The Owner & the Wife by Sarah Arcuri

Author:Sarah Arcuri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Owner and The Wife, Sarah Arcuri, Selvatica Books, New York City, Little Italy, Italian restaurant love story, New York City restaurant business, Italian American culture, Italian American love story
Publisher: Selvatica Books
Published: 2023-04-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Little Italy, New York

Summer, 1985

Scarlett didn’t have to wonder who was knocking on her door. When she opened it and Enzo filled the frame, in her gut and in her heart, she knew it would be for the last time. Not so much because she wanted it to be, but because it had to be.

“Come here,” Enzo said as he reached for her and closed the door behind him. “I’m sorry, Scar. You don’t know how sorry I am.”

Though she had tried to numb herself, her tears wet his shirt as he drew her into him and kissed the top of her head. “I asked you not to hurt me, Enz.” She looked up at him. “Why? Just tell me why. Is it something I did?”

“No. God, not at all, Scar. Claudia knew, okay? She knew I was seeing somebody else. What was I supposed to do, you know? I had to try and at least pretend to, I don’t know…” he trailed off. “I don’t know what I was trying to do. All I know is I want to make it up to you.”

“You can’t.”

“Come on, sweetheart. Tell me what I have to do. I’ll buy you anything you want. Take you any place you want to see. I’ll do anything.”

“Enzo,” she said, her voice as unsteady as she felt. Her body shook with nerves as she felt him take a lock of her hair and twist it around his finger. She knew he probably expected her to melt. To forgive him. There was a part of her that wanted to. But she couldn’t. Every time she thought about letting him back into her heart again, she replayed the images in her head of him and Claudia together even though the very thought of it felt like a knife was piercing her heart.

He pulled apart from her and met her gaze. “What?”

She knew she had to do it. She knew exactly what she had to say; she had been rehearsing it in her head since last night. But looking into his eyes, it was harder than she’d ever imagined it would be. She didn’t just see Enzo. She saw every moment she’d shared with him, the ones in secret and the ones on full display. She saw how being with him had changed her, and she was scared of who she would become without him. “Enzo,” she said, her voice no louder than a whisper, “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do what?”

“This. The affair.”

“Is that what you think this is?”

“What else do you call it?”

All traces of his sweet tenderness were gone. She thought he might turn around and leave right then and there.

“I’m trying to talk to you,” she demanded, trying once more to gain his attention.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

Enzo shot his cuffs and straightened his tie. “Fine. Fine! Let’s talk about it. What do you have to say?”

“I have never felt so small – and that’s saying a lot – as when you came into that restaurant with your wife,” she said with her finger pointed at him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.