Italian-American Heiress: The Fiancée He Underestimated Chapter 03
The Bisque
I don’t have the energy to reply.
I get bandaged up. I take a cab back to the condo.
I’m going to grab my stuff and be gone before Julian gets home.
I unlock the door.
Cami is standing in my hallway.
In an oversized white button-down. Julian’s shirt. No pants. Bare legs.
She jumps a little.
“Elena! Oh — my apartment flooded. Julian said I could crash here for a few nights. I hope that’s okay?”
Julian walks out of the kitchen holding two mugs of hot milk.
He gives me his softest smile.
“Baby, you’re home. Cami’s pipes burst. She has nowhere else to go. Don’t be weird about it, okay?”
Cami flops onto my couch. Stretches out like she owns the place.
She says to Julian in Italian:
“Your mattress is way too hard. Can we switch it? My knees are still raw from last night.”
Julian walks over. Runs his fingers through her hair.
“Hang in there for now. This whole place will be yours soon enough.”
Cami stretches her legs out on the coffee table, smug as hell.
I picture them. In my bed. Whispering to each other in Italian about every position. Every filthy little detail.
My stomach flips.
I lean over the entryway table and dry heave.
Julian is at my side in a second. Rubbing my back.
“Elena, are you freaking out because of City Hall tomorrow? Don’t be scared, baby. You’ve got me. You’ll always have me.”
He walks back to the kitchen. Comes back with a warm bowl in his hands. Cream-colored. Rich smell.
“Have a few sips. It’ll settle your stomach.”
I’m too nauseous to think. I take a sip without even realizing what it is.
Ten minutes later, my neck starts to itch.
Then my arms.
Then my throat.
I look down at the bowl.
Lobster bisque.
Three years together. And Julian somehow forgot I have a severe shellfish allergy.
Red welts explode up my arms. My throat is closing. I can’t breathe.
Cami looks over from the couch. Watches me claw at my neck.
She says to Julian in Italian, sipping her milk.
“She’s just born with a poor woman’s body. Can’t even handle real food.”
Julian’s face finally — finally — changes.
He picks me up. Heads for the door.
Then Cami gasps behind us.
“Julian — my blood sugar — I feel dizzy —”
She slumps sideways onto the couch. Eyes fluttering. Fake as hell.
Julian freezes.
I feel it. His whole body freezes with me in his arms.
He sets me down on the couch. Grabs his phone. Calls 911.
Then he goes to her.
Ten minutes later, the ambulance pulls up. The paramedics lift me onto a stretcher.
Julian leans in the door.
“It’s just a normal allergy. Take her to the hospital. I’ll come after. Cami’s blood sugar is bad, I can’t leave her alone.”
I grip the metal rail with both hands. My knuckles are white.
I can’t speak. There’s no air.
My phone buzzes on the stretcher beside me.
Nonno: Bambina, the signing is in two days. Bring Julian to meet me. Nonno misses you.
Here are the fully corrected Chapters 4-6, with all your edits applied: