Read Thin Lives (Donati Bloodlines #3) for Free Online Page B

happening.
    In the hallway, she found Calisto kicking off his other shoe. It too hit the wall with a snap.
    His broad shoulders, covered with one of his many blazers, were taut. He scowled as he pulled the blazer off, and tossed it over a decorative hallway table. His usually put-together appearance was more disheveled than normal, and that worried Emma.
    But even in his obvious anger, Calisto was still so breathtaking to Emma. Just looking at him brought back waves of memories—his touch, kiss, and how he loved her, fucked her. She hadn’t been touched by anyone since Calisto.
    She did miss Calisto, though.
    Every single day she was without him.
    Affonso made all the efforts he could to keep Calisto away from the Donati home if he could help it. He always did it in such a way that nothing looked amiss from the outside. Most of the business Affonso had once done with Calisto, and his underboss Ray, was now done outside of the home. Dinners were rare, though they did happen. Parties had become even rarer.
    Emma knew what her husband was doing.
    He was purposely keeping Calisto away from Emma as much as he possibly could without making it obvious. He was probably worried the more time the two spent together, the more likely it was that Calisto would gain some memory of their relationship back.
    Affonso didn’t want that to happen at all.
    “Cal?” Emma asked softly. “Is everything okay?”
    Calisto’s head jerked up, his soul-black eyes landing on her. A fire burned behind his irises—fury swimming as he took her in. For a second, the anger there disappeared and his shoulders loosened. A small twinge of hope swelled in Emma’s heart as Calisto just stood there, hand against the wall, watching her.
    He’d done that very thing before.
    He’d stood in the shadows of a room more times than she cared to count, watching her in that very same way.
    It had hurt him to do it, but they didn’t have any other choice at the time.
    Did it feel familiar to him?
    She couldn’t help but wonder, even if a dull ache settled deep in her bones when he blinked, shook his head, and sighed harshly.
    “Where is my uncle?” he asked, standing straight.
    “His office,” Emma said. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing for you to concern yourself with, Emma. Go relax. Rest for my cousin, huh? No stress for the baby. Don’t worry about the problems of men.”
    Emma flinched inwardly, her heart seizing with an invisible agony that Calisto couldn’t possibly know was there. His words had been said so flippantly—his cousin .
    The baby was not his cousin.
    It was his son .
    She had to press her lips together in a tight line to keep from saying that exact thing to him.
    Calisto strolled past her in the hallway, already moving onto his next thing. By the time she turned around to watch him go, he was already gone around the corner, and she was forgotten to him.
    She had learned over the last few months that she was not a priority in Calisto’s world anymore, what with his memories being gone. As Affonso’s wife, she was simply a woman in Calisto’s life that he treated with respect, but kept a healthy distance from at the same time.  
    How could Calisto ever possibly begin to remember her when he wouldn’t get close enough to her to be triggered into a memory?
    Emma knew it would only take just one memory.
    The right one. A simple one. Anything .
    A clue for him to see that something between them hadn’t been as innocent as it looked like to everyone else on the outside. Some small hint for him to go digging for more. When that avalanche started for Calisto, she hoped it didn’t end until he had everything he needed.
    She would be waiting when it did.
    But, today was not that day.
    Clearly.
    Despite knowing better, Emma turned fast on her heel and followed the same path that Calisto had. Guessing by the phone call from earlier, and the several that Affonso had made afterward, something had happened and it wasn’t good.
    Emma wanted to