Page 143 of Falling for the Wife

How long had he thought about going back to her? I had to wonder. Did he imagine it was Zara each time he took me? If I based it to that time he fell asleep on top of me and whispered her name, then yes, maybe he did, often.

Putting my heartbreak on the side, I dwelled on Callum’s dilemma. I could cry later, but right now, the man I loved needed my help. So I was going to pretend that I didn’t care about him. “If she really loves you, then she’s worth all the heartache and pain.” How painful was this? I was pushing him to get back with Zara. Even if my heart was irrevocably broken, I wanted him happy. He had gone through so much devastation and I believed it was his turn to be with his love again.

“Thank you for being here, Stella,” he said, not knowing that he was crushing my heart into shards. “You’re a great listener and a good friend.”

Ouch.

Fuck. Thefriendpart did me in.

“Goodnight, Callum.” I had nothing left to say, so I rolled back to the other side, facing away from him.

“Goodnight.”

Silently, I kept to myself. Counting down the time until it was time to leave.

At the crack of dawn, I double checked to see if Callum was asleep. He seemed like he was, though his position remained the same. I granted myself a minute to study his face because I knew I might never have another opportunity to do so again.

With a heavy heart, I scrambled out of bed and dashed out of the house without brushing my teeth or putting any make-up on. I simply slid out of bed, changed clothes, gathered my work things and left the house to go to my own flat.

It feels weird to be back in my own place, I thought as I opened the door.

“Fuck!” I screeched when I saw a full frontal of Mark. “Jesus!Bloody fuck!”

Mark had the audacity to laugh at me when it should’ve been the other way around.

“For fuck’s sake, Mark, put some clothes on!” I covered my eyes as I scrammed towards my bedroom.

Luciana and Mark were obviously shagging now. As happy as I was that they had finally gotten that out of the way, I couldn’t help smiling and shivering at the memory of Mark’s naked body. That was beyond awkward.

I had to make a mental reminder to sit those two down and make pointers about proper flatmate etiquette when it came to nakedness and sex. I loved them both, but if they kept me awake at all hours because of their hard and noisy romping, I’d find my own place.

Much to my relief, I didn’t see Mark or Luciana when I came out to leave for work. Although, at about eleven, I finally heard a knock on my office door. I didn’t need to look up to guess that it was Luciana with some sort of explanation.ThisI couldn’t wait to hear, obviously.

“Morning, love.” Luciana was dressed in an all white pantsuit, which emphasized every curve. The mischievous spark in her eyes was something new, however. I was sure Mark Cotswold was the one who had lit it up.

“You’re chirpy.”

She grinned before rolling her eyes at me. “Okay, we’re shagging. Tons. Hell, Stella! He’s amazing!” she let on, giddy at the thought of Mark. Luciana was a lot of things, butgiddywasn’t part of her Italian, sophisticated DNA.

I hid a smile, trying to act all serious. “I’m worried. Does Mark have a golden cock? From what I’ve seen this morning, it looked pretty normal.”

Callum’s on the other hand, there was nothing golden about it. It was mean… like a bull, like an angered beast or…

Okay, I had to stop. There was no point in getting all hot and bothered thinking about him when I might never get to kiss or feel his body again. Seriously, I had to snap out of my funk.

Luciana only sighed. “That and more. We haven’t really spoken about what will happen. We’re just having fun, but we promised to talk about it soon…” She paused as she read the text message that had just gone through on her phone. “Mother just got in town. I have to meet her for lunch.” She waved me goodbye. “I’ll catch up with you soon,” she said before closing the door on me.

Her mother was here for her event, The Pisano Event. She wanted to make sure everything was how she had pictured it. It was weeks away, but she was beyond meticulous. I was simply glad that Luciana got to deal with her full-time. I mean, I adored her mother, but in my current turmoil, I could only handle easy to difficult to please clients, not the almost impossible ones.

When I felt a headache starting to sprout, I leaned against my chair and closed my eyes, massaging my temples.I’m falling apart, aren’t I?I thought sadly.

A beeping sound erupted, interrupting the silence, indicating a text message. With a groan, I reached for it on the table.

Callum:Burial is for tomorrow at eleven in the morning.

He surely wasn’t wasting any time getting rid of his father. I was starting to type my reply when I paused mid-way, contemplating if I should even bother with a reply. After a few seconds, I decided not to. I was sure mine would get lost amidst the rest of the people sending him condolences.

For lunch and the rest of the afternoon, I stayed in my office, enjoying a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice as my lunch. When nighttime came, I decided to stay in my flat. Since Luciana was staying with her mother tonight, I simply couldn’t resist the temptation of being alone again. Besides, going back to Callum’s house with Zara in there as they tried to console each other would be too nauseating and too painful for me to witness.