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“So, wait. You want us to get married but pretend that we’re not actually dating?”

“I mean, no. I want us to tell people, but your father… let’s just say I don’t know about him. I don’t know how much I can trust him, and maybe he feels like he can’t trust me, but I don’t want to complicate the situation any further or do anything that may cause him to react poorly.”

“Okay, you’re confusing me. But…”

“But what?”

“Nothing. I mean, sure, we can get married and continue to sleep together and date, and I guess if things get complicated, we deal with it then.”

“I just don’t want your father to…sorry, it’s just a weird situation,” he says. “I never intended to fall for you, and I never intended for you to fall for me, and while I’m so excited about the possibility of where this could go, I want to be honest here. I have no expectations, and I hope you don’t either.”

“What would my expectations be? I mean, we’re already not getting married. I mean, we are getting married, but not for real. I know you don’t want to get married in real life. Ugh! I’m confusing myself!” I say, laughing.

“I mean, we’re both confused here because, on the one hand, we’re attracted to each other, we’re young, we’re having fun, and the sex is great, but we’ve only just met, and we’re only getting to know each other. I honestly have not been in a relationship in a long time. I haven’t really been looking for it. My business life does come first right now, along with my sister and my niece, but obviously, I’ll need time for you. I just don’t want to go into this with you thinking it will be traditional dating, if that makes sense.”

“You’re basically saying to me you want to date, but I shouldn’t get my hopes up that we’re going to get married and have kids and all that good stuff.”

“Exactly. That’s exactly what I’m saying, but obviously, we are getting married, but because of this business deal, I don’t want things to be confused in your head or my head…”

“It’s okay, Liam. I get it. Even though we will technically be married, we’ll pretend we’re not. We’re only getting married for my dad and whatever business deals you have going on with him.”

“Good. I mean, not good. That sounds kind of creepy. Crappy. And I…”

“It’s okay. I’m not crazy. We just met. I don’t expect a man who is technically my boss to fall in love with me, propose to me, and want to have kids with me within a matter of a month.”

He laughs. “I wish it had been a month.”

“Who knows? Maybe after a month, you’ll want to get out of it.”

“I doubt it, plus we’re committed for three years.”

“I know, but I do want to say something, just in case you’re nervous.”

“What?”

“If before the three are up, you want to move on from the actual relationship we’re having, or you no longer feel like you’re falling for me, or you’ve fallen out of whatever, we don’t have to keep up what we’re doing on the side. We can just be.I’m not going to take it personally, like if you need to break up with me just because we’re technically married.”

“Oh, my gosh. This is a hot mess, isn’t it?” he says, shaking his head.

“I mean, a little bit, but I just want us both to be on the same page. We’re getting married for my dad, but for us, we’re just dating.”

“Yeah,” he says. “But I still want you to meet my sister and my niece, and I want you to tell your friends and Romeo, as longas Romeo can keep it a secret from your dad because I just don’t know about your dad. Sorry to say that.”

“It’s okay,” I say, shrugging. “To be quite honest, I don’t really even know my dad either. For all I know, he’s not really my dad.”

“Wouldn’t that be something?”His voice is light, yet there’s a shadowy look in his eyes that makes my heart race. I wonder if this is something that has crossed his mind, as well.

I stare at him for a couple of seconds, and he looks away. I laugh nervously as the thought worms deeper into my brain. Is my dad really my dad? Is that why he never really wanted to spend time with me? Is that why he doesn’t care about marrying me off to some stranger?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Liam

Three Weeks Later

Some days, I feel like I’m floating in the sky. Like my life is not my own. It’s weird. I’ve gotten into a comfortable pattern in the last few weeks, and it feels absolutely marvelous. Elisabetta and I enjoyed the island and made love every single day. When we got back to the city, she spent time at her place and at my place, but we were always together. I knew that something was going to have to give. I knew her Dad was phoning her, and I knew he wanted her to come to Italy the next week because he told me of his plans.

“What are you thinking about?” Elisabetta walks into my office.