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No question about it, and Carlotta confirmed, “We won’t accept anything less.”

“All right, guys, we better go,” Liz announced.

My heart was brimming with happiness after they left. I missed them more than when I was on my three-month sabbatical. I guess because I could talk to them at any time and return when I was ready. Another reminder not to take them for granted. I thought I needed to find myself outside of family. I didn’t need to go far away to do that.

My new phone was in my pocket. I didn’t know what happened to my old one. Sandro probably had it. Or it had been destroyed. But Trevor had deactivated that one and cloned me another one with the same settings and contacts.

I turned to face my parents. Mom was in the kitchen, finishing cleanup. I headed in her direction to help her when she glanced up. She smiled at me briefly while tilting her head toward the living room where Dad was pouring himself a drink.

There was no avoiding this talk. Dad hadn’t been chatty at dinner, letting Aunt Carlotta and Mom carry the conversation. My brothers were careful with what they said. I think because their wives were there to keep them in check. But Dad let the bantering slide off him. Gave one-word answers. Brooded and stared at me when he thought I wasn’t looking. I could hear the gears turning in his head. He’d probably already mapped out the steps to sever my ties with Sandro. Draw up divorce papers. Pack me into a plane with a new identity. He’d probably already chosen a destination.

It was up to me to convince him that Sandro wasn’t a phase. The sooner he understood this, the better.

I stopped at the mouth of the living room and leaned against the arch. “So…”

He turned around, and without Mom and my brothers, I’d never been more awkward with Dad in my life. More than the time he glared at my prom date the whole time the poor guy was here. Well, maybe less than the time he caught me at Sandro’sapartment and dragged me home. Dad had always been the number one man in my life. Sandro and my brothers came in second and that depended on who pissed me off the most. But Dad? No matter how many times his protective actions irked me, he was forever on that pedestal.

“I know you feel I let you down.” Might as well rip off the Band-Aid. “And at first I thought I’d be disappointing you.”

“Disappointment was never a feeling I associated with you, Bianca,” he said, dropping his gaze to the amber liquid he was twirling in the glass.

I entered the room cautiously. “There’s abutthere…”

He exhaled a heavy sigh. “It’s not disappointment, but failure.” He glanced up. “My failure.”

“Dad…”

He gestured to the minibar. “Do you want anything to drink?”

When I shook my head, he walked to the brown leather couch and sat. I sat beside him, rigid and unsure of what to say next. I linked my hands together on my lap. I used to lean against him and he would have an arm around me. But the wall of words we couldn’t say to one another kept us a foot apart.

Dad broke the silence first. “All my life I wanted to see the Rossis rot in hell. It had been my mission.” He took a sip of his drink. “Now I have to give that up.”

He said it in such a petulant, grudging way, a small laugh escaped me. “I’m sorry I ruined your plans.”

He glared at his drink before glancing my way with a rueful smile, briefly disrupting the taut lines of his countenance. “They’re not in the best financial situation.”

“Sandro is looking into it. There seems to be a problem with the accountant.”

Dad scoffed. “Their accountant is a weasel. Carmelo, Frankie, and Joe weren’t the brightest bulbs when it came to fiscalresponsibility. I don’t want to see my daughter want for anything.”

“And any help you give me would be helping the Rossis,” I said. I put my hand over his. “I’ll be fine. You can only offer guidance. I’m not expecting you to bail the Rossis out simply because I’m a part of their family now.”

We fell into silence again. But the silence was rife with Dad’s simmering thoughts and his misgivings about my husband, but specifically, who he represented.

He drained his glass and blew out a breath. “Are you sure this is what you want,carina? Just say the word and I’ll have you out of the country. I can make this whole thing disappear.”

“Sandro isn’t backing down.”

“He couldn’t find you those three months you were in California,” he pointed out.

“Things have changed between us, Dad. I’m his wife now. And you saw him. He finally claimed me in front of everyone.”

He didn’t answer.

“I’ve loved Sandro Rossi all my life. I’ve loved him since I was five years old.”

“That was hero worship.”