37. Liana
LIANA
I get back into my father’s car, sobbing uncontrollably for what feels like half an hour but is only a few minutes. I never imagined he’d be the one to leave me.
But how can I blame him? I’d thought he killed my father, for God’s sake. I didn’t ask him, I just assumed.
God, what if I’d killed him that night? I would have never forgiven myself.
And now, there’s Sonny. I don’t know what to tell him.
I don’t know if Dario wants a place in his life now, not after how I've lied to him. Maybe he just wants to wash his hands of all of it.
Yes, he cheated on me. But he didn’t deserve all of this. He deserves better than me.
Papa is sitting on the porch in a recliner while Sonny plays in the yard. It’d be an idyllic scene if my life wasn’t falling apart.
“You stole my car.” His voice is almost cheerful.
“Didn’t do me any good,” I mutter as I get out of the car.
I walk up to the porch and perch in my father’s lap like I did when I was a little girl, wrapping my arms around his neck. He hugs me close instinctively.
“What’s the matter, caro?”
I hitch in a sobbing breath and try to restrain myself from bursting into tears all over again.
“Dario is Sonny’s father.”
He blinks, his arms tightening around me. “And he left you? I should have fucking decked him—”
“No. No, Papa, I left him. I didn’t tell him Sonny was his, and he just assumed...”
“That it was someone else.” He sighs heavily. “Oh, caro.”
“Yeah,” I say in a shaking breath and put my head on his chest, his heartbeat calming me down.
He rubs circles on my back and I relax finally, feeling safe and comforted in my father’s arms.
“I missed you,” I whisper.
“I missed you too, honey.”
“Don’t ever do that to me again, okay?”
“Never,” he promises, kissing my temple.
“Do you know I thought Dario killed you?”
He barks out a sudden laugh. “What? Where’d you get that idea?”
“I thought you were on the outs after that fight, and then I found his father’s pocket watch...”
“I’m too stubborn to die,” he says flatly, and I chuckle.
I sit there for a long time, until it’s almost dusk, and when I finally stand up my father stands and stretches.
I smile. His arm must have fallen asleep but he didn’t want to disturb me. Thank God he’s okay. Thank God he’s home.
Everything else might be falling apart, but I still have my father and Sonny.
While I’m getting Sonny ready for bed he frowns.
“Mama where is Dario?”
I freeze in the middle of buttoning his pajamas but then recover.
“He’s at his place. We’re going to be living with Papa again.”
He pouts. “But I like Dario’s place. I like Dario.”
“I know you do, baby, but... it’s just... Dario and Mama don’t get along.”
“It seems like you do,” he says firmly, his little lip trembling. “I’ve seen you kiss him.”
I chuckle. “Unfortunately, when you’re a grownup, kisses don’t make everything better.”
He climbs into bed, hugging a stuffed monkey he’d left behind when we left. He closes his eyes, but there’s still a little frown on his face.
My heart aches. My sweet boy deserves a father, and maybe Dario could have been it. But then again, I don’t know. He didn’t say anything about wanting to be in Sonny’s life.
I don’t hear from Dario for two days, and then I get a text from him at nine in the morning.
Come over at eleven for brunch. Don’t bring Sonny.
Well, that’s not very encouraging.
I tremble, looking down at the message, and Papa clears his throat.
“Everything okay?”
I nod slowly. “Can you watch Sonny for me for a few hours? Dario wants to talk.”
My father raise an eyebrow. “Alright, caro. Whatever you need.”
He goes back to his newspaper but after a moment he lowers it.
“What is it?” I ask, tilting my head.
“You love him.” It’s not a question.
I swallow hard. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
“Then let him take care of you, caro. You deserve it.”
Do I?
I just give him a watery smile and head upstairs to shower and dress in a skirt with thigh-high tights and a low-cut blouse.
Dario’s always liked my figure, so maybe it’ll grease the wheels a little.
Even if he forgives me, even if things go back to what they were, I don’t know if I’ll be satisfied. I’m still angry with him for cheating. It destroyed me.
But with the way I feel about him, the way he occupies my every waking thought—I have to try.
I knock on his front door at five before eleven and he answers it himself, looking gorgeous in a white t-shirt and a pair of gray sweats, barefoot. He runs a hand through his hair, looking at me with dark eyes and skating them across my body before landing on my face.
“Come in. Brunch is on the table.”
I sit down, the scent of maple syrup making my stomach clench. I haven’t eaten since Dario left yesterday, and I guess my body is mad at me.
“Eat,” he orders, and I do, waiting for him to say something.
When he doesn’t and I finish eating, I look up at him. He’s pushing around food on his plate. There’s bags under his eyes, like he hasn’t slept.
“I want to be a part of Sonny’s life.”
My heart starts to race. “Alright. I won’t keep him from you.”
“I want to tell him I’m his father.”
I nod. “Of course.”
“And I want to know why you left me.”
I huff out a frustrated breath. “You know why, Dario. You cheated on me. Don’t keep lying to me, not now.”
His eyes bulge and widen. “What? I would never have... Li, you were the only woman I ever thought about back then. Fuck, always.”
“You’re the biggest womanizer in the industry, other than my father,” I accuse. “Besides, I saw you.”
“I was a womanizer before you, Li. And... after you. Without you I’m a fucking mess, but I’ve never loved anyone else. Not ever.”
“Then why did I see you out with some girl? And then you lied to me and said you were with family?”
“When? What the hell are you talking about?”
“The night before I told you I was done. You canceled a date because of a family emergency. Then I saw you out with this gorgeous girl.” My voice shakes.
Confusion furrows his brows and then his eyes light up.
“You're talking about Maria."
“I don’t care what her name was,” I mutter under my breath, but he's pulling out his phone.
He puts the phone in my face, a picture of him with an arm around a petite, gorgeous girl—the girl I saw him with five years ago.
Tears fill my eyes. “You don’t have to rub it in my face. Were you... dating her?”
My heart aches. Fuck, why does it still hurt so much?
“No,” he says flatly. “That’s Maria. She’s my cousin. We’re only a few days apart in age so we were close growing up. That night, her fiancé left her, and she flew here from Europe so I could cheer her up.”
My heart stutters in my chest. “You’re lying.”
He groans and looks at the phone, tapping away until he pulls up a profile for her.
Maria Rossi.
“She’s really family? But you were hugging her, you had your arm around her—”
“We were close. Not like me and Beth.” His voice is flat.
I feel stupid. I feel like the biggest idiot on the planet.
“Oh, Dario. Fuck.”
“Fuck is right,” he says stonily. “Anyway, so like I said. I want to be in Sonny’s life.”
I nod slowly, my throat tightening. He doesn’t say it, but I know he doesn’t want to be in mine.
“Alright. I’ll bring him over tomorrow.”
I stand up and walk past Dario, who’s still seated, on my way out of the house. He grabs my wrist, pulling me down suddenly into his lap.
I squeak but my arms instantly go around his neck.
“I’m so fucking mad at you,” he murmurs against my neck. “You hurt me so badly, belissima, do you understand that?”
I think about it for a moment, try to put myself in his shoes. I left without an explanation and then in his point of view, I instantly got pregnant by someone else.
“You must have hated me,” I whisper shakily.
He shakes his head, his lips moving against my neck and making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“Never. I could never hate you, Li.”
“Then... does that mean... there’s a chance for us?”
He groans, pressing his forehead against my shoulder. “I don’t know. I’m still so mad.”
“I know. I know, baby,” I croon, desperate for more, for more of his attention, more of his touch. “But things will be different now.”
“You’ll trust me?”
“Yes,” I say quickly. “I trust you now more than I ever have.”
“Then tell me why you tried to kill me.” His voice is muffled because he’s still hiding his face.
I shudder all over. “It’s so stupid.”
“Explain it to me.”
“I thought... I thought you and Papa were on the outs. And then when he disappeared—”
“You thought I killed him.”
His face is blank and I bite my lip when I look at him, waiting for an outburst.
Instead, he bursts out laughing.
“Over a stupid pocket watch?”
I laugh too, almost hysterically.
He lifts his head, cupping my cheek and turning my face to kiss him.
“You’re not going to divorce me?”
He chuckles. “Baby, that was never an option for me. You’re mine now, and I’m not letting you go.”
“You promise?” I whisper, and then he kisses me again.
My heart soars in my chest, and I finally feel like myself again.