“What the hell?” Dante muttered beneath his breath, and Cleo smiled at the consternation she could hear in his voice.
“Hi, girls,” Cleo greeted, and the two scantily clad women fell all over her, showering her with hugs and kisses. Coco, predictably, was the first one to notice Dante.
“Oh, hi there. I’m Coco Sibiya. Nice to meet you. Always happy to meet any friend of Cleo’s.” The staggeringly beautiful ebony-skinned woman grabbed his hand before he could offer it and shook it heartily. “And this is Gigi.”
“Hi.” Petite and pretty blonde Gigi waved shyly but didn’t try to take his hand.
Dante thrust his hands in his pockets and stared at the three of them thoughtfully. Cleo tried to picture them through his eyes and realized that they were all approximately the same height-just slightly above five feet-with similar body types. Gigi and Coco were a little slimmer than Cleo, since she’d started to pick up some baby weight.
“How do you all know one another?” he asked curiously, momen-tarily diverted from the loitering wannabe thug, who was also watching them curiously.
“We went to dance school together. And Cleo and I danced with the same company for a year after we graduated,” Coco explained. “She always was the most talented and going on to bigger and better things before Cal dropped her.”
Cleo glared daggers at Coco for wording it like that. Cal still felt immense guilt over what had happened and had tried his damnedest to make it up to her. He’d taken time off from his own career to help her recuperate, and in a way the incident had ruined his career too. Cleo suspected that he was unable to allow himself to succeed.
“He dropped you?” There was a dangerous edge in Dante’s voice.
“It was an accident.” It was the first time-since it had happened-that Cleo could hear a ring of absolute truth and sincerity in her own voice. How could she have allowed one of her best friends to wallow in his own guilt for so long? How could she have steeped herself in such absolute self-pity that she’d been blind to what she was doing to him? God, she was an awful person. Shallow, selfish, and weak. She shook her head, slightly dazed by the direction of her thoughts.
She looked up at Dante, whose eyes were narrowed in concern, and hated the doubt she now felt about him, about how she was dealing with her pregnancy and his need to be involved.
“Yeah, well, his career took a hit after that too,” Coco cheerfully divulged.
“This is ancient history, Coco. I’d rather not discuss it any longer,” Cleo said pointedly, and Gigi, bless her soul, jumped right into the awkward breach.
“Well, we’re here to take Cleo out for a night on the town. Would you like to join us, Mr. . . . ?”
“Damaso,” he informed her, and held out a hand to Gigi, who shook it with enthusiasm. “And I’m not sure Cleo’s feeling up to a night on the town.” The last was said with a worried look at Cleo, who felt a little punch-drunk after her epiphany.
“Cleo?” Coco waved a hand in front of her dazed eyes. “What’s up with you, girl?”
“Uh . . .” Cleo blinked, finally coming back to the present. “I’m a little tired. Not up to a night of partying, I’m afraid.”
“Aww, come on, don’t be such a spoilsport, it’ll be just like old times.” Coco pouted and Cleo nearly giggled at that. “Old times” had included early bedtimes, brutally long rehearsals, tired minds and bodies, and disgustingly painful feet. The few nights they had gone out to “party” had nearly always ended after only two or three drinks before midnight had effectively wiped her out. Not exactly halcyon party nights.
“I’m a little pregnant,” she admitted with a smile, happy at that moment to let that old life go and excited for whatever the future held. “No drinking for me.”
“Seriously?” Gigi’s shriek was impressive and could rival anything Coco had in her bag of screeches. “That’s awesome. I’ll make a fantastic aunt, Cleo.” She hugged Cleo tightly. Cleo laughed at her enthusiasm. Coco seemed a little shell-shocked but hugged her as well.
“Wow, this is unexpected news,” she said.
“Yeah, I’m making a few lifestyle changes. I have to leave this place, for one. Cleo pointed to the building behind her. “I’ll probably wind up moving in with the baby’s dad.”
She saw Dante’s head swivel in her direction, and she met his shocked, questioning gaze with a shrug. After everything she’d just learned about herself, she felt that maybe giving him the benefit of the doubt would be the best thing for her baby, for Dante, and for herself. She hoped this was the right course of action. Only time would tell.
In the end, Coco and Gigi walked her up to her apartment, and Cleo managed to send Dante on his way after he extracted a promise from her that she would call him later. Cal wasn’t home when the women reached the apartment, which was a blessing-in that he absolutely hated Coco and, to a lesser extent, Gigi-and a curse because Cleo was desperate to talk to him after her revelation. She figured he was probably uncertain of her mood and hiding out after “abandoning” her at the doctor’s office that afternoon.
Coco and Gigi stayed for a couple of hours, eating forbidden chocolate truffles, chatting about the company’s new production of Cinderella and Coco’s role as one of the evil stepsisters, Cal, the weather, and eventually Dante.
“So, that man is gorgeous,” Coco said, licking some melted chocolate off her fingertips.
“Which one?” Cleo asked evasively, and both Gigi and Coco threw her a dry look.
“Do we have to answer that?” Coco asked incredulously.
“Okay, fine. Yeah, he’s good-looking.”
“And he’s the baby’s dad?” Coco prompted. With everything that had happened, was the nondisclosure agreement still valid? Cleo had no idea how things stood between her and Dante now.
“He’s my ex-boss,” she hedged. “We were just going over some details involving my old job. He’s a bit of a prick, actually.” Most of that was technically true.
“So, who is the baby’s dad?” Gigi asked, falling for the subterfuge like the sweet, trusting soul she was. Coco’s eyes told Cleo that she wasn’t buying it at all, but thankfully she didn’t pursue the matter.
“Nobody you’d know,” Cleo said dismissively, before asking Coco another question about her new role. As a diversion, it was pretty effective, because there was nothing Coco loved more than talking about herself.
Cal wasn’t back by the time they left, so Cleo bit the bullet and called Dante. Luckily she still had his number in her phone. He answered after the second ring.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.