Mine to Promise (Southern Wedding #6)(28)

“Then why haven’t you?” She asks me the loaded question I have been asking myself since I found out about Avery.

“Because I wanted her to tell me,” I admit to her, “and I felt like I was invading her privacy.”

Sofia gasps. “How are you related to this family?” She points at Matty, who rolls his eyes at her.

“We are all not like my uncles,” he retorts, “or your grandfather.” He smirks at her.

“She just told me she raised Avery on her own.” I fill Sofia in on the little part that she gave me.

The statement made my blood run cold in my body. The statement that when she walked away from the table, I thought I would break the glass in my hand from how hard I was squeezing it.

“She did, and she did a great job.” Sofia almost glares at me.

“No, she didn’t do a great job,” I correct softly, and I talk fast because she looks like she is going to throttle me. “She did an exceptional job, I know that.” I shake my head. “I just don’t get it.”

“I don’t really know the details,” Sofia says softly. “All she told me was they haven’t spoken to her since she walked out and said she wouldn’t get rid of her baby.”

It’s then that Matty grunts, “What the fuck?”

I ignore him because if he is feeling even a quarter of what I felt, it’s a lot. “How long has she been working for you guys?” Surely, that question isn’t invading anything.

“Not that long, but she’s busted her ass the whole time.” She stands with her shoulders back and I’m almost thankful, knowing even if I wasn’t here, she had someone who would go to war for her and for Avery.

“Okay.” Matty holds up his hands, sensing we are going to go toe-to-toe. “What does this mean?”

“What do you mean?” I ask him because his question is loaded.

“Well, you have a kid,” he points out, and I don’t know why, but I can’t help feeling proud, especially since she’s the most amazing kid I’ve ever met.

“I do.” I smile at him, and if I could puff out my chest, I would. “I need to get a house.”

I grab my phone out of my back pocket. “I have to call your mom.” I thought I would be able to get a house on my own, but after searching and driving around for the past two days, it’s clear I need help in that department.

“Are you finally setting roots?” Matty asks, and I throw my head back and laugh.

“You’ve been in the South too long,” I say, then look over at Sofia. “Is there anything I should know?”

“Is there a specific question you are asking?” Sofia counters but then holds up her hand. “Doesn’t matter, I won’t tell you.”

“Great.” I shake my head. “Good talk.”

“Don’t you ‘good talk’ me, Stefano,” she hisses. “I’m not the one who had sex without a condom.”

“We used protection. Do you think I would be that careless?” I throw back at her. “Look at Michael and Jillian, it’s not one hundred percent.” I mention my cousin Michael, who had a one-night thing with Jillian, only to find her four months later when he went to pick up Mia and Emma.

“You think?” She smirks at me, and I just shake my head.

“Go to your room,” Matty urges me. “When are you telling everyone?”

“The question you need to be asking is, did you tell your girlfriend that you are now a father?”

Sofia asks me. I don’t answer her that she is a non-factor. Instead, I answer Matty.

“I don’t know. Why?” I ask him.

“Because when you do, they will all be descending,” he teases, making me laugh. “It’s going to be a Bat Signal to end all Bat Signals. Then everyone, and I mean everyone, is going to descend.”

“I’ll let you know,” I assure him before I walk up the stairs to the spare bedroom. Pulling up her number, I think about texting her instead of calling, but something in me just makes me press the blue phone button. I look down at the phone and put it on speaker as I kick off my shoes and throw myself on the king-size bed.

It rings three times before she answers in a whisper, “Hello.”

“Did I wake you?” I whisper back into the phone.

“No,” she replies, and I hear the sound of sheets rustling. “I was just checking on Avery to make sure she was okay before heading to bed.” Her voice goes up a touch.

“Can you meet me tomorrow for breakfast?” I ask, holding my breath, hoping she says yes.

“I don’t know,” she answers. “I have to have her at daycare, and then I start work by nine.”

“What about lunch?” I ask her, hoping she says yes to this.

“I try not to take lunch,” she admits, “so I can leave early and get Avery.”

“Why did you sneak out that morning?” I want to kick myself the minute the question comes out of me. It was a question I knew I would ask her eventually. It was the question I’ve asked the universe time and time again when I would think about the beautiful stranger who made me forget all my rules.

The beautiful one who made me laugh like no one else, and the one who made me go from zero to a thousand with just one look.