CHAPTER 3

~Joanne

“Have you heard the news?”

Sasha practically crashed into my office desk the next morning, eyes wild with excitement.

“Boss Enzo is engaged!” Sasha squealed, bouncing on her heels.

I swallowed.

Of course he was. Who hadn’t heard the news was probably living completely off the grid.

“Yeah,” I said, reaching for my coffee before my hands could start shaking. “I heard.”

I forced my lips into what I hoped resembled a smile. It felt more like my face cracking into place, and it was so wide it looked unreal.

Sasha noticed.

Of course she did.

Nothing escapes those eyes of hers, not even errors in the smallest spreadsheet.

“Are you okay?” she asked carefully, her voice losing some of its excitement.

“Of course.” I replied too fast, and it sounded unconvincing even to my own ears. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You look…” She pulled her eyebrows together. “Very exhausted.”

Exhausted. Great. That was a polite word to describe the deep hollow feeling inside of me.

I stirred my coffee even though I hadn’t added sugar as I replied casually, “I just had a lot to handle last night.”

She asked, a bit too nosy, “You did the Hartleys’ work at home yesterday?”

“Yes,” I answered anyway.

I’d buried myself in work after I got home just to keep my mind busy from everything.

“You should take a break, girl,” she suggested. “And I mean it.”

I let out a sharp exhale right before the sound of footsteps caught my attention, and I turned to see Enzo walking toward my office with a smile that was brighter than the sun.

I tried to be genuinely happy for him, I really did, or at least feel a ray of excitement like everyone else, but the heaviness in my chest wouldn’t let me.

“Congratulations, Boss!” Sasha practically saluted him.

“Thank you, Sasha.” He laughed, warm and easy, and she looked like she might faint from the secondhand joy of it.

Sasha slipped out a moment later, giving me a look that promised she’d come back. Then it was just the two of us.

“You left.” Enzo beat me to it before I could congratulate him and pretend I was also happy. “We couldn’t find you last night after the proposal.”

“You just… vanished.” He added, furrowing his brows slightly.

Vanished. Not really.

I was in the back seat of my Uber with my forehead pressed against the cold, fogged window, crying quietly enough that the driver pretended not to notice.

“Something urgent came up,” I quickly lied. The look in his eyes told me he wanted details, and I lied again before I could think. “My mom had an accident at home.”

His face fell at once.

I pressed my lips into a hard line, guilt pricking my conscience for souring his mood with lies.

“That’s terrible,” he commented.

“It’s minor,” I quickly added. “Nothing too serious.”

“Well, I hope she’s fine?”

“Perfectly.”

I forced a smile. Right then, my eyes caught Monica over Enzo’s shoulder, approaching us.

Enzo quickly noticed. He turned, and he couldn’t hold back his smile as she walked closer.

Is it just me? Or am I being too observant today? I mean, is there a certain kind of glow that comes after being proposed to?

Because Monica was, by every objective measure, looking stunning this morning.

Monica’s shiny blonde curls cascaded like a waterfall, bouncing on her shoulders with every step. Her model-like face was radiant with a sweet smile, the kind that made you want to smile back without knowing why.

She made it very difficult to find something to hate about her.

Trust me. I tried.

Enzo embraced Monica and briefly pressed his lips to hers.

I looked away from them, bringing the cup of coffee to my mouth. It tasted like heartbreak.

Oh, I forgot to add sugar.

I literally welcomed the excuse of leaving the room to get some when Monica stepped into my path, and I stopped as she put her hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, Jojo,” Monica greeted cheerfully. “We got you something.”

My gaze darted to Enzo as Monica looked at him, and he smiled, giving her a small nod.

She brought out an envelope from her handbag and handed it to me, the diamond ring on her finger catching the light and shining sharply as if mocking me.

I opened the envelope, curious. Sitting inside was a plane ticket to Vatican City.

My brows pulled together as I looked up at them in confusion.

“Our wedding will be this weekend…” she explained excitedly. “And we want you to be part of our big day. Enzo insisted, actually. Said no one else made sense for the bridesmaid role.”

My chest knotted, and my hand imperceptibly stilled on the ticket as they stared at me with smiles.

“This is thoughtful, but…” I paused, framing my words carefully. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I can make it.”

“Oh…” Monica’s smile faltered.

“My mom.” I glanced at Enzo, who wasn’t smiling anymore, not fully. “I can’t just fly off to Vatican City and leave her.”

“You just said she was fine.” He looked confused, rightfully so.

“She is. I just… I’d rather be, you know, close by.” I cursed under my breath, knowing I sounded silly, but I continued anyway. “And honestly, the timing with work is terrible. The Hartley account isn’t closed yet. The quarterly review is in two days.” I gestured at the stack of files on my desk like they were evidence.

“Jo.” He calmly stopped me. “You do remember I literally sign your leave approvals?”

“That’s not really the…”

“Then what is it?”

Enzo’s voice was gentle in a way that made it worse.

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. I had run out of excuses.

“I need you there, Jo,” he calmly added, and I made the mistake of looking him in the eyes.

A part of me wanted to turn him down again, but another part of me was still very much affected by the look in those eyes, and I hated how they defeated me.

I tried again. “Enzo, you’ll have your family there…”

“You’re family to me, Jo.” He cut in gently. “That’s not something I say to fill the air.”

For the first time, the word family hurt because I had never been able to cross that line for years.

He added, “When I think about that day, standing there, you’re one of the faces I expect to see. I can’t explain it better than that.”

Something pressed hard against the inside of my chest, and I had to look down at the plane ticket just to have somewhere else to put my eyes.

“I will think about it.” My voice came out steadier than I felt.

Enzo was quiet for a moment and then said softly, “I’d really hate for you not to be there.”

Not I’d be sad. Not please come. Just that. And it was devastating.

I exhaled through my nose and stared at the ticket in my hands. Vatican City. The dates printed in clean black ink. Monica’s careful handwriting on the envelope where she’d written my name.

I thought about saying no again.

Then I thought about Enzo standing at that altar, scanning faces, and finding mine missing.

“Fine,” I said quietly.

Monica sighed in relief while Enzo’s face broke into a grin, the kind that had always been entirely too effective on me.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t make me repeat it.”

He laughed.

“Thank you, Jo. Really.” Monica touched my arm gently, smiling warmly at me. “It genuinely wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

I returned her smile because she meant it sincerely, and that was the part that stung the most.

Finally, they left, holding hands like high school lovers and giggling about something I couldn’t care less to know.

I sighed quietly as I placed the ticket on my desk, smoothing one corner that had bent slightly as I looked at it in silence.

“I’m fine,” I whispered to myself.

I’m completely fine.