Things had ultimately returned to normal at the Bernard’s mansion. The men were back on their feet, and the regular chattering had resumed.
Adonis looked better and was trying his best to restore order, and Cara was beginning to love her new pregnancy glow.
-except for the constant vomiting, that is.
The next day, after they’d settled on a compromise, Adonis had instructed that she be driven to the hospital for a thorough check, and the pregnancy was estimated to be a little over a month.
He was back to being the cold man he was before they confessed their feelings to one another, just a little more attentive.
They rarely shared conversations other than simple greetings and small talk over meals and he was very occupied with finding Antonio.
He had invested a lot of time, effort, and resources in his search, but Antonio was doing a very good job of staying hidden. His hideouts and home had been thoroughly searched, but there was still no sign of him anywhere.
Cara could see it made Adonis be on the edge and more grumpy, but she wasn’t bothered.
He’d asked for time, and she was going to give it to him.
A month was nothing anyway.
Moreover, Cecelia and Tina were doing a very good job at keeping her company. She had broken the news of her pregnancy as soon as she was sure, and they were both delighted that they came running to the mansion. The three women joked, laughed, and cried about recent events, they ended up having a girls’s night marathon all through at the end of the day.
Luca was still well; Luca and he had also been very busy all through the week planning Nonno’s burial, which was finally done.
Cara stood by Adonis’s side at the front of the mansion in a black fitted dress as the last of the guests said their goodbyes and offered their condolences. It was a beautiful, intimate ceremony with only the closest of their allies and friends, as Adonis had informed her, and she played the part of the wife of the only family Dimitri had left.
Not that she had to force herself into the role; it was how she felt naturally.
Everyone had smiles on their faces as they talked about how good and kind of a man Dimitri was. She’d caught Adonis clenching and unclenching his fists and grinding his teeth together a few times, but that was it.
No one shed a tear instead, they all had sad smiles on their faces.
Dimitri was a good man whose life should be celebrated, not mourned.
She felt her legs quiver for the third time in the day, and the smile she’d had on all through the day threatened to slip off her face.
As intimate as they planned the funeral to be, Cara was sure she’d greeted over two hundred guests. She glanced at the six-foot-three hulk that was standing beside her in a black suit and wondered how he was still so put together after standing and smiling for hours.
“Thank you for coming, Mr. Moretti,” Adonis said to the last of the guests as the valet brought his car around.
The moment he was gone, Cara heaved a sigh of relief, grabbing onto one of the pillars for support.
“Are you okay?” She heard him question with worry in his voice, and a perky feeling filled her at his attention.
“I’m okay.” She replied. “Just my feet hurting.”
The next thing she knew, he was kneeling at her feet to take off her heels. She tried to take a step back, but he wouldn’t allow it.
“What are you doing, Adonis?” Cara hissed, and he shrugged.
“I’m taking off your heels. You said your feet hurt; what if you fall and hurt your back? You’re pregnant.”
She giggled.
“I can’t fall Adonis.”
He ignored her and took off both shoes before standing again to place them in her hands.
“What about you?” She asked
“I don’t understand.”
“Are you okay?”
Adonis hummed, stuffing his hands in his pocket as he looked ahead.
“I used to be very angry about his death but now, I feel less angry.”
She gave him a small smile.
“That’s a start.”
He gave her a side glance.
“That’s a start?”
Cara nodded.
“Yes, that’s a start. Come on, let’s go in; I’m starving.”
Just as they spun around, the clicking sound of a heel advancing made them halt, and they turned back to see who it was.
A young, tall woman with a wave-like body that could easily pass for a model’s, wrapped in a bold red gown with her hair in a high ponytail was walking towards them. She was extremely beautiful and looked to be a few years older than Cara who was gawking at the unfamiliar face.
The last of the guests had left the mansion a few minutes ago. Where could she have come from?
Cara turned to see if Adonis had an idea, but the look of recognition on his face was enough to dismiss every question she had.
The woman stopped a few feet away from them.
“Hello, Adonis.” Her velvet voice filled their ears, making her a bit self-conscious.
Adonis swallowed, then parted his lips to speak.
“Natasha? What are you doing here?”
The pretty lady smiled.
“Don’t tell me you thought I wasn’t going to come pay my last respects to nonno (grandfather).
She didn’t miss the way she called Nonno so dearly. Who was this woman? How did she know the Bernardis?
“The funeral has just ended,” Adonis responded and she kissed her teeth.
“… but I’m here. I wasn’t going to come, but he meant a lot to me.”
Deciding she’d had enough, Cara cleared her throat.
“Adonis, who’s this?”
The woman turned to her.
“My apologies. I’m Natasha DeLuca. Daughter of your closest ally, Capo DeLuca and Adonis’s ex-fiancee.”
An involuntary gasp escaped her mouth.
Adonis’s ex-fiance?
However, she wasn’t the only shocked one as Adonis stared at the woman he hadn’t seen in three years,
The first woman he’d ever battled falling in love with.