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“First.” He held his hand up when I opened my mouth. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Excu—”
“Elysa, youwilllisten to me.”
I gave him a mutinous look and folded my arms, feeling like an idiot for being trapped in a train bathroom with him.
“I’m not sleeping with Lucia. I didn’t tell her about the divorce, but I will find out how she knew. Inevertold her I wanted to be with her because I don’t. Now, about what she said to you, are you sure you didn’t misunderstand?”
I glared at him. “Oh, you mean like when Patrizia called me a fat cow?”
“Cristo, Elysa, let’s focus on one of my fuck ups at a time.”
He looked so annoyed and what he said was so not like him that I shut the hell up.
“I don’t understand why Lucia would talk to you about these things. There’s no reason for her to do that.”
God! Men were so stupid. It wasn’t just in the movies. In reality, they were as dumb as doorknobs. “Really? She doesn’t know how you feel about her?” I mocked.
Dante gave me a look that would make a lesser person shrivel. I pretended it didn’t.
“I’ve never been inappropriate with her. What you heard me say to Dean was said…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t remember half the shit I said that night. I’d been drinking,andI was falling to pieces.”
“In Vino veritas,” I suggested in a sing-song manner.
“No,” he retorted. “Cazzo, Elysa. I wasn’t thinking straight, and it pains me that you got hurt. The last thing I want is to hurt you.”
The man had to be kidding me.
“You’re out of your mind! What did you think you’ve been doing for the past year?” I demanded. “Every time I made an effort to have a proper marriage, you rebuffed me. The only thing you seemed to truly enjoy was fucking me, and then I found out that you thought it was justokay.”
“I lied.”
“Yeah, Dante. I believe you liedthen. But are you telling the truthnow?” I rolled my eyes.
“I did lie. I felt cornered, and I said the first stupid thing that popped into my head. Our sex life is…very good.”
“Very good? Not excellent? Not fabulous? Justvery good?”
The words that came out of this man’s mouth!
“I keep saying the wrong thing, don’t I?” Hesighed. “I worried that if I said it was the best I’ve ever had, you wouldn’t believe me, so I tempered what I said, and you don’t believethateither.”
“I don’t even know why you’re trying to convince me.” I dropped my arms and let my anger go. There was no point. “Do what you want to do. Okay? If you’re going to sleep with her while we’re still married, fine. But I don’t need her rubbing it in my face.”
For a moment, he just stared at me, stunned into silence. And then, finally, he said, “After everything I just said, are you still thinking I’m sleeping with her?”
Did I?I had no idea anymore. I was so confused and lost that I didn’t know what was up or down.
“I really don’t give a damn what you do, Dante as long as you give me a divorce.”
Before he could respond, I brushed past him, opened the sliding door, walked out…and bumped straight into Giulia. When Dante followed me, she suppressed a grin and kept walking.
Great, now everyone would think we were having sex in the bathroom.
FIFTEEN
Dante