Chapter 23
SOFIA
“What’s going on, Sof?” Maya asks quietly as tears pour down my face.
I’m sure when she asked me to meet for lunch, she didn’t expect me to start blubbering at the table.
I shake my head. “It’s just my dad,” I tell her as I drop my hands. “He’s pissed at me about everything. He’s so angry with Dominic, and he’s angry at me, and he says as long as Dominic is in my life, he won’t be.”
She frowns. “There’s no way he means that,” she says kindly. “I know Marco, he wouldn’t just cut you out of his life. You or the baby.”
I pull out my phone and hand it to her. I’ve called him at least twenty times in the last two days, and he hasn’t answered a single one. My texts have gone unread too. My only solace is that he hasn’t blocked my number, but he’s clearly screening everything I send.
“What if I try?” she offers.
I sigh. “It’s worth a shot,” I say. “Honestly, I’m up for anything at this point.”
She smiles and pulls out her phone, scrolling until she finds his contact.
“Okay, Marco,” she says aloud. “Let’s see if you can resist the Maya charm.”
I can’t help but laugh. It feels nice after so many days feeling unbelievably sad.
She puts the phone on speaker, and we listen as the line rings. Just when I think he’s not going to answer, it picks up.
“Hey, Maya Papaya,” he answers in a cheerful voice.
The sound of it shatters my heart into a million pieces. Then I have to remind myself that he made this choice.
“Marco,” she says, holding out the “o” in her standard greeting for him. “I heard about the garage. I just wanted to check in.”
“I think I’m just going to call it a wash,” he says, which is obviously news to me. “I’m not sure if it’s worth saving.”
She looks at me with wide eyes, and I just shake my head. I have no idea what’s going through his mind right now, but he’s clearly not thinking straight.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says sympathetically. “Is there anything I can do to help, maybe Sofia and I could—”
“I’m going to stop you right there,” he cuts her off coldly. “Sofia and I are no longer speaking. As far as I’m concerned, she’s dead to me.”
Tears fill my eyes again, and I motion for her to hang it up.
“Well, that sucks, Marco, because you’re missing out on an incredible daughter,” she says before she presses the end button. “Jesus, the gall of that man. I’ll burn his garage down for you, I really will.”
I snort with laughter, because coming from Maya it’s a ludicrous thought. Now if Dominic had offered, I’d worry he might actually do it.
“It’s fine,” I say, swiping at my eyes. “I mean, obviously it isn’t fine, but I can’t do anything about it, can I?”
She reaches her hand across the table and I grab it. Maya is as close as a sister to me, so if I’m not going to have my dad around, at least I’ll have her. It doesn’t lessen the heartbreak, but it certainly makes me feel less alone.
I go back to work and finish out the day. Dominic and I leave together around seven and get into his town car. We don’t talk much, but before we’ve pulled up to his building, he turns to me.
“Is everything okay with you?” he asks, his eyes trained on my face.
“Yes, everything is great,” I say sarcastically.
“I can’t stay at my apartment because some lunatic trashed it and left no evidence of breaking in.
My dad isn’t talking to me, and his business was also trashed.
I’m two months pregnant and it’s throwing my hormones all out of whack, and half the time I just want to cry, and the other half I want to punch every person I know in the face! ”
I take a deep breath and look at him. He’s smiling at me, looking way too amused for someone who’s causing me so many problems.
“Did that answer your question?” I ask petulantly.
“I think so, yes,” he says charmingly, leaning down to place a soft kiss on my lips.
There it is again. That easy intimacy. Somehow, in the last few days, we’ve started to be more couple-y.
I suppose I’m due for something good after the mess my life has been for the last few weeks.
And if my dad isn’t talking to me, why wouldn’t I get closer to Dominic?
He’s the father of my child. He’s my family now, as strange as that sounds.
When I’m alone in my bed, though, I start crying again. This entire life is just a fantasy. I’m living in someone else’s house, being driven around in someone else’s car. This is a fragile ecosystem that could fracture at any time.
All I have to see is one wrong thing. I can conceptualize how dangerous Dominic is. I’ve seen him get mad. I’ve seen the evidence of his enemies trashing my things. How would I react, though, if I actually saw him kill a man?
There’s no way of knowing how that would change us. It would probably send me running back to the father who currently wants nothing to do with me. I truly don’t even want to think about that possibility.
Then I start to think about his safety. His business is ruined and he sounds like he really doesn’t want to open it back up, which I hate.
Worse, though, are the dangers that are still lurking.
If there truly is someone in Dominic’s circle that’s leaking information to his enemies, my father isn’t safe.
I sit up in bed, my heart pounding and head spinning. I can’t do this. I can’t spend the rest of my life terrified for him. He said I was dead to him. How could he be so callous? The pain of it forces me out of bed, and I go down to the second floor to get a glass of water.
I still feel restless, though, so I end up aimlessly wandering around. Dominic’s office is on the second floor, as well as a game room, a private library, and an indoor pool.
I walk into the pool area and sit down, deciding to stick my feet in. The water is cold, and it helps clear my head. I kick my feet back and forth, feeling the water splash out and hit my pajama shorts. I’ve only been there a few minutes when I hear the door slide open.
“Sofia? What are you doing in here?”
I look up to see Chiara standing there, watching me curiously.
“I couldn’t sleep.” I shrug.
“You know our parents had this pool installed when I turned five? All because I wanted to learn how to swim.”
“That’s pretty excessive,” I say.
“No worse than when they bought me an entire stable when I asked for a pony.”
“Wow.” I shake my head. “We had very different childhoods.”
“My family is like that,” she says. “You ask for an inch, and they’ll go a whole mile. Whether you want them to or not. Your baby is going to be really lucky to have that kind of love in their life.”
I look up at her sharply.
“Dominic told me. He’s never had an assistant last longer than a month, and he’s certainly never brought one home. I knew the night he brought you here that he was in love with you, and I finally got him to admit you were pregnant yesterday.”
My cheeks flame, and I’m sure they must be bright red. I’m grateful that the only light is coming from the pool lights.
“I don’t know about love,” I scoff.
“Trust me,” she says conspiratorially. “He has it bad for you. How could he not? I’ve known you for two weeks and I already love you like a sister. That was the one thing my parents were never able to give me.”
I lean over and give her a quick hug. That’s exactly what I needed to hear right now.
“Dominic also told me about your dad,” she says, squeezing me tighter. “I don’t know him, but I know that no good parent can cut their child out forever. Just have faith, Sofia. He’s going to come around. He has to.”
I nod and pull away, wiping away yet another round of tears.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “I already love you like a sister, too.”
“Good,” she smiles. “Because I have a lot of thoughts about my niece or nephew’s nursery.”
I feel better after that. The next day genuinely feels like a good one, which I didn’t think I was capable of anymore. Until my phone chimes and I look down to see a text from an unknown number.
Curious, I open it, and immediately wish that I hadn’t. It’s video footage of my father. He’s outside of a grocery store, carrying a few bags and completely unaware he’s being filmed. The angle is clearly not from a security camera. Someone took this with their phone.
As I’m watching it, the phone chimes again. I look down at the text, hoping it somehow justifies what I’m seeing.
You should have made a better choice.
The words turn my stomach, and I have to grab the trash can under my desk and vomit. Dominic steps out a moment later, which feels terribly inconvenient. The last thing I want is for him to see me like this.
“What’s wrong?” he asks. “Is it the baby?”
I shake my head and push the phone in his direction. He picks it up and stares at the screen for a moment. When I look up, his face is so furious I’m afraid he might snap my phone in two.
“We’re going home,” he tells me. “Right now. Grab your things.”
I don’t even try to argue. I don’t think I could stay for the rest of the day if my life depended on it.
As we’re speeding back to the penthouse, Dominic barks instructions to Rafe.
He wants to increase the security perimeter around my dad.
Security my dad doesn’t even know about for a threat he’s unaware of.
My hands are shaking, twirling my phone between my hands as I consider calling him to warn him and knowing it would do no good. He wants nothing to do with me.
For the first time since he gave me the ultimatum, I’m not sad about his decision.
I’m terrified it’s going to get him killed.