Mafia Queen

Chapter Eight

Charlotte

"I mean, I know we totally should have had the kid discussion before we even got engaged, but it just never really came up." Jenni shrugged, standing on her tiptoes on a step stool to grab a gallon of paint off the shelf.

"Luca and I never really talked about it, either." I watched her nervously. This wasn't going to end well.

She looked back over her shoulder at me sarcastically. "You didn't exactly give him a choice, Char. You showed up on his doorstep with a child long before you were married. I feel like a discussion is obsolete at that point."

"Technically, he showed up on my mother's doorstep." I chuckled. "But honestly, I think you're making a big deal about nothing. Seth hasn't brought up having kids, has he?"

"Well, no." she protested, finally steady back on the ground. "But he adores your kids, and he's so good with them."

"You adore my kids, too." I reminded her.

"Of course I do." She agreed. "But one of the things I love most about them is that I can send them home hyped up on sugar at the end of the day."

"And there is nothing wrong with that." I insisted. "There is a big difference between loving your nieces and nephews, and wanting kids of your own. And I feel like if it was a deal breaker for Seth, he would've brought it up."

"You're right, maybe I'm jumping the gun." She sighed.

"Because you've never been known to do that before." I smirked, winking at her. Jenni's middle name might as well be jumping-the-gun. She had been that way as long as I had known her, always stressing herself out about things that hadn't even happened yet.

"Speaking of kids, Cole is almost six months old now, shouldn't you be announcing another pregnancy soon?" She teased.

"You're hilarious." I groaned. Every time I had gotten pregnant, it was an accident. Luca didn't complain for one second, though. In fact, I think he preferred me that way. He wanted lots of kids, and although he was content to take things at my pace, I knew he'd love to have even more. We certainly didn't mean to have the boys so close, and I wasn't about to even think about another with my mind and body still recovering. Even with Julia's help, the adjustment was kicking my butt and Luca's amped up schedule wasn't helping.

"Do you think—" Before I even got the sentence out, an enormous blast came from the front of the store and a heat wave pummeled me to the ground. I turned towards it to see the entire front of the studio erupting in flames.

"Jenni!" I shrieked, scrambling to get back up.

Jenni met me in the hallway, already panicked. "What was that?"

"There's a fire. We need to get out." Smoke was already filling the space, and it was hard to breathe. Jenni grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the back doorway and into the alley. We rushed to the front of the studio as sirens blared in the distance.

A crowd was growing in front of the gallery and gathering around Jenni and me to be sure we were okay. Aside from a little smoke inhalation, we were fine, but I couldn't say the same about our studio. Flames engulfed the entire thing, tearing away at the walls and everything inside. Fixtures and bricks and beams clamoring to the ground. I covered my mouth, shocked at how quickly destruction had taken over.

"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to step over here." A fireman gently guided me over to where paramedics were waiting.

I was speechless as I took a seat in the back of the ambulance, tears pooling my eyes.

This space held such a special part of my heart. I agonized over picking the right space for weeks when we first opened the gallery. After handing over my entire life savings for the down payment on it, Jenni and I ate cereal and Ramen for months, just trying to make rent on it. I put so much of my heart and soul into designing it. I met Luca there, we reconnected there. My children were raised on the antique hardwood floors while Jenni and I brought Luca's vision of a studio for underprivileged kids to life.