Breaking Midnight (Il Paradosso Series Book One)

Chapter thirty-nine

"How do you want it, baby?"

I sat in the leather chair in Kenny's salon, looking at my reflection in one of the rectangular mirrors, which were placed on the faux brick wall.

The interior of the two story salon was decorated with dark grey shades and leather furniture, the color of charcoal.

It had been a week since I'd left the mansion, and I still hadn't gotten around to telling them that I wanted to move back to New York.

Kenny wasn't too giddy about me taking up half of the space in his bedroom, and was eager to help me find my own apartment, as soon as possible.

Today was Luca's birthday. Emma had planned a nice dinner for all of us at the family restaurant. Therefore, she had insisted we all looked our very best for the occasion.

"I want to go darker and maybe a bit shorter," I replied, grabbing at the ends of my hair, which could definitely use a trim.

Emma was sitting in the armchair beside me, scrolling on her phone, while one of Kenny's assistants was curling the ends of her silky locks.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok tonight?" she asked, glancing up from the screen to look at me through the black rimmed mirror.

"Yeah, of course," I replied with a half-hearted smile, knowing that was far from the truth.

Antonio's mother and sister were going to be joining us tonight. Emma had been accepted into the family, after the night Luca introduced her to his mother, prior to Valentine's Day.

Emma was shocked when I broke the news to them about Antonio and I calling it quits. It was difficult explaining the whys when I had to leave out a lot of major details, cautious enough not to raise any suspicion.

I sensed Amanda's eyes on me back at the apartment. I sat in the living room, slipping my feet into the two inch heels I had bought specifically for tonight's occasion, to match the sparkly navy dress that held onto my body, hugging my features.

It was a one arm dress and the soft material was breathable, facilitating comfort and minimizing the level of anxiety that felt strangulating.

"You can't leave," she said as I was fixing the straps around my ankles, and raised my head to look at her.
She stood against the wooden table, her blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun that Kenny had styled to perfection. Her blue eyes were painted with a soft peachy eyeshade, that didn't match her usual appearance.

I gathered she took Emma's words about looking our bests, very seriously. Or was there a certain someone she wanted to impress?

"I'm not―" I shook my head.

"Not here," she interrupted in a low voice, as if she wanted to be discreet, which only confused me even more.
I got up from the sofa, walking towards her but she stepped back, and her eyes widened a bit.

Was she high?

"You can't leave me here with them," she whispered again.

My chest constricted when her eyes darted to the top of the stairs-as if making sure no one was listening to our conversation-and I looked at her with a bit of confusion.