Free Thin Lines (Donati Bloodlines Book 2) by Bethany-Kris Page B

workup after what happened the first time. Everything seemed well.
It’s a boy.”
    Calisto swallowed hard. “Affonso must be—”
    “Thrilled,” she interrupted coolly. “He’s thrilled.”
    “He didn’t tell me.”
    “Would you have cared?”
    Calisto didn’t respond.
    Emma stepped out of the bathroom, and brushed past
Calisto without as much as a look in his direction. She immediately went toward
the large walk-in closet, and disappeared inside. Calisto rubbed a hand over
his face, wishing he could calm his inner thoughts and think for a moment.
    “Did he send you up for me?” Emma asked from the
walk-in closet.
    Calisto shook the heaviness off his shoulders. “Yes.
He was convinced he was already late. I’ll drive you to the breakfast.”
    “Great.”
    She didn’t sound like she thought it was great.
    Calisto let it go.
    Ten minutes later, Emma walked out of the closet
wearing a navy blue dress that hugged her curves and fell just above her knees.
She had applied very little makeup, just enough to put more color into her lips
and cheeks, and also some black mascara to fan her already long lashes. She
didn’t need the makeup. Her features were already vibrant and stood out in a
crowd of people. In her left hand, she held a pair of matching kitten heels.
She tossed the shoes to the floor, and slid her feet in.
    Waving at her back, Emma said, “Zip me up.”
    Calisto’s stomach clenched. The last time he’d touched
this woman’s back, she had been on her knees while he pounded into her from
behind. She’d been gripping white sheets, shaking all over, and gasping for
more.
    Stop that , he told himself.
    “What are you waiting for?” Emma asked, clearly
irritated. “Aren’t we already late?”
    “No,” Calisto said, offering nothing more.
    He quickly crossed the room and zipped up the back of
Emma’s dress. He made sure not to touch her skin or her body over the dress as little
as was possible. He didn’t need more fuel added to the already growing fire.
    The more Calisto thought about it, the more he was absolutely
convinced that he was punishing himself where Emma Donati was concerned. Surely
he could let whatever this little obsession was with the woman go.
    So why didn’t he?
    Emma tugged on the elastic in her hair, and pulled the
messy bun out. Her shiny, dark waves fell over her shoulders and down her back.
Tossing the elastic to a corner chair, she put a hand to her hip.
    “How does this look?” she asked Calisto.
    He dragged his gaze over her curves, her tiny swell,
and back up to her face. Despite how much it ached for him to see her like she
was, Emma looked good. Full of life, young, and healthy. Maybe he could finally
understand what people talked about when they said pregnant women glowed.
    “Beautiful,” Calisto said honestly. “You look
beautiful, Emmy.”
    For a split second, Emma’s stony features cracked. The
mask of disinterest and coldness broke away as her bottom lip trembled. She
balled and released her fists over and over again at her sides like she was
trying to figure out what to say.
    “Thank you,” she murmured.
    “Were you nervous?” he asked. “Was that why you were
hiding in the bathroom?”
    “No.”
    Emma’s distance and apathy was back in a blink.
    Calisto wondered why.
    What had he said?
    “Are we ready to go?” she asked. “Because I don’t want
to stand around and chat, Cal.”
    Apparently, it didn’t matter.
    None of what he felt did.
    Oddly, Calisto was grateful for Emma’s icy demeanor,
as strange as it was. She was simply reminding him, without knowing she was
doing it, that this was not his place. Her life was not for him to worry over.
    She was not his.
    That should have helped him.
    It didn’t.
    “Yeah,” Calisto finally replied, finding his voice.
“We can go anytime.”
    “Then let’s do that.”
    Emma grabbed a black clutch off the chair where she
had thrown the elastic earlier. Calisto let her lead the way out of the
bedroom,