Page 91 of Scandalous Contract

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

STEFANIE

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JULIAN CATTANEO KEPThis promise. For the next three weeks, he wrote me letters at least twice a week. He didn’t mail them. There was never a stamp on them. Yet, somehow, Julian's letters found their way into my mailbox, always without a stamp.

I suspected he had someone on the inside, ensuring their delivery. That was both unsettling and endearing. But I didn’t complain because they were the highlight of my day. Some of his letters were sexy, some were funny, and others were super sweet.

But the ones I loved the most were the informative ones in which he told me about himself. He told me about how he grew up. He told me about how strict his father had been and how it was always his mother he ran to when he felt pressured by the Cattaneo lifestyle.

He didn’t have to mention what that lifestyle consisted of. I wasn’t deaf or blind. Everyone in town knew the Cattaneo family. Julian wasn’t the first Cattaneo I’d met, which was why I’d been a little iffy about India rooming with Aubrey Cattaneo.

Aubrey was a lovely girl, sweet and respectful. But I worried that she’d bring danger to my daughter. Then I met her parents, her mother specifically. Talking with her quieted some of my fears while increasing others.

In the end, I’d decided to let her give it a try. Now the girls were super close. In his letters, Julian also told me about his cousins. Unlike me, he came from a large family. I’d always wanted a large family.

Growing up, my family only consisted of me, my mom, and my dad. Oh, and Ronnie. I couldn’t forget Ronnie. He’d spent more time at my house than his own. And when he’d finally come out of the closet, his father had kicked him out for a while, and he’d lived with us.

I couldn’t remember any of my grandparents on either side of my family. They passed away when I was really young. When I met the man I married, the first thing I noticed about him was his large family.

I’d become close friends with his sisters and treated his younger brother like he was my younger brother. For a while, they’d been like family to me, and I’d been thankful for my extended family.

However, when things went south, they turned their backs on me.Betrayal on top of betrayal. They’d taught me to be thankful for what I had and not to covet what I didn’t.Moredidn’t always mean better or happier.

I was only blessed with one child. And I was just as happy as a family of four.Quality over quantity. I stared down at Julian’s latest letter as I relaxed on my recliner. These letters had become important to me.

So did the little gifts he sent me at home and at my job. I’d been given better gifts before. More expensive gifts. But the gifts Julian sent me made me happier, made me smile harder. And he put thought into every letter he wrote and gift he gave.

Like the little black car he sent me. That man actually sent me a toy car! But it was the meaning behind it that made me place it on my bookshelf, a small token of a memory I wasn't ready to let go. The card attached to it read:

Sweet Stefanie,

Keep this, so when we get old, you won’t forget that I ate your pussy in the back seat of my car. Some memories are worth holding on to forever. Let’s hold on to that one, and let’s both let go of one bad memory that haunts us.

Missing you,

J.C.

I’d read that letter while relaxing on my couch. It had left me feeling needy and wishing I could relive spring break all over again. Then there was the super cute and funny engraved coffee mug he sent me that read:I like my woman the same way I like my coffee: hot, black, and filled with cream.