by Mia Villano
“Oh my God.”
Chapter 20
Standing on my front porch was the most beautiful man I had ever saw. Fabrice never looked so good.
He pushed his way inside without being invited. I had on my nightgown after my shower. I didn’t realize what was happening until it happened.
Fabrice grabbed me and lunged for me. He pulled me up to him and kissed me hard and long. His mouth overtook mine. I didn’t kiss him back. I was in shock.
He set me down, not taking his eyes off me. His hands ripped open my nightgown. He tore it off my body. I was naked underneath. He looked me up and down. The ripped nightgown fell to the ground.
“Why?”
I didn’t know what to say. Why what? Looking at him made me realize how much I had missed him. His scent overpowered me. His body was so near to mine. I let the tears fall down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop thinking about those pictures of him in Paris. Was I being immature? I wasn’t thinking.
“Why did you end us?” He broke the silence.
“You ended us.”
“I never did. I never would. You never let me explain. You didn’t even give me that.”
I was speechless. He grabbed me and lifted me up again. This time he pushed me to the couch where I fell backward.
“No.” I said pushing him away.
“This thing between us is over.” I said. He looked at me. Dear god, those eyes. Those eyes I wanted to drown in were looking at me puzzled.
“It will never be over, Isabella.”
He kissed me again. This time long and hard. He smelled so good and was so warm. My body fought to melt into his. I wanted to be consumed by him. I tried to fight him off. He was lying on top of me. My nipples hard and my heart pounded.
I needed him. It was as if he never left me. Again, he picked me up and carried me to my bedroom.
My head was clouded and saying ‘no’. My heart and my body were saying ‘yes’. Once inside my room, he pressed me up against the wall.
Fabrice’s muscles were hard and his body tense as he pressed up against me. He was hard. His hands roamed my body quickly. He touched my face, my breasts, and my ass.
I felt my body relax and my pissed off emotion left me.
“You walked away from me, Isabella.”
“Stop it, Fabrice. This isn’t going to happen again. You and I are over.”
“Why?”
“You know why. You were with someone in Paris. We aren’t right for each other. I’m not like those other women.”
“You didn’t give me a chance to explain.”
“You didn’t need to. I saw it.” His face buried in my neck as he kissed me and sucked on my skin. I felt the tears drip down my cheeks to my chest. He licked my tears away.
“She was Celeste’s sister. She’s like my sister. She wanted to spend time with me because she was having a hard time dealing with her sister’s death. Marin sent you the pictures to do what she knew would happen.” My body relaxed against him. I needed him to say that. I needed to hear it from him.
“I’ve been insane without you. I’ve been dead without you.”
“Fabrice, why were you with her every night? You were at the places you took me,” I cried. Tears poured down my cheeks.
“It’s because that’s where Celeste and I used to take her. It was nothing more. She just lost her sister, her only sister, and she needed to talk to me. Do you have any idea what this has done to me? I couldn’t come back. I had to stay in Paris and you shut me out. You turned off your phone. I never have felt so much pain.”
Oh my God. What had I done?
“I died too, Fabrice. I convinced myself that you were better off without me. You are better off without me.” He grabbed me.
“I’m nothing without you. Oh my God, Isabella. Why? Why would you do this without talking to me?”
I didn’t know why. I couldn’t answer him. He took my face in his hands. The tears started to pool in his eyes. What had I done? I was ashamed. I was embarrassed.
“I couldn’t let myself get hurt again, Fabrice. Not again. I couldn’t bare it, so I walked away. You are better off with someone else. ”
“I don’t want someone else. I want you. You, Isabella.”
He kissed me again. His mouth hurt me as he took me wildly.
“I had to stay in Paris. They wouldn’t let me leave. I tried to get through the pain. I told myself to get through one day at a time. The hours barely moved. My heart was broken. All I wanted was you. You gave me up.”
“I’m sorry. I thought I was doing you a favor.” I began to cry harder.
He kissed me again softly. He said nothing. I pressed my cheek against his scruffy face. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a while. I closed my eyes breathing him back into me. His scent I had missed so much.
“Don’t leave me. Let me back into your life. I can’t take it another second. You are the woman for me, the only woman. I realized that even more when I was in France.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He was shaking.
“I’m a mess, Fabrice. I have been put through hell with Anthony. You don’t need that. You deserve so much better than me.”
“There is nothing better than you,” he muttered.
His hands left my face and started to explore me again. Slowly sliding over my body as if to familiarize himself with me.
My hands touched his chest. I felt his heart beating. I felt his chest heaving.
“I needed you so bad,” I whispered, as my lips kissed the little part of his chest exposed.
He lifted me up higher and placed each one of my legs over his shoulders so my sex was in his face. His hands grabbed onto my ass and kneaded it. He licked his way down to my sex. He pushed into me more as my thighs tightened to hold him to me. He moaned as if he was in pain. Nothing I had heard before as his tongue dove into me. I was trying to balance myself on him by holding his head. His faced pushed into me as far as he could. He was devouring me with his mouth, kissing me, and making love to me. My body was pressed against him. He kept pushing deeper in me.
“Oh, God.” I yelled as the orgasm began to build. His mouth was sucking and licking. He swirled his tongue around my aching clit. I started to grind against his face. Fabrice walked over to the bed holding me up and not taking his face out of my sex. I fell backwards and he managed to keep his face in me. His mouth still sucking on my clit. The orgasm racked my body as I convulsed against him. I cried out his name. Fabrice was still dressed as he looked up at me. I began to unbutton his shirt and he didn’t object. He eagerly undid the button of his pants. I pulled his erect cock out. I hadn’t seen it in two months. His girth and beauty made me groan.
Without hesitating he pushed it into me. He pulled me into him as he thrust in me. He kept his eyes open and on me. Fabrice was still shaking. It didn’t take long before he said my name and threw his head back. His body writhed uncontrollably.
“Oh, my sweet Isabella. Oh God.” I was flooded with him as he kept coming. Watching him I realized he did want me. He wanted me more than anything.
Chapter 21
As his body relaxed, he rolled off me. My room was pitch black, but I heard him breathing heavy.
We were both sweaty and quiet.
The silence soothed me and knowing he was next to me was all I needed.
He rolled over to me and pulled me next to him.
“That can’t happen again.”
I said nothing.
“You can’t do that to me. I love you so much. You need to understand that. I don’t know how to get that into your head. There is no one and I mean no one that I want other than you. You are mine.”
“I know. It’s not fair to you. I’ve been acting like a child.”
“No, you have been treated like a child. That’s done and over with. Anthony is dead and will never hurt you again. You have to put it behind you, Isabella. You have a wonderful future ahead of you now.”
“Why me, Fabrice?”
“Fabrice, I love you too. More than you will ever know, more than I know.” I kissed his face all over. Taking in his smell and the texture of his skin. I wrapped my body around him as we lay in the dark.
As the night went on we made love three more times. It was five in the morning when I looked at the clock again. I never went to sleep. I watched as Fabrice slept on his stomach hugging my pillows to him with his face buried into them. He was so peaceful, so perfect. His love for me was undying. I had to just let it go and let him love me. Would I be able to accept it?
Feeling a little more at ease with my life, the next morning I woke up and made us both breakfast. I called the hospital and spoke to Avery’s mom. Nothing had changed but they were having a meeting again in the morning about Avery’s situation. She asked if I would come. It’s not even a question.
Fabrice came out of my bedroom making my heart stop looking at him. He was so beautiful and just wearing his pants.
“Do you know how often I dreamt about this moment? To be with you again for breakfast.”
He walked behind me and put his arms around my waist. I was wearing my bathrobe and nothing else.
He nuzzled his face in my neck.
“You are insatiable, Fabrice.”
“I’m a man in love, that’s all. I am back with you and nothing else matters to me. I missed you so much. I didn’t care about anything when I was away from you. I didn’t eat, sleep or wash.”
Well, we are together now.”
“What’s for breakfast? It smells incredible.” I couldn’t help but stare into his sea blue eyes. They reminded me of a kaleidoscope I had when I was a little girl. They seemed to change colors in the light. They mesmerized me.
“Eggs, potatoes, toast, sausage and coffee.”
“Sounds perfect because today my appetite is back. Have you checked on Avery yet?”
“Yes, I just called.” I scrambled the eggs as I told him everything that happened from the night of her wedding up until now.
“That’s very upsetting. No one knows how she contacted this virus in her heart?”
I shook my head trying not to talk so I wouldn’t start crying. I looked around the condo and saw so much of her there.
We ate breakfast, showered, and he went to his house and I headed to the hospital. He said he wanted me to stay with him since the condo was too upsetting for me. I agreed to stay. I packed a few suitcases of my clothes and he took them with him back to his house. I would meet him later. He had a busy day and I was going to have an emotional one.
The hospital was a busy place that morning when I walked in. I went up to the seventh floor to find her family and Cherise’s sitting around her bed. Her parents looked exhausted.
The meeting was not good news. Avery’s heart was enlarged and not pumping like it should. The virus had weakened it to the point that she would need a transplant in order to live. She was so weak that she may not make it through the transplant surgery. They were keeping her sedated and would wait to see if a heart came. I sat stunned trying to make it become a reality. Avery wasn’t coming home. I wouldn’t hear her voice again when I walked in the door. I wouldn’t see her smile at me or tell me she loved me. This was it. I reached over and took Cherise’s hand. She was crying and shaking.
Avery’s dad pushed his chair back and stood up.
“I’m not sitting here and taking this. I will find her a heart. How long do we have?”
“Maybe three days, tops. She’s getting weaker and her heart isn’t pumping right. If we are going to do so something we need to do it now.”
He stormed out of the meeting and I could hear him crying outside the door.
I left there and went to the restaurant, my place of peace at the time. Sophia was there working as a hostess. She was now five months pregnant.
“Hey, Mom.” I said to her.
“Hey, Izz. How’s Avery?”
“Not good. “She knew not to say anything else.
My mom came out from the back office and hugged me.
“I want you to eat tonight. You look gaunt. Tell me what you want.”
It was best not to fight her. My appetite was coming back slowly.
“Minestrone and bread.”
“I will be right back.” She kissed me on the head and went into the kitchen. Within a few minutes she brought out a very large bowl full of steaming hot minestrone, four pieces of crusty bread and butter, and some slices of cheese. It actually looked good and I ate.
My mom came back and smiled at me and grabbed my hand.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Thank you for making me eat.”
“It’s going to be okay, Izz. No matter what happens it’s going to be okay.”
I shook my head.
“I’m going to stay with Fabrice for a little while at his house. I wanted you to know so that you don’t send Danny over with more groceries. Thank you, by the way.” I had told her briefly that we were back together and it was a misunderstanding. I didn’t go into the detail of it.
“Why are you staying there? Is it a good idea?”
My mom was a devout Catholic. Her faith helped her through many hardships she had faced in her life. The latest and biggest one was my dad’s infidelity. He was seeing a woman off-and-on and my mom caught him. Though I would have shot him, she decided to forgive my dad and let him have another chance. Because of her faith and her strong belief in the sanctity of marriage, my mom expects us to believe the same. I went to twelve years of Catholic school with these same beliefs drilled into my head day and night. As I grew older and wiser to the world and introduced to sex, my beliefs took another direction. My mom knows that we don’t believe the same as she does or as strongly. Yes, in times of difficult situations, like Avery being sick, I rely a great deal on my faith. But, with my beliefs toward sex and a woman’s right to choose, I have fallen away from a lot of those ideas that have been drilled in my head.
“It’s fine. You know I’ve slept with him already.” She cringed.
“Please, I know. I don’t want to think about it and really you should go to confession.” I shrugged my shoulders. Danny walked in with a cup of coffee he was sipping. The restaurant wasn’t open yet and he sat down with us.
“Marco called me.” My mom perked up and I was glad her mind was off me for the time being and on another one of her children breaking her heart.
“What did he have to say?” she asked.
“He was in Seattle. He’s doing well. They have a manager now and are getting booked at some bigger venues. He sounded good, but tired.”
My mom made the sign of the cross. That was her usual in good times and bad. I’ve caught myself doing it once in a while out of habit.
“Is he going to be stopping in any time soon?” she asked.
I felt sick to my stomach after I ate and I was also exhausted and in need of some sleep.
“He didn’t say. He asked about Avery, he was headed to LA in a few days and they are making an album starting next month. He did say to tell his girls he loved them and tell Mom he missed you.” I saw her untighten her body after Danny said that, as if she was anticipating some type of recognition.
“Well, I’m going to go and take a nap, Danny, thank you for bringing that food over the other day.” He winked at me and pointed at Mom, letting me know it was her idea.
“Keep me posted on Avery tonight if anything changes. She needs a new heart, Danny,” my mom said.
“How fast can they get her one?” he asked.
“She’s in critical condition and if she doesn’t get one within a day or two she will die. That bumped her up the list. They could have one by tomorrow or they
might not.”
“Is it legal?” He thought the same thing I did.
“I asked her mom that and she said it was.” I grabbed my purse and stood up. I drove my own car and planned on driving over to Fabrice’s from the restaurant.
I kissed my mom and Danny, and told them to tell Dad and Sophia I loved them. My mom tried to give me food to take home to Fabrice. I told her he had enough. She reminded me again I could go to church with her on Saturday and they have confession before mass. I ignored her.
Pulling into Fabrice’s driveway, the guard waved me in and I pulled the old Honda into his garage. Fabrice was still at work, but the cook let me in.
“Good afternoon, Miss Piori. Can I get you anything? “He asked.
“No, thank you. I’m going to take a nap. You didn’t cook already for tonight, did you?”
“No, not yet, don’t tell me you want to make dinner?” he looked upset.
“If you don’t mind, I have something I want to try and make for Fabrice.”
“Certainly, Miss Piori.” I could tell he wasn’t too pleased by the way he rolled his eyes. He hated when I cooked in his kitchen and moved his things around.
“I promise to clean up and put everything back where it belongs.”
“Not a problem.”
I thanked him and went upstairs to Fabrice’s living area. My suitcases were in his bedroom neatly stacked. I left them and went into his bathroom and took a steamy hot shower, put on one of his t-shirts, and climbed into bed. After that I don’t remember much.
Chapter 22
The sound of my phone buzzing and vibrating off the nightstand woke me up. It was dark outside and I forgot where I was for a second. Fabrice was still not home.
The call was from Cherise.
“Cherise, is everything okay?” She didn’t call me too often. I had a feeling she was still uncomfortable around me.