Between The Flames ⚜️Il Paradosso Book Two⚜️

Chapter fifty-one

Whitney Houston's "I will always love you" played in the distant background as I entered the party room to find Vinnie pushed up against the bar, singing along to the lyrics. He was horribly offbeat and mispronouncing the words so offensively that it hurt my ears.

"Where is my husband?"

He turned his head to peer at me from above his shady drink. "Which one? The dark beast with lots of tattoos or the sexy psycho with abs of steel?"

At what point did he assume his jokes weren't worthy of stabbing oneself in the eye?

"Where is Antonio?" I redirected, restraining a noise of exasperation from leaving my throat.

"One is six feet under, at the cemetery-"

"Fuck's sake, Vinnie!"

He didn't even budge when I showed him. He raised the glass to his lips again with a grin and ambled out of the room.

I hadn't realized there was anyone else in the room until the sound of a phone retracted my attention to the far end.

Nicco sat on one of the black sofas, with an outdated newspaper spread out on his lap. I didn't think those still existed nowadays.

The silence was awkward, stretching out longer than I would have anticipated while he answered his call.

I waited for him to finish his conversation, standing in front of him.

"Do you need something?"

He raised the newspaper up again, and snapped a picture of something.
"It's the color of your eyes," I said.

He glanced at me from over the paper.

"The piercing, it's the color of your eyes and it hurts."

He continued to ignore me.

"He's in his office, Adriana." He placed the phone onto the glass table before him and gave me a once over before returning to his read.

I wasn't sure I could get accustomed to him using my name and not his usual appellations.

Antonio's back was facing the door when I entered; his attention focused on paperwork in his hand while leaning onto his desk.

I inhaled a deep breath, holding it in as I took baby steps forward, shutting the door easily to let my presence be known.

I was reluctant of whether he wanted to see me or not. He had returned from a recent trip to England and hadn't slept in our bed ever since, which was two nights ago.

I was desperate to get an inkling of his thoughts regarding the previous contingency that had placed a hurdle between us. I hadn't gotten anything from him yet, and the suspension was peeving and driving me up the wall.

I was wondering if I screaming at him would produce any form of reaction. Anything could do at this level.

"Can we talk?"

His shoulders straightened from beneath his crisp white shirt, but he resumed his position, rustling through the papers.

"You have no right to ignore me like this."

He proceeded to give me his backside, and I ambled towards him with a deep sigh.

"I'm listening."

I was wondering if I'd married a brick wall at this point, from his disquiet stance.

"A medal for your stubbornness and a penny for your goddamn thoughts?"

I exhaled the trapped air when he laughed and finally set down his work to face me, his eyes staring with a vigour that burned my skin and made my cheeks warm.