Marked by Crime Rivalry Book2 [✓]

P24

DAYS went by fast, and surprisingly, they didn't go terrible as she thought.

"It's so much water!" Luca exclaimed as he stuck his foot in it. She smiled as he was smiling through the phone, they were happy on the island. The boys enjoyed the water, even more, with swimming lessons to come. She watched them play around in the sand, they giggled and played football together, tackling each other. It was truly a vacation, a beautiful miracle to see them this way. Carter felt the same as they continued to demand him to look at them as they tackled each other.

From her periphery, he sat beside the phone giving her a view of the boys now chasing the dogs. She was surprised, not knowing Luciano sent them there as well. Sent her dogs, well including Noodles but there was no place they belonged then besides the boys. They had all the energy just as them.

This was her peace.

"How is it going on your end?" Carter asked as he looked down to see her in the camera. She was laying in her bed, waking up only an hour ago before he called her. She shrugged.
"Same old I guess. I do think there is a secret that's going around and I'm the only one who doesn't know it. I just feel it."

He chuckled and teased how she knew her man. She does, sometimes.

It wasn't much that went on, on the island. The boys spent most of their time outside and of course, so did he as a lifeguard and dad duty ensuring they didn't drown in the water. Regardless of Luciano setting up a fence around their home, the boys ran out of it. The dogs were more than happy to play guard dog too. Carter told her of the one time Luca decided to do a cannonball inside, or at least he attempted before Noodles snagged his shirt and pulled him back into the fences.

It was time for the boys to say goodbye and they kissed through the phone before hanging up and she sighed.

She missed her babies.

He called every day now, well even the day Luciano sent her flowers but she missed the call due to shopping with Georgia. Still, she hadn't gotten her answer of who Nina was with that day and no one brought it up so she didn't.

She didn't exactly share a real conversation with Luciano since he broke things off but judging by the flowers he sent a week ago, she knew he came to the realization of his hasty decision. He was giving them both space and she was grateful for it. Usually, she couldn't handle missing him so much, that she would stomp into the house to see him, but she didn't have to because he never left, and neither did she. They slept under the same roof and saw each other every day.

He wasn't distancing physically, just emotionally.
Every day they would greet each other in the morning, Luciano would cook her breakfast and they would sit at the table in silence. Well, he would be on his phone or sometimes he would stare at her as she ate and she only knew because every time she made a small mess, he would make a sound of amusement. During those times, she tended to keep her eyes on her food only because just glancing up and accidentally staring into his orbs was intense and a prelude for later mistakes.

He normally spoke to the boys on his own, without her for being so busy the past few days. Maybe they weren't on the level of comforting each other, but she hoped he could talk to her about his stress. She was smiling every day because his mere presence was a welcome gate to their relationship.

No more tossing her away, regardless of what his speech made it seem like. They were emotional and he was a terrible decision maker when he was emotional. They both knew it.

She hadn't seen Dante as often given Luciano stayed home most of the time and Dante was only around when Luciano wasn't. She hadn't seen Adriano as often either, and come to think of not even Nina was around. Georgia was always off canoodling with her new bodyguard boyfriend and today she was bringing Kane by today for some sort of special occasion Teresa didn't know of.