Two Wolves For Lizette

by Jessica Miller

  “Still weird, by the way,” she couldn’t resist jumping in.

  “…and we’ve been texting and talking ever since. It’s only been since Thursday that he’s stopped.” I’d gone over and over it in my mind, and I couldn’t think of anything to explain this sudden change. There was nothing that I’d said that could have put him off.

  “Dad’s pissed off with you,” she carried on, digging the knife in deeper. “He only told you to pretend to like the guy, he didn’t tell you to fall for him.” Luckily our parents only knew a little bit, and that was only because I’d been forced to confess. They’d been wondering why I was so unhappy, and I had to tell them something.

  “I know.” I sighed deeply. My father had been praising me, thinking that I was the only smart one in the family, the only one to see through the Abattelli family, but then I’d let him down for falling for Enrico.

  “Look,” Pru moved closer to me, throwing her arm over my shoulder in an unusually affectionate gesture. “Men are shits. They all are.”

  I felt a tear trickle down my face at her words. I didn’t want to be at the receiving end of a guy treating me like rubbish – especially not one that I cared so deeply for, that I’d been so wrong about over and over again.

  “Do you really think I ended all of those engagements?” she finally continued, in a sad voice.

  “What do you mean?” I gasped. I’d always seen Pru as this strong, independent woman that tossed men aside when she grew weary of them, and as much as I mocked her for it, I was always a little jealous. But now, I was seeing a whole new side to her.

  She closed her eyes for a few seconds, gathering herself before continuing. “I always act like I’m the one who does the dumping, but I’m not.” She sighed deeply, as if this was hard for her to say. “I get clingy, needy, jealous.” Wow, I could never imagine my overly confident sister being that way. “I push them away; they get sick of me.”

  “I…” I didn’t know what to say, so I hugged her tight, praying and hoping that this guy, whoever she was with now wouldn’t treat her that way. I could see now that she was vulnerable too, that she had walls just like me, and I wanted better for her.

  “So I know how you feel, okay?”

  “Yes,” I answered quickly, realizing that this moment of brutal honesty would change us forever. I already felt like we were closer, and that maybe… just maybe, we might start working on the same team.

  If a better relationship with my sister came out of all of this mess, then there would be at least one silver lining.

  “Just forget about him, okay?” she offered me one final piece of advice, and I nodded agreeably, even though I knew wouldn’t be quite that simple…

  *****

  Enrico

  Bella had stopped trying to call, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. Sure, it was understandable because I hadn’t been answering, but it stung all the same.

  I just couldn’t. I couldn’t deal when I wasn’t sure where my future lay.

  Of course, I knew what I wanted to do, but this wasn’t just about me. I had so many expectations weighing on me, and that was the killer. Boris and the rest of my dad’s men were on my back all the damn time, trying to get me to take his place. They kept promising me money and power, which wasn’t tempting me, but the fact that it would kill my dad if I didn’t follow in his footsteps, was.

  My dream was to be with Bella, to be an artist, but I didn’t think I was good enough for it. I thought that the Abattelli name dictated my future, and I wasn’t sure that I could escape it.

  I was being torn in a million different directions, and I had no idea which way I should turn.

  I wished I had someone that I could turn to for advice. Someone that could help me. Without a mum or any siblings it was difficult, and my dad had ensured that all of my friends were his friends. Looking back, even when I was in high school, he’d pushed all my friends away, leaving me with no one.

  He’d manipulated me my entire life, and now I was a byproduct of that.

  But even as I knew that, I didn’t know how to shake it off. It was maddening.

  *****

  Bella

  It had taken me a few weeks, but I’d finally gotten to a place where I could get out of the house and act like normal. I’d been utterly floored by Enrico, but now I was moving past that.

  Sure, I wasn’t over him – I didn’t think I would be for a very long time – but I was moving on, and that was something.

  As predicted, myself and Pru were becoming increasingly close. We could both see how huge the walls were that we’d built around ourselves, and the effect that had caused on everything else, and we were trying to break them down, to be more for one another.

  I hated everything that had happened, but I was glad for that one reason.

  “Shall we go to lunch today?” Pru asked me, in a routine that was becoming increasingly common for us.

  Our parents didn’t know yet, but she’d dumped her latest fiancé – herself this time. She realized that he wasn’t right for her, and that she’d only been staying because she was afraid of another failed engagement.

  Luckily they were distracted anyway. Dad had found someone else to merge his business with – someone genuine this time – and that was keeping them both very busy, leaving me and Pru to sort out our own lives once more. The only difference was this time we weren’t alone. We had each other.

  “Sure,” I grinned. “Where are you thinking? The Italian?” We generally always went to the same place, so I wasn’t sure why I was asking really.

  “Um, no.” She seemed oddly distracted. “I think we should go to this new little bistro…”

  “Sure, whatever,” I replied, checking my appearance in the mirror. Even that looked different these days. The pinched expression, the too much makeup, the prissy pinned up look… it was all gone. I was a new, freer, more casual me, and it was kinda nice to look at.

  I was even starting to write. Just a little bit, but that was enough to make me feel happier.

  Of course, I’d kept this to myself. I hadn’t even told Pru. I didn’t want anyone to know in case I failed. I would tell the world once I was certain that it was something I was good at, something I could actually succeed with. But I still had it all the same.

  As we walked along, we chatted effortlessly, making me wonder why we’d wasted so much of our lives at one another’s throats. It was so silly looking back now.

  But by the time we arrived at the restaurant, I couldn’t help but notice that Pru was acting increasingly weird.

  “Okay, what’s up?” I eventually asked. “Do you have a new boyfriend or something?” I was suspicious; there was definitely something on her mind.

  “No, of course not!” she exclaimed, far too dramatically. “There’s nothing.”

  I stared at her for a few seconds, trying to make her crack, but she refused to meet my eye. In the end, I turned my attention back to the menu, deciding that she could tell me in her own time.

  If she had someone, then I was happy for her.

  “Okay,” she finally conceded. “I’ll tell you…”

  But before she could get her sentence out, a familiar masculine voice broke out, grabbing our attention. “Bella?” he asked.

  I turned to face him, taking in a sharp breath at the sight of him. It was amazing how deeply he could affect me, even now after I thought I’d begun to move on. He was just so damn gorgeous; he was almost painful to look at.

  “Enrico?” I gasped, shooting Pru a look. Her guilty expression told me that this was what she’d been going to say, that she knew about this and was a part of it. “What’s going on?”

  “I have something for you.” He smiled at me, sending my heart fluttering wildly. That smile would always get me, no matter how much I hated him.

  He handed me a piece of paper, and as my eyes fell to it, my entire foundation shook. It was the painting of me, the one that he’d done all those weeks ago, finished, and it was beautiful
.

  All the arguments that I’d stored up for this exact moment, fell off my lips as I gazed at his work.

  “Wow,” I finally said. “I love it.”

  He’d captured something gorgeous in me, something cute and vulnerable, something I hadn’t even known was within me. It was the exact way that I wanted him to see me, and I couldn’t believe that he did.

  It was almost too much.

  Tears sprung up in my eyes, which I tried to blink away, but unfortunately this made them start to spill out.

  “Bella?” he asked again, drawing my attention back to him. This time, when I went to meet his eyes, he was on one knee on the ground in front of me.

  “Oh my…” I threw my hands over my mouth in shock.

  I glanced over to Pru, looking for some help, but she was nodding enthusiastically at me. I could see in her eyes that she was trying to communicate with me that this was right. That it didn’t matter that it was quick, or that things had gotten messed up, and from her that was hugely important. She knew more about love than anyone I knew, and if she felt it was right… and if deep inside I knew that it was right, then it was probably right.

  “Bella,” Enrico started once more. “We’ve been through more than most, and we’ll go through lots in the future I’m sure. But we’re strong. Together we’re strong, and I believe that we can do it.” He sent me a teary grin, and I felt my cheeks growing increasingly wet. “I think we can make each other better people. I think we can give each other the world. So I guess what I’m asking is will you make me the happiest man alive? Will you be my wife?”

  His words touched me deeply inside, and I could feel myself melting. “Yes,” I gasped. “Of course I will.”

  Then he picked me up and spun me around as we all broke out in a mini celebration.

  *****

  Epilogue

  Enrico

  One year later…

  To say that our journey had been difficult was a massive understatement. Bella’s parents were angry that we’d eloped, my dad was furious that I didn’t want the business, and because of that we’d faced all kinds of financial struggles… but we were getting there.

  Together.

  “When are we meeting Pru and Brian?” I asked her from the other room in our tiny apartment.

  A lot of things had changed for all of us. Pru had finally found the true love of her life, I had gained some success with my art career, and Bella had received a five book publishing contract for her romance series that was loosely based on us and all that had happened.

  We were getting there, slowly but surely.

  “In an hour or so,” she called back, causing me to hop up from the sofa where I was sitting to go and join her.

  “That gives us plenty of time…” I strolled up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and placing kisses down her neck.

  “Oh yeah?” she replied, rolling her head to one side. “For what?”

  “For more baby making.” I murmured against her skin. We’d decided to start our own family a little while ago, and we’d been doing plenty of trying ever since!

  She spun around to face me, pulling me in for a deep and passionate kiss. I immediately picked her up, wrapping her legs around me so that she could get a good feel of just how excited she made me. Even after a year of marriage, the honeymoon phase hadn’t passed. I still wanted her just as much as I did on that very first day.

  “Oh God, you feel good,” she groaned against my lips, showing me that she felt just the same way about me.

  That was enough to make me toss her backwards on the bed, before hovering over her.

  “I love you, you know,” I said seriously. I wanted to tell her every single day, I never wanted her to forget how deeply I felt for her. After such a confusing road to get here, I needed her to really understand that I’d always be there, no matter what.

  “I love you too,” she smiled sincerely.

  Then, I began tugging at her clothes, needing her naked, and she was pulling at the material covering me too, just as needy.

  As I plunged into her, and I watched her arch her back in pleasure, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was, she was the most beautiful woman on the entire planet. And she wanted me.

  “Enrico?” she panted beneath me as I moved. “I have something to tell you.”

  “What?” I moaned, wondering if this was essential to tell me right now, right in this moment, just as I was getting into it.

  “I did a test today. I’m already pregnant,” she announced, with an excited edge to her voice.

  “What?” I screeched, stopping what I was doing. “Are you serious?”

  She flushed eagerly and nodded beneath me. “I’m serious. Our family is going to be complete at least.”

  “Oh my God.” I pulled her tightly in for a hug. “That’s amazing. Just think… all from that one date…”

  And then we burst into laughter, remembering the bizarre way that we’d met, and all that it had led to.

  “To the future.” I smiled and kissed her.

  “To the future,” she replied.

  THE END

  Bonus Story 33 of 40

  Her Mafia Landlord

  Darlene awoke in her 95 Honda Civic for the fourth morning in a row with one of the homeless people of Los Angeles tapping at her window. Today it was a woman who looked old enough to be Darlene’s mother. Although Darlene hadn’t seen this woman before, her dusty face, gray-blue eyes, and curly blonde hair blended with the face of Darlene’s mother seamlessly as she tore awake from a dream about home.

  “Spare some money for breakfast?” the woman asked.

  The fact that Darlene had just been dreaming about her deceased mother made her see the woman’s request in a different light. The homeless in Detroit weren’t as ruthless as the ones she’d been waking up to in L.A., but back home they seemed to be more dangerous.

  Darlene reached into her Seychelles shoe where she kept her cash hidden while she slept. Taking a few wrinkled singles from the wad, Darlene considered how she’d been rationing all of her money until she found a place to live. I can live without a couple bucks, she thought. Darlene unrolled the passenger side window and reached out for the woman to take the money.

  “It’s not much, but I hope it helps,” Darlene said.

  The woman curled her lips upon seeing that there were only two measly singles. “I’d rather take these bills and shove them up your ass with my teeth,” the woman said hoarsely before spitting with laughter. As the woman walked away without the money, Darlene felt the like the receiving end of some sadistic joke.

  Darlene wondered what the point of that was.

  There was no reason for the woman to be so malicious, and Darlene decided, against her better judgment, that she would never be a person who gives hand outs in Los Angeles ever again. If she were going to make it in this metropolis she would have to grow tough skin and worry about nobody but herself.

  Darlene had done well for herself as an interior designer back home. After getting her degree from the University of Michigan, Darlene couldn’t afford to stay in Ann Arbor. She moved back to Detroit to live in her father’s apartment with him, above the Italian restaurant he owned. Although Darlene had made some connections in Detroit through her father, the Italian Mafiosos who hired her limited her creativity as an interior designer.

  Since everyone knew and respected her father, they’d always pay her extra as a courtesy to the running her father used to do for the mob. Darlene didn’t love designing the same type of décor for Italian restaurants, bars, delis, and pizza places. A couple of her aunts opened up flower shops as fronts for money trafficking. These were the only projects that even mildly inspired Darlene. However, she didn’t like knowing that the hard work she put into orchestrating the perfect combination of furniture, colors, art, and spatial relation was spent on such mundane things. For Darlene, there was an art to interior design. It pained her to see her talent wasted.

  The only con
clusion Darlene could come to was that she would be forever stuck in the same cycle unless she left the Midwest. She would have rather waited tables at her father’s restaurant than put any more useless energy into something she loved when it only made her life feel empty at the end of the day.

  Before her grandfather passed, Darlene would visit him every Sunday. He’d make them runny pancakes and strong coffee while they’d watch old black and white monster movies.

  “These movies,” her grandfather used to say, “these will make you the big money. These movies are the perfect front.”

  “The perfect front for what, grandpa?” Darlene would ask.

  “For the Hollywood Heist,” he’d laugh, spilling his coffee onto the card table where they ate breakfast. “I’ve been planning this job for years, Darlene. Just you wait.”

  For years she thought it was an inside joke between them. Darlene learned, however, that her grandfather had been utterly serious. Before his death he left Darlene a detailed plan regarding the Hollywood Heist as a part of his will.

  It wasn’t a joke after all, she thought. She didn’t tell the rest of her family about the heist plans, but they were part of the inspiration for her moving to Los Angeles. Darlene even brought the handwritten plans in case some crazy opportunity ever presented itself, or she became desperate to con someone into doing the dirty work for her.

  All the work she got through her father’s friends helped Darlene save enough to rent an apartment in Los Angeles. At least she hoped that five thousand dollars would be enough to cover the deposit, first month’s rent, and any other bills, utilities, or expenses she would need to get herself set up in the city. She’d been hoping to find a friend or meet someone networking at a Meetup group, but so far those had all proven fruitless.

  Well, she thought, I’m just going to have to resort to Craigslist. Going online to find some cheap apartment was the absolute last thing that Darlene wanted to do, but it was either that or continue to wake up being harassed by the homeless outside her car. She started to wonder if even they were more secure in the City of Angels than she was.