Chapter 60

We were two weeks further and tomorrow I would finally have my baby shower. Francesca and the twins had hijacked the house and were staying over to decorate everything—while I went out to secretly visit Beau.

I felt bad about lying to Christian, but I had been hiding this secret for so long that I was too afraid for his reaction, if he would find out.

“Beau!” I greeted him and ran in his arms to give him a tight hug. We spoke almost every day either over the phone or through text and had become a whole lot closer.

“Serena, it’s good to see you.” Beau pulled away and held my shoulders, so he could take a good look at me. “Look at you, you got so big.” He spoke in surprise.

“Yeah, it looks like it.” I pulled him back into another hug. “After you disappear on me I won’t get to hug you again, so let me hold you for a while longer,” I told him.

“Can you leave the house this easy?” Beau had pulled away again and gave me a worried look. “No—usually I can’t, but surprisingly enough Christian just told me to go.” I shrugged my shoulders. As the four months, Beau had told me about were slowly nearing Christian had been even more overprotective, till the point where he wouldn’t even let me open the door anymore, so he must’ve been in a good mood to let me out for the day.

“Did you tell him you came to see me?” Beau wondered as I shook my head. I still hadn’t told either one of them. I had not informed Christian about Beau, while he did not inform me about the meeting.

“I don’t think he would mind anyway—the last time I spoke with him, he seemed to be okay with all of this,” Beau said, while a thousandth different thoughts went through my head.

“T-the last time you spoke to him?” I stammered. “Yes.” Beau nodded his head. “At the meeting, two weeks ago.”

Did he know?

“R-right,” I said and sat down on the bench. If he knew, then why didn’t he tell me?

It suddenly got very obvious to me that this is what he meant whenever he asked me if I had anything to tell him. “So are you excited about tomorrow?” Beau asked and held his hand against my belly.

“Yes, I really wish you could be there.”

All I wanted was for him to meet the Alfonzo’s who had been nothing but nice to me and truly showed they regretted their decision.

“I know...” Beau gave me a look of sympathy and brushed my hair to the side. “I just want to stay at Fabio’s side until after the baby is born—I won’t leave there until you’re safe.” He explained to me once again.

“I know and I’m grateful.” I nodded my head. Learning about Beau’s childhood and how difficult it had been for him, made me feel like a bad person for complaining about my own life—while if I had to be honest, despite moving from home to home was not half as bad as his.

Fabio had mistreated him, ordered him around like a dog—like an actual servant, and it was all because of a family feud.

We spoke for a while longer until it was time for me to go. “I don’t want to let go of you,” I told him and hugged him even tighter than before. Letting go of Beau felt like letting go of a part of me. “I’ll give you a message if I find out something new.” He told me before taking his exit.

Christian knew,

That was the only thing going through my head as I walked back to the house. Of course, he knew, and that was the reason why he even let me leave the house in the first place—he most likely had people watching me. I looked around me, trying to find anyone, but couldn’t.

When I entered the house it was full of blue and pink decorations and random people following Francesca’s and the twins' instructions. “Hah, right on time—what do you think?” Francesca walked towards me.

“I like it, can’t wait.” I tried to sound excited, but my mind was still with Christian. I had to talk to him as soon as possible.

“Where are you going?” Francesca yelled while I ran up the stairs. “I’ll be back later!” I called out and made my way to Christian’s office. In the past, I used to knock, but nowadays we were at a point where I didn’t.

“Lately you’ve been working from home a lot.” I walked behind the desk to give him a back-hug and rested my head in-between the crook of his neck. “It’s so I can keep an eye on you.” Christian pulled me away so he could get up from his chair. What he did not know was that I knew he was being serious.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I decided to immediately jump into it. “Are we still going on about that I love you?” Christian chuckled, but I shook my head. “Then what did I do?”

“About Beau, why didn’t you tell me that you knew the truth about Beau.” I sighed and saw how the expression on his face had changed. “So you found out?”

“Well yeah, you knew I was going to see him and that’s why you allowed me to leave without any security, right?” I confronted him. “I didn’t tell you because I wanted to hear from your mouth.” He spoke back. “I want you to fully trust me.”

Not before you trust me first.

“I’m sorry.” I immediately apologized. The last thing I wanted to do was to argue before the gender reveal. “And I didn’t say anything because I trust you, I trust you to make the right decisions.” He leaned in to kiss me on my forehead. “And I might’ve done a background check.” He confessed, making me laugh. “Does anyone else knows about this?”

“No, I was so nice to keep it to myself—and I trust Beau, so I’m not getting into your personal business. Get to know your brother.” He reassured me. “And besides that, it could be really helpful to have someone else on the other side.”

It could indeed.

“It’s weird, you being nice.” I rested my hand on his cheek and looked him in the eyes to see if I could find something behind it. “Wasn’t I nice to you these past weeks?” He teased me while I looked down blushing.

“Do I need to remind you how nice I am?” He asked and lowered his hand to squeeze my butt. “Maybe you should.” I leaned in to kiss him on his lips.

“Do you really think it’s safe to invite Olivia?” I double-checked once again. Inviting someone who worked extremely close with Vincenzo made me worried and for Beau, it was definitely another case.

“Yes, you shouldn’t abandon your friend because of small things like these. Olivia is your friend and she’s loyal to you.” He reminded me. He had a point, she had been calling and texting me non stop to ask whether she had done something wrong—and was surprised when I had sent her an invitation. “And Enzo? Did you invite him?”

With the family’s approval, Enzo was sent away to a mental health facility and received all the help he needed to get back on his two feet. He had returned this week and Gio and Christian were still put on protecting him as they had told their dad that he felt pressured because of work.

The last thing I had expected was to receive a handwritten apology from Enzo, and while I had no problem forgiving him—just mentioning his name could already get Christian worked up so I watched my words around him. Enzo did not reach out to him or apologized.

“I did, but I think my brother made it clear how he feels about me—and I feel the same way.” He tried to sound as if he didn’t care, but I knew better.

“I’m so excited for tomorrow, I feel like we can really start decorating the baby room and buy nice things for the baby once we know what we’re having,” I spoke with a big smile on my face, trying to change the subject.

“Aren’t you?” I asked and observed the worried look on Christian’s face. “Yes I am, so what are you wearing, blue or pink?” He shrugged it off.

“Pink, of course, I keep dreaming about a girl.” He stood by his final decision, but I felt the same. It had to be a girl.

“It would be nice to give the family a first grandson, but we’re having a girl.” He spoke determinedly. “Tell you what, if it’s a girl then I will let you pick out the name—and if it’s a boy, I will pick out the name.”

“W-wait, really? You trust me with that?” Christian asked in disbelief. “Of course I do.” I nodded my head. “So you’ll be okay with me calling the baby, Christina or Christa or Krystal?”

I laughed at the serious look on his face and nodded my head. As expected his ego was so big, he was going to insert his own name one way or another. “Totally fine, I promise.”

“Then it really has to be a girl now.” He sighed. “I guess so.” I agreed.

“I have to go again, your mom needs me.” I excused myself, but he grabbed my wrist—forcing me to stay. “Christian?” I giggled and tried to release myself from his grip while he wrapped his arms around me.

“What if I need you? Who’s more important, me or my mom—you choose.” He whispered in my ear and pressed himself against me.

“You win.” I laughed as he picked me up and sat me down on his desk. “I always win.” He traveled kisses down my neck. “Whatever.” I breathed and tangled my fingers through his hair.

The last few weeks life had been so perfect that I could not imagine how anyone could ruin it.