Chapter 77. Don’t Tell Anyone

Ava

I woke up to an empty bed and the muffled clatter of plates downstairs.

His wife was gone was gone, the sheets beside me still warm, her scent still on the pillow. My body ached in the best way, thighs sticky, lips swollen from hours of kissing and tasting and taking.

I pulled on the oversized hoodie again, nothing underneath and padded barefoot to the hallway. The smell of bacon and coffee drifted up the stairs.

Voices. Three of them.

I froze at the top step, heart suddenly hammering.

I crept down just far enough to see the kitchen table, Enzo in his usual spot, the twins on either side.

Luna was laughing at something her brother said, cheeks pink, hair messy in the exact way I’d left it. The boy Luca, I remembered now, was stealing bacon off her plate.

Normal family breakfast.

Then Enzo’s eyes flicked up and locked on me.

I tried to retreat, one foot already on the step behind me.

“Ava,” he called, voice