Page 86 of Sexting My Ex's Dad

The air in the room grows heavy. “Mr. Lombardi,” the guard says, his gaze flicking between Elio and myself. “Do you want her removed?”

“No, he doesn’t,” I interject before Elio can respond. “I’m his girlfriend.”

Elio’s eyes meet mine for a split second, filled with a conflicting mix of emotions. But it’s clear he doesn’t want to argue in front of the cold-looking man still seated across from him.

“Let her stay, Massimo,” Elio finally says, his voice steady but quiet.

“Very well, sir.” The guard hesitates for a moment before retreating, closing the door behind him.

“Stella,” Elio says, rubbing the back of his neck. “We need to talk.”

“Clearly,” I retort, crossing my arms defensively. “Because you’ve been avoiding me, Elio. I’ve been trying to reach you for days, Elio. What is going on?”

Elio rubs a hand over his face, clearly conflicted. “You need to leave,” he insists, his voice firm yet weary. “Please.”

Leave? He can’t be serious. After all of the effort that I’d spent trying to get in here, and he was going to dismiss me just like that?

I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s happening between us right now? I don’t understand.”

“It’s not for you to understand.”

“Oh forgive me then.” My frustration bubbles over. “I thought we trusted each other. I thought we were in this together.”

“Things have... changed,” he admits, running a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. His jaw clenches.

“Changed?” An uneasy feeling settles in the pit of my stomach. “What do you mean, ‘changed’?”

He takes a deep breath, and then his hand shoots forward, gripping my chin with both intensity and control. The sudden movement startles me, but I don’t take a step back.

“Listen to me, Stella,” he says, his voice laced with an urgency I’ve never heard before. “I can’t do this anymore. We’re through.”

“Wh-what?” My heart plummets, and I desperately try to understand what he’s saying. “Why?”

“Owen,” he explains, his eyes locked on mine.

I frown. “What does Owen have to do with any of this?”

“I’m not going to fight my son over you. It’s tearing us apart.”

“Are you an idiot?!” I exclaim. “You’re not fighting with your son over anything. I choose you.”

“I don’t let you.”

“You can’t–”

“Owen came to see me,” he admits. “And he talked about you. Despite what he’s done, that boy loves you, and he regrets what he did to you. We haven’t talked in years, Stella, and if he found out that I’ve screwed you nine ways to sunday, he’d never speak to me again. I can’t risk that.”

I bite my bottom lip, as my eyes brim with tears. “So, you’re saying I’m not worth it?”

His expression turns grim. “I’m saying I can’t lose my son over you.”

The tears flow down my cheeks. “Then why do all this? Why make me fall for you just for you to dump me anyway? You being his dad hasn’t changed from the first time we slept together, so why do you, all of a sudden, care now?”

“I’m sorry, Stella, really I…”

“No, you’re not!”

I turn on my heel and storm out of the office, slamming the door shut behind me.