery voice, “Congratulations. Must have been love at first sight.”

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