When It Falls Apart (The D'Angelos, #1)(87)

“Who knows. Anyone who sees the two of you together knows Luca has it bad.”

Brooke couldn’t stop smiling. “I have it pretty bad, too.”

Chloe laughed. “You’ve got a certain glow about you.”

“It’s all the sex.”

“Blah . . .” She kept laughing.

“You knew I was going to say that,” Brooke said.

“Warrior Two.” Chloe shifted.

Brooke followed, took a breath. “Who is your ob-gyn? I need to make an appointment.”

Chloe shot Brooke a concerned look. “Is everything okay?”

“Routine. I’m on my last month of pills, need to get a doctor to prescribe more.”

“Dr. Archer. She’s local. Tell her you know me, they’ll get you in quick.”

They moved position again. “Text me her number.”

As Chloe had predicted, Brooke was able to make an appointment to see Dr. Archer in two weeks, the quickest appointment in history, and was now filling out intake forms.

Every time the question was asked about pregnancies and births, she felt her heart ache.

But it was when she had to pull out a calendar to look up her last period that Brooke paused.

She went to the bathroom and pulled out her pack of pills. Had she forgotten to take the placebo pills and went right into the week of real ones?

Wait . . . no. She’d spotted in Texas.

Brooke shook her head, returned her pills to her vanity, and walked away.



Luca sat with Brooke outside on the terrace after the restaurant had closed and everyone had gone to bed.

“Antonia wants Franny to spend the night.”

“What does Franny want?”

“To make everyone happy.”

“What do you think?” Brooke asked.

“I don’t know, cara. If Antonia hadn’t left after we divorced, I’d have to share Franny. I’d be used to it by now.”

Brooke squeezed his hand. “She’d be just down the street. And Rosa is there.”

Luca cringed. “You’re encouraging it?”

She cleared her throat. “Your Honor, the reason my ex-wife isn’t fit to have our daughter overnight is because she lied to me and my girlfriend in an effort to get me back.” Brooke widened her eyes. “I don’t think that’s going to fly in court.”

“They haven’t spent more than two hours with each other, and only with someone else around.”

“I hate to say it, but that needs to change. Unless Franny isn’t comfortable. Or Antonia does something other than spread rumors that no one is believing.”

“Why are you so reasonable?”

“Because I’ve taken my personal feelings out of the equation. Do I like it? No. Do I think this is just another way for her to get to you . . . yes. Probably. But if it isn’t and she only wants to know Franny, we have to give her a chance to do that. Or to fail. We’re between the proverbial rock and a hard place here. Give her the rope. She either hangs from it or uses it to swing to another branch. But you give her the rope. Because making her fight for it only hurts Franny and your relationship with her in the long run. At this point, Antonia has done nothing to suggest she’s an unfit mother since she’s been back. No court would keep her away from her daughter.”

“I hate that you’re right.”

“Me too.”

“Did your mother make your father fight for you?”

Brooke looked at him like he was crazy. “Please. She could only hope he would come around and take me for any amount of time. Then I wouldn’t be there casting my ‘judgmental eyes’ on her when she came in drunk or with another guy.”

“Oh, cara.”

Brooke shook her head.

“My dad came back into the picture hot and heavy. Kind of like Antonia. Only in the form of a weeklong vacation, then he returned to Upland with the wife that didn’t like me, and I was up in Seattle. And he ignored me. I begged that man to pay attention to me, to help me get away from my dysfunctional mother. He didn’t step up.”

Luca pictured the care Brooke gave to her father. “How did you get to where you are now?”

“I was desperate for a father, Luca. I didn’t have your strong family surrounding me like Franny has. I didn’t have the stable and supportive father that you are to your daughter. My father might not have been the lifeboat floating away from the Titanic, but he was at least a piece of wood I could float on. And when the next wife moved on, I was there. We picked up an adult father-daughter relationship, and that’s what I got. I always said it was better than nothing. We have our bumps, but I do love him. And he loves me. But if there is one thing Antonia and my father have in common, it’s that they love themselves more than they could ever love anyone else. It’s proven by their actions. And in my experience with my dad, those actions go on repeat.”

“That’s why you’re adamant about giving Antonia rope to hang herself.”

“I am.”

“And if that rope hurts my daughter?”

Brooke paused. “Do you think Antonia means to harm Franny?”

“No.” He didn’t see that. “Not on purpose. What do you think?”

Brooke looked away, as if lost in thought. “Antonia is going to hurt Franny no matter if she stays, goes . . . does something in between. I’m just trying to figure out a way to minimize the damage. I don’t think your ex-wife is going to surprise us by doing the right thing. I know her kind.”