Chapter 140

Melanie's POV

We rode home in comfortable silence. I was too full and happy from the good food and great company to say anything further.

Plus, I couldn't take my hands off the bracelet. It was just too beautiful. I've never owned anything as expensive as this and I was so scared to ask him how much it cost.

We already exchanged gifts in the morning so I wasn't expecting anything more from him.

In a not-so-surprising turn of events, Alice was still awake by the time we got home.

"For a moment I thought you both were going to spend the night there," Alice said when we got into the living room.

"It's really late, Alice, and I'm sure you've had a long day. You should be sleeping," Adriano said.

"I couldn't sleep when I knew how important today was to Melanie. I was too anxious to know how it went," she replied.

"Well, you can rest easy now because it went very well," I told her.

Her face lit up with a smile and she gave me a quick hug, making me laugh.

"I told you, you had nothing to worry about but you were determined to be stubborn," she said.

"At least now you can proudly say 'I told you so'."

"Oh, I won't be saying that, the look on your face is enough reward for me. I'm so happy for you," Alice beemed.

"Thanks, Alice."

Adriano shook his head and murmured something about women being dramatic but we paid him no mind.

"How did it go here?" I asked, referring to the dinner she planned for the staff.

"Oh, it went really well. Mr. Alfonso gave me all the tools I need to make a memorable Christmas dinner," she answered.

"It's too bad I couldn't be here," I said but she waved me off.

"Nonsense, you were right where you needed to be," she responded.

I smiled at her and said, "Well, now you can peacefully go to bed."

"Yes, I can," she agreed. "Goodnight to you both."

"Goodnight, Alice," Adriano and I replied in unison and I turned to look at him with a smile on my face.

"I would never understand why women feel the need to gossip," he said.

"Good, let it remain that way," I replied. "Now let's go to bed."

"I can't go to bed just yet, little nurse," he said.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I still have some work I need to get done before coming to bed," he explained.

I pouted. "But it's Christmas day, you're not supposed to be working today."

He smiled at me. "I know, little nurse and you know how I love every opportunity to be with you but this is really important. I promise it won't take long."

I contemplated it for a while before I said, "I do need to take a shower so I guess I can give you some time."

"Thanks, little nurse. I'll be done before you know it," he said.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay, then."

We went upstairs and I gave him a quick kiss on the lips before heading towards the room.

I took a while in the shower and did my night routine before changing into one of Adriano's shirts.

I intentionally took my time to get ready for bed because I wanted to give him enough time to get work done but he still wasn't in the room.

What on earth could be so important that he still wasn't done working?

I decided to continue one of my books but I wasn't in the mood and got bored quickly. I had already spoken to my family today and it was too late to call any of them so that was also not an option.

I fiddled with my phone and responded to the few messages on the group chat with Aria and Hayley.

As expected, Aria had already updated Hayley about what went down during dinner and they were having a full blown conversation about me like I wasn't a member of the group.

After a while, Adriano still wasn't here and I was getting tired of waiting for him to show up. Besides, I didn't want to fall asleep alone so I got up from the bed and went looking for my man.

The door to the study was slightly ajar and I could see the soft glow of light seeping through the open space.

As I got closer to the door, I could hear the sound of his voice, indicating that he was on the phone but one of his statements stopped me in my tracks, sure that I must have heard him wrong.

"You're sure all the girls are in the warehouse," he said to whoever was on the other side of the phone conversation.

"Great, I need you to confirm that girls were complete during the move, I need to know what I'm working with," he added.

There was only one reason why he would be using the term girls and warehouse in one sentence and the thought of it sent bile up my throat.

No, there's no way it could be true. Adriano could never do that but a part of my brain was finding that really hard to believe.

I nearly stumbled by the door but I was able to compose myself and walked away from the door.

Getting back to the room, I closed the door and reclined against it, trying to catch my breath and calm down my nausea.

God, please this cannot be happening to me. There was no way the man I was in love with would be a sex trafficker. The universe wouldn't be cruel enough to put me in this kind of situation.

Then as if directed by some force, I walked to the closet where I kept my bag and retrieved the small envelope I'd abandoned there for a while.

Erica's warning was reading in my head and I couldn't shake it off. With shaky hands, I slowly opened the envelope, pulled out the contents and my stomach dropped.