W

d?" I whisper in shock while wa

t the sight of the fifty-five-carat diam

ese to excited men, I was

g high-tech cameras swarm around us, tak

o, I'm doo

" I ch

e, knowing he's

ne wanted to know the mystery woman who finally ti

ally miss sleeping nine hours a day and not

p on Genevieve and

meeting with my soon-to-be in

nutes when Diana, the matriarch,

u were frat

antly freezes, despite th

m didn't even bother to tell me his f

e, "She demands everyone's resp

's in the middle of

destroy my family's reputation? Good effort,

nd she quickly reaches for

him a Christian name. Is he baptized?

does she think she is? Ah, so this i

speaking up to defend my

I say with

Diana and I will def

Laura, who both share thei

office. My fingers nervously tap my t

t?"

s at hi

d Tom will remain married for two years and get divorced

erself as sh

rd. "Oh, dear, the church frowns

eze my hand lightly, but it doesn't

ix months?" I suggest. "Celebrit

nds of celebrities,

inger playfully. "Really? I believe I sa

"The contract has already been drawn

u're already making my

you're getting t

d squint at him in d

chair. "You go back

n I remember I'd prayed to be free from the l

s for Tom

rl. No man has ever gotten

see that, just like me, he was trapped in this situation too. Ex

feeling about this co

" Diana exc

fore," Tom replies. "But were yo

second. "Well,

irlfriend." He

d with on the streets. They didn't appear to be serious,

admits, shifting uncomfortably as he continued. "Look, I'm not plannin

mplies he wouldn't want me

a male while letting his mother run his life? The momm

I say

u tell anyone outside this building about

* *

ff a shotgun wedding while excluding all e

s the bride," th

Tom bends low, cups his face, and captur

y; it nearly knocks my breath away. B

ook he gives me, I finally realize that

loc

inner, and all they talk abo

r; I feel a tremendou

, I confront Tom

do we leav

eyes. "I thought you d

. Maybe drinking three glasses of

we move into your

'm not fo

ent, and I need to get started on the mo

So, move them here, G

nd the entire balc

mom...li

ns his eyes. "

me to me, as I see the floor rising to

* *

es a few seconds for me to r

Mrs. Ciccotelli

groan uni

on a nearby couch, watching me with his

a ray of sunshi

dache flashes in my head. "Plea

ll night?" H

e I'm wearing a blue bathrob

on, Laura helped you change a

supposed t

r next time,

andom married people, we were ta

painkillers and the water bottle on t

ntarily cough

ask frantically,

with the nann

with

n your sleep," he says. "I

you're buying

a brow. "N

drove us to an

me?" I ask as I study the interior

was thinking you can

m at his face, staring at me a

ing to be a walking doormat," I hiss, while pointing

abric away as the object comes into view. I wonder wh