Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Eleven

Charlotte

"Who wants ice cream on the way home?" Luca asked, smiling in the rearview mirror at Layla.

"Me!!!" She squealed before I had a chance to get a word in edgewise.

I gave Luca a sideways glance. "I don't know if that's such a good idea so close to dinner. You'll ruin her appetite."

"Are you telling me I can't indulge my daughter?" Luca narrowed his eyes at me.

"Our daughter." I corrected. "I'm just saying, she won't eat anything tonight if you..."

"Dairy Queen it is." Luca whipped into parking lot before I could even finish my sentence. I had a feeling this was more about proving a point to me than anything, but I was going to need to learn to pick my battles with him. He could see for himself when he was the one dealing with her tonight when we couldn't get her to eat any kind of real food.

"Yay!" Layla cheered, clapping her hands together. "Daddy, did you know my favorite is strawberry? It's because it's pink. What's your favorite?"

"Daddy like vanilla." I said as I got out of the car. Memories from our night together in Miami when he told me vanilla was his favorite flashed through my mind.

"She's right." Luca smiled. "Vanilla is my favorite."

"Because you love white?" Layla scrunched her nose up.

"I just like the taste of it, baby." She clung to Luca like her life depended on it as we walked into the ice cream shop.

I hung back for a minute, trying to squash those memories back down. That was a lifetime ago now. We were clearly very different people know. We're both hurt each other beyond repair.

"Char? What do you want?" Luca called over his shoulder, his tone suggesting he'd already asked a few times. I must have zoned off.

"Oh, nothing for me thanks." I gave him a tight-lipped smile.

He nodded and continued ordering.

"Aren't you going to get sprinkles, daddy?" Layla pointed to the bucket of colorful candies sitting on the counter.

"I don't think so. You can though." Luca said enthusiastically.

Layla stuck her lip out in a pout. "But mommy loves sprinkles. Aren't you going to share with her?"

Luca looked at me, unsure of how to respond to her.

"It's okay sweetie, I'm not very hungry." I responded. "Daddy doesn't need to share."

Both Luca and Layla turned back to the counter, but at the last second I heard him add sprinkles.

We found a table while they ate their ice cream. I even tried a bite of both of theirs at Layla's insistence. To anyone watching, we would have looked like a normal family. It killed me that in another world, we would have been.

Layla fell asleep on the way home even though it was a quick drive. She was exhausted from playing at the school all day and I knew that coupled with all the sugar she just had would make for a nightmare of a night. Luca was in for a heavy dose of what it means to be a parent.

She ran him ragged for the whole hour before dinner. For the most part, he took it well and even let me sneak upstairs to take a shower. He looked exhausted by the time I came back downstairs and Layla showed no signs of slowing down.

"Momma, did you know daddy has a pool? Can we go swimming?" She slid into her chair at the dinner table.

"I did!" I arched my eyes at Luca. "It's too late to swim tonight, sweetie. Its already dark. And we left your swimsuit at home."