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"I cannot believe that we're in Italy together." Elisabetta squeezes my hand, and I smile at her. She has completely changed my life, and I don't even know how to tell her that this moment means so much to me.

"Your father is going to be very surprised when he sees that you're not sad," I say, laughing as she takes another lick of her gelato.

"Well, I don't care if he's surprised. In fact, I don't even care if he knows that I already know that you're to be my husband. I want him to feel like I felt when he told me I had to get married. I want him to know?—"

"No," I say, leaning over and taking a lick of the chocolate. The ice cream melts in my mouth.

"Hey, that's mine! You said you didn't want one."

"You're not gonna share with me?"

"I guess," she says. "But why can't my dad know? I think it's really unfair what he's done and?—"

"And I understand, but there's just a delicate balance of how everything is to be done here." I stare at her for a couple ofseconds. "And I don’t wanna upset your father because I don’t want him to take anything back."

"But you said he already got the money, right?"

"He's gotten the money, but he has not fully finished signing the contract," I say. "I do not own the properties that he was signing over to me."

“But of course, he's gonna do it, right?"

"I am assuming he's going to do it, but for all I know, he could change his mind and send me the money back,"

"But that would mean he'd be in breach of contract. You see, I learned something from working at a law firm."

"Honey, he wouldn’t be in breach of contract if he never signed the contract."

"But you had a verbal contract, right?"

"And they don't really stand up in a court of law." I shake my head. We're just gonna have to do it his way for now.

"Okay, but I don't know, it pisses me off that he thinks he's gotten one over on us. Like, he's awful."

"He's your father."

"Yeah, and?"

"And I'm sure that he just wants you to be happy."

"Does he, though? For all he knows, I absolutely hate you. He hasn't asked me once about my working relationship with you. He hasn’t asked me if I like you or if I think you're a good boss."

"I suppose he is nervous that if you say you don’t like me then he'd be forcing you to marry someone you hate."

"So he'd rather not know that I hate you?" She shakes her head. "I mean, I'm trying to look at this in a positive light because we're together, and I am appreciative that I've met you, but I'm still upset."

"That's very understandable." My phone beeps then, and I look down at it. It's Lucinda.

"So, my uncle's place is about two more blocks from here," Elisabetta says as she stares at me.

"Do you mind if I take this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I very rarely get calls Lucinda, and usually when she does call me, it's important, and she knows today is the official day that we find out we're engaged. So if she's calling me, it's something important."

"Fine," she says. "I suppose we can't arrive together anyway. I'll head over to my dad's place, and you meet me there in ten to fifteen minutes."

"Okay." I pull her toward me and grab her shoulders and tilt her head up to look into my eyes. Her brown eyes are dazzling and so full of love that my heart melts. "You are distinctly and wholeheartedly the love of my life, and no matter what happens, I want you to always remember that this means something to me, and it's not just about your dad."