Charlotte

The next day, I was determined to do everything I could to avoid Luca. I couldn't wrap my mind around what happened last night, how we spiraled out of control so badly. That was how Luca and I worked, though. Nothing was ever the way it should be. One bad thing seemed to turn into ten until we could hardly recognize what was happening.

At Layla's insistence, we were in the pool by 9AM. As far as she was concerned, Luca's house was better than Disney World. For me, it had much more of a haunted house feel than the happiest place on earth.

When we first came out here, she was a little hesitant to jump in by herself. Now, however, she had banished me to the side of the pool and was doing everything herself. She would start school in a few days, and I wasn't sure what I would do with myself all day when she was gone.

"No one told me we got a mermaid in the pool!" Lily exclaimed, joining me by the edge of the pool.

"I'm not a mermaid, silly!" Layla giggled, continuing to bob in and out of the water.

"Are you sure?" Lily smiled. "You look like one to me!"

Layla smiled before diving under the water again. That was the best compliment she could ever receive.

"I'm heading into town in a little while for lunch and to stop at a few places. Care to come with me?" Lily asked, sitting down in one of the pool chairs next to me.

"I don't know if I'll be able to get this one out of the water." I chuckled.

"You look tired." Lily frowned, concern filling her face.

"Oh, I'm fine." I tried to assure her. "We've just been out here since nine."

"Girl's a fish!" Lily laughed. "How did it go with Luca last night? Did you guys talk?"

I couldn't help but scoff. Talk? Yeah, there had been little time for that between him having sex with someone in his office and hitting me while our daughter laid in the room next-door.

She frowned, putting a finger to my chin and turning my face towards her. I hadn't bothered to put on any makeup this morning, and bruises were forming. "Did he do this to you?"

"Lily, it's not as bad as it looks. Really." I found myself defending him. Lily definitely didn't know the finer details of what happened last night. I wasn't even sure I could bring myself to repeat them.

"That's bullshit. I don't care how upset he is. He should never lay his hands on you like this. I'm calling Gabe. He'll sort Luca out." She whipped out her phone and started pressing buttons frantically.

"No, don't do that." I held out my hand to stop her. "Really. I don't want to make a big deal out of this. Gabe doesn't need to know." He was my brother, after all. Even though I hadn't seen him for many years, I doubted he would take too kindly to Luca hitting me.

Lily' was conflicted, but she put her phone down.

"What doesn't Gabe need to know?" A familiar voice came from behind.

Lily and I both turned to see Seth standing in the pool area with us now.

"Hey Char." He smiled warmly, walking towards me quickly and kissing my cheek.

I shot Lily a look, begging her not to tell him.

"Hi Seth!" I stood up, giving him a big hug. "It's good to see you!"

"You too! I've been out of town, but I heard you were back! Are you two out here conspiring against my brother?" He teased, arching an eyebrow at us.

"I was just telling Charlotte that Gabe could watch Layla while she and I went to into the city for a little while."

"I'll watch the rugrat!" Seth offered. "It will give us a chance to get to know each other!"

"I don't know if that's a good idea. I don't really feel like..." I tried to protest.

"We'll be gone a few hours, tops." Lily insisted. I had to admit, getting out of here for a little while sounded good. It would help me avoid Luca longer as well.

"Besides, I'm a great babysitter!" Seth grinned widely. I highly doubted he had much experience, but the idea of Layla getting to know her uncles was silver lining in all of this.

"Are you sure?" I asked Seth, wondering if he had ever even been around a child.

"Positive." He smiled, waving at Layla, who was pulling herself up on the side of the pool.

"Layla, I'm going to go to the store with Lily. This is your uncle Seth. He is going to stay with you, okay?" I asked, wrapping her in the towel for a minute.

"Do you know how to swim?" She asked him confidently.

"Of course I know how to swim. Do you know how to dive?" He raised an eyebrow at her playfully.

"You know how?" She smiled widely.

Seth nodded.

"Will you teach me?" She clapped her hands together in excitement.

"Absolutely!" Seth said, scooping her up into his arms. The two of them headed off without another thought.

"Its pretty amazing seeing how that little girl can bring these men to their knees." Lily laughed.

I had to agree. "She is pretty special."

"Now come on. I'm starving!" Lily exclaimed, offering her hand out to me and pulling me up.

Lily and I drove into the city and had a really wonderful afternoon. We stopped at a few stores and I could shop in peace for almost the first time in the last three years. We found a beautiful spot to have lunch in by the park where we could watch people come and go, and the sandwiches were to die for. Thankfully, she didn't push me for more details on what happened last night and it was actually getting my mind off the impending disaster this was turning into.

Lily and I headed down a street that looked familiar and I realized we were just a block over from where Jenni and I used to have the gallery. So much had changed since I was last here, but I still felt nostalgic.

"Do you mind if we go over here for a second? There is something I want to see." I asked Lily.

"Of course not. I'm just along for the ride." She smiled, slipping her arm in mine. Lily and I became fast friends, and she was turning out to be one of the best parts about all of this.

If Luca could just get himself together, being here wouldn't be so bad. I could actually see myself staying. He wasn't though, and he showed no signs of lightening up soon. He always looked so remorseful once he realized what he had done, but all I had to do was wait, and he was right back at it.

Lily and I came up to the storefront where the gallery used to be and it surprised me to see it was full of children. I peaked inside and saw all kinds of kids working at easels and on murals. It was bustling and busy and looked like some kind of after-school program for children. I loved that it became something like this. I always loved the space and thought it was a wonderful place to create.

"This is what you wanted to see?" Lily asked, looking a little confused.

"Yeah, I used to work here. Years ago, I had an art studio in this same building." The memories made me smile. I had been so proud of this place.

A grin spread across Lily's face. "It's all making sense now."

"What do you mean?" I asked as we walked back out of the building and onto the street.

"You don't know, do you?" She smirked.

"Know what?"

"Char, Luca owns this place. He bought it and turned it into an afternoon art club for underprivileged kids in the area. So they can have somewhere safe to come until their parents get off of work."

Her words hit me like a brick wall. Luca did this? Luca bought the gallery?

"Are you sure?" I asked breathlessly.

Lily nodded rapidly. "It doesn't make him any money, so I never understood why he wouldn't let it go. But now I do. He was saving it for you."

I stared at the building, trying to wrap my mind around this. None of it seemed right.

Luca owning this place was surreal. This place was overflowing with love and energy and art. It was a harsh contrast to the man I had experienced over the last few days.

Lily and I headed home after that. I couldn't decide if I should ask Luca about the gallery or not. He hadn't mentioned it, so maybe he didn't want me to know.

We walked into the house, and it was already filled with people. I could smell something cooking in the kitchen and Luca, Seth, Gave, Angelo, Carlo, and Marco were all sitting in the living room. Layla was nestled in between them on the couch, watching something on the TV.

"Momma!" she shrieked, coming bounding for me. She jumped into my arms before I could even set my purse down.

"Hi, sweetie. Did you have a good time?" I kissed her forehead.

"Uncle Seth taught me how to dive!" she squealed with delight. It didn't take much to make her happy and from the looks of it, she had had the best afternoon of her life.

"Wow! I can't wait to see that." I smiled, setting her down.

"Dinner should be ready. I hope you're hungry." Luca said, appearing at our side. I had covered the bruises underneath my eye a little better, but I could tell he noticed them.

"I am. Thank you." I said sheepishly.

"Why did you leave her with Seth?" He asked, the smell of alcohol heavy on his breath. He wasn't acting drunk, but I could tell he had been drinking. "I could have watched her."

I didn't want to ruin my mood by arguing with him right off the bat, but I was annoyed he was acting like everything was fine.

"Is that a serious question?" I scoffed. "Until you can grow up and act like a father, I'm not going to leave her alone with you." I spat. "And you're drunk right now."

Luca stepped back, more hurt than angry, and I brushed past him.

"Come on, Lay, let's go wash your hands."

Luca was quiet most of dinner and hardly paid any attention to me. I resolved myself to the fact that I wouldn't get an apology out of him, but if he thought I was going to act like nothing happened, he had another thing coming.

He'd treated me like trash since we got here, and while he had ever right to be upset, he didn't get to treat me like this. A few times, I caught him trying to make eye contact with me, but I purposely ignored him.

He disappeared pretty quickly after dinner and didn't even show up when I put Layla to bed. That was unusual. No matter what was going on between the two of us, he was always there to tell her goodnight.

I was exhausted and climbed into bed pretty early myself, having not slept much the night before. I wasn't able to fall asleep as quickly as I hoped, though. My mind was racing, and as usual, Luca was responsible. All I could think about was the gallery. Why had he bought it? Lily said he had plenty of chances to sell the property for a profit over the years, but he never did.

Why was he so interested in being a dad now? Why hadn't he come when I called him all those years ago? He didn't just get to decide when he was going to be a father. Layla wasn't an accessory; she was our child. I hated that he was getting her hopes up like this, forcing us to be some kind of dysfunctional family if he wasn't going to take this seriously.

I was finally able to calm my thoughts and on the edge of sleep when there was a hard knock on the door.

"What in the world..." I grumbled, rolling out of the bed. If it was Luca, he wouldn't have bothered to knock.

I opened it to see a very drunk Luca being almost entirely supported by Angelo.

"What is going on?" I asked in exasperation.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Char. I just need to grab some clothes for him and I'll be out of your hair." Angelo said sympathetically.

"Char..." Luca mumbled through his drunkenness. He was a mess, a drunk smile plastered on his face. "So pretty."

I rolled my eyes. "Here," I said, moving to the side so Angelo could set him on the bed for a second. "Put him here. I'll help you get some clothes."

"Thank you, I'm gonna put him in the guest..." before Angelo could finish the sentence, Luca surged past us and into the bathroom, hurling himself over the toilet.

"Fuck." Angelo paced as he and I stood outside the bathroom door. "I'll get him out of here."

I sighed. "It's fine. You can leave him. He's going to be sick for a while. I'll make sure he's okay and then go to sleep with Layla."

Angelo looked at me with concern, trying to decide whether or not he should listen to me. His eyes fixated on my bruised eye as well. I was going to have to get better at covering them up.

"Really, we'll be fine."

"If you need anything, I mean anything, Char. If he even looks at you the wrong way..." Angelo was nearly cheering up, shaking his head back and forth.

"I'll call, I swear." Did he know what happened last night? I hoped not.

"You're sure about this?"

I nodded.

Angelo looked back at me one more time and then walked out the door, shutting it behind him, leaving us alone.

Luca groaned again and called my name.

Suddenly, I wasn't so sure about this.