Chapter 9 Liana
LIANA
“Why are you here?” I ask Izzy, not giving her a second to set her stuff down at her desk.
“What do you mean?” she asks, eyes wide as if she has no idea what I’m admonishing her for.
“I told you to take it easy these last couple months of your pregnancy.”
Waving me off, she says, “I still have seven weeks until my due date.”
“And what if you end up going into labor early from working so much?”
“Statistically speaking, first time moms typically go into labor late.”
I roll my eyes. “Shouldn’t you be taking the time to … nest, then? That’s what it’s called, right? When you clean or something in preparation for the baby?”
Izzy laughs. “You could say I’ve been nesting this entire pregnancy. The nursery has been ready for months now.”
“Still, you need to rest and get ready for baby girl.”
Grabbing her iPad, she walks over to my desk and takes a seat on the other side. “No, what I need is to keep my mind busy with work, or I’ll go stir crazy. Now, we have manufacturers to talk about.”
I let out a sigh, knowing there’s no use in arguing with my cousin. I might be stubborn, but this one takes it to a whole new meaning.
“Have you heard back from Balistreri’s?” I ask.
“Yep, and thankfully, they’re making an exception to get our five sample gowns on their production schedule, but …”
I let out an anxious sigh. “But …?”
Izzy gives me a tight smile, and I know I’m not going to like what she has to say.
“Even with expedited production and shipping, they can’t guarantee with their quality control guidelines that we’ll receive them in time for the big bridal event we have coming up.”
Crap.
Going into this, I knew there was a high probability of this happening, but I was hoping we would find a manufacturer that would be able to squeeze us in while still giving us the quality we need. Clearly, that was me living in freaking la-la land.
“And that doesn’t include any extra time in case there are any issues with the samples,” she adds.
“Okay. How close would we be cutting it?”
Izzy taps her stylus to her tablet. “They said they could push us to the top of their schedule, but their production time is still the same due to the intricacies of the designs and the quality control they complete during each stage of the process. So it still puts us at a completion date about a couple weeks before the event.”
“Makes sense. That’s why Balistreri’s only works with top-of-the-line designers, and it’s why they’re my number one choice for manufacturers.” I twirl my pen while I consider our options.
“I’m desperate to work with them, and I’m already pleased with how they’re not willing to compromise the integrity of their work just to get us as clients.
I want to move forward with them, so let’s get the gowns in production, and I’ll plan on flying out to meet with them and go over the dresses and bring them back myself. ”
Izzy’s eyes widen when she looks up from her iPad. “You’re going to go to Sicily?”
“We need these gowns done, and if there are any issues with the samples, I can have them corrected right away versus dealing with shipping delays. We’re on a time crunch, so I’d rather go there myself and make sure everything is perfect than not have the full lineup ready in time for the event.
Brides from all over the country are planning their visits to this. We can’t let them down.”
Izzy nods. “You’re right. I’ll speak with our account manager over there and let them know of our plans. We can take the jet.”
I raise a brow. “We?”
“You didn’t think I was going to let you go to Sicily on your own, did you? And to visit a manufacturer? I’m definitely coming with you.”
I let out a humorous scoff. “You are absolutely not coming with me.”
“Uh, why not?”
I drop my gaze to her stomach, then slide it back up and say, “Have you completely forgotten you’re with child?”
Izzy drops her gaze to her belly. “Oh, yeah … I guess that would probably be cutting it a little too close to my due date.”
“You guess?”
“Nicco would never approve of that.”
“I would never approve of that.”
“Well, you can’t go by yourself.”
“I’ll be perfectly fine,” I say, brushing her off.
Izzy laughs. “You know Teo won’t allow that. You’re going to another country. You’ll have to bring a guard with you.”
Letting out a sigh, I say, “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll have Tito come with me, which is fine. As long as I can get these dresses in time for the event, I don’t care who he sends along.”
“Well, that settles it. I’ll let them know and get back to you with details.”
“Perfect. Thank you, Izzy. You’ve been such a tremendous help with that.”
“Please, I didn’t do anything except get a list together and contact them. You’re the one who did the research on them.”
“Well, we make an amazing team, and I’m so happy to have you during this chaos.”
Izzy sets her iPad down on the desk and leans back in her chair, placing her hands on top of her stomach. “Speaking of chaos …”
“Oh, no. What now? Did something else happen with the dresses?”
She waves me off. “Oh, no. It’s nothing to do with work.”
I let out a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank God. Please lead with that next time you’re referring to chaos.”
Izzy laughs and runs her hand through her dark hair. “Sorry. My bad. It’s just …”
I raise a brow at her. “Spit it out, babe.”
“I just wanted to get an update on the Massimo situation.”
“There is no update. I’m going to continue on with my life like I did before Massimo ever propositioned me.”
“Have you heard from Alessia?”
“She said she’d be in today.” I glance at the watch on my wrist. “She should be here any minute, actually.”
“Have you talked to her since your meeting with her dad?”
“No,” I sigh out. “She’s been busy with a project for school, so I haven’t wanted to burden her with my failed attempt at helping her and her boyfriend.” I shake my head. “There has to be something else I can do.”
“I still can’t believe Massimo propositioned you like that.”
“I can,” I say, shaking my head. “He’s your typical made man. He’ll do whatever he wants to get what he wants.”
“It’s kind of romantic, but also very effed up. I can admit that. The way he went about it is a bit distasteful, but I don’t know. I’m telling you, when we went on that date, there was something about him.”
I open my mouth to speak, but we’re interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I call out.
Alessia walks in.
“Oh, hey, Alessia,” I say, and she smiles in return.
“I just wanted to see if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to work on today.” There’s something off with her tone, and when I look into her glazed-over eyes, I notice the red rim around them.
“Oh my gosh, Alessia, is everything okay?” I ask her.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” she says, doing her best to give me one of the fakest smiles I’ve ever seen. I know this girl way better than that.
“Sit down,” Izzy urges, gesturing to the seat next to her.
“It’s really nothing,” Alessia says, trying to shake us off.
“Alessia, please, take a seat and talk to us,” I say, and she reluctantly agrees.
“I feel like I’ve been bringing my personal problems to work too much lately.”
“Hey, we might be your bosses, but we’re your friends too. Anytime you need to talk, you can always come to either of us. You know that’s how it’s always been,” I say.
A small smile pulls at her lips.
“Is this about Colton and your dad?”
She gives me a small nod.
“I’ve been meaning to speak with you about that, but I was trying to come up with another plan before doing so.”
“You talked to him?”
“I did … and he refused to take my money.”
She lowers her gaze to her lap. “Figures. I don’t think any amount of money could sway my dad at this point. He just wants to have complete control over us.”
The sullen look on her face kills me. Alessia has always been an extremely put together person. Even through all this stuff with her dad, the times I’ve seen her, she’s maintained a professional mask. From the outside looking in, you would have no idea her life has been in complete chaos.
But now, there are slight remnants of dark circles under her eyes. Almost as if she tried to cover them up with concealer, but it wasn’t enough to shield them. And her eyes … They look as if she’s been crying for hours on end.
“My dad told him to throw his performance at the Combine,” she finally says.
“He did what?!” Izzy exclaims.
“He said if he doesn’t, he’ll start going after his dad for the money, which is absolutely insane because he knows he doesn’t have it. It was a threat. My dad is threatening to physically harm Colton’s dad.” Tears form in Alessia’s eyes, and before I know it, they’re streaming down her face.
“He’s going to ruin his career before it even starts.
How is Colton supposed to continue like this?
He’s under my dad’s thumb, all because of me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
” Her hand is shaking as she drops her gaze.
“And this is just the beginning. My dad will end up controlling Colton like he’s his damn puppet. ”
The defeated look on Alessia’s face has my brain working in overdrive. I cannot let her suffer like this.
“I tried talking to my dad to see if he’d leave him alone if I break up with him, but he said no. He said Colton’s going to be more use to him now than he ever thought he could be.”
“Wait, but I thought he wanted to control who you date?”
“I thought so too, but now he’s changed his mind and is just resorting to using Colton in the NFL.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he want him to perform poorly during the Combine, then? Wouldn’t that affect his chances of getting drafted?” I ask.
Alessia shakes her head. “Colton will still go high in the draft even with poor stats in the Combine. I think this is my dad’s way of saying he’s not messing around. This is him telling us he owns Colton. I don’t know how I wound up in this situation. I should’ve never gotten so close to him.”
The crack in her voice pushes me to make a decision. I cannot stand by while Alessia and her boyfriend are torn apart by her poor excuse of a father. I won’t.
“You love Colton, right?”
“More than anything. He’s my rock. He’s given me hope that I might not just be stuck in this world we’ve grown up in. He gives me hope for a future I never thought I’d have.”
Her words hit me harder than I thought they would; they’re the reason I never wanted to date someone from our world.
“Then that settles it,” I say, looking over at Izzy who has a furrow in her brow as she stares back at me. “You don’t have anything to worry about, Alessia. I’m going to fix this.”