Chapter 10
TEN
Capri
I had been home for two days and couldn’t get Sebastian out of my mind. His touch, every time we made love, all the conversations we had were etched in my brain. All I wanted to do was go back to him. But how could I?
If he were some random guy I had met and wanted to spend the rest of the summer with, maybe I could pull off returning to Greece. But I couldn’t keep lying to my family. Eventually, the secret would come out. I gave my virginity to my father’s enemy. My godfather. And I had zero regrets.
When my phone dinged with a text, my heart rate sped up. Sebastian’s morning communication came across my screen. His messages throughout the day brightened mine.
I’m stocking up on massage oil.
And I’m working on learning to multi-task. I smiled as I hit send.
That’s my girl. Have a wonderful day. I’ll call you tonight.
It was almost night in Greece and he would be heading to the club. When he called me later, it would be the middle of the night for him, but he insisted on hearing my voice before he went to sleep. I liked knowing he had made that part of his routine.
Have a good night at the club. I inserted a heart emoji which he promptly liked.
If I could get an assassin to like a heart emoji, I could probably accomplish anything. Like getting my father to let me go back to Greece for the next six weeks. Wishful thinking.
Maybe I should tell my parents the truth. What could they do? I was a consenting adult. I was the one who approached Sebastian. I asked him to take my V-card. None of this was his doing, but my father wasn’t going to see it that way.
“Hey baby,” my mother said as she came into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. “I hope you slept well.”
She was already dressed in a cute pink sundress and matching sandals.
Her hair was blown-out and curled at the ends, and her flawless makeup looked as if it could have been applied by a professional.
My mother took pride in her appearance and often said she never knew when the producers of Mob Wives were going to come knocking and offer her a spot in a revival season. Goals.
“Hey.” I flipped my phone screen-side down in case Sebastian sent me another text. “It’s a beautiful day. I already went for a run.”
“Are you adjusting to the time change?”
“Slowly.” I stretched out my back. “I’m forcing myself to get back on New York time.”
“That’s the hard part about traveling.” She sat at the table with me. “Did you eat yet?”
“No.”
“Good, because I made appointments for us to get our nails done today. We can have breakfast first.” She looked like she was ready for a fun day in the city, drinking margaritas and doing some credit card damage.
“If time allows this afternoon, we can stop at that cute little Mexican place for a drink.”
I knew it!
When I was with my mother, no one ever carded me. I’d been her day-drinking buddy since I had turned eighteen. Neither of us ever overindulged. My father wouldn’t stand for it. It was just a fun way to spend the day.
“Sounds like a plan.” While I was away, I did miss brunch dates and hair and nail appointments with my mother.
“We can go shopping too. I have my dress for tomorrow night, but I thought you might like something new.”
About that…
“Actually, I’m good.” I had a very expensive dress and a killer pair of shoes in my closet thanks to a certain sexy man.
“You’re passing up a chance to get a new dress and shoes?” She poured some creamer into her coffee. “How come?”
“I got something in Greece.” I didn’t want to keep any more secrets than I had to. “Well, someone got something for me in Greece.”
“The guy you were seeing?”
“How did you know I was seeing someone?”
“I’m your mother, I know everything.”
Not everything.
“When you didn’t want to come home, I figured you had met someone. Now that you are home, you’re mopey, so I assumed there is a man involved. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me.”
If the guy I had met wasn’t Sebastian, my mother would have been the first person I told. I felt bad I couldn’t share all the details with her.
“I did meet someone.” I took my coffee mug to the sink, reminding myself not to give too much away. “He’s pretty cool.”
“Did he buy you shoes with that dress?”
“He did.”
“Then I agree.” She laughed. “He must be amazing.”
“He’s kind and fun to be around.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“At a club.” Don’t ask me his name. “I miss him.” I rinsed my mug and put it in the dishwasher. “It was difficult leaving him.”
“Does this mean you…” She motioned with her hand. “You know?”
“Mom!” Heat filled my cheeks. “A little privacy.”
“Oh, come on, we’ve never had any secrets. As a matter of fact, you always made it a point to tell me you’ve never had sex, so I figured when you finally did, you would tell me.”
That was true. We had an open relationship. I could tell her anything. Well, almost anything. I didn’t think telling her I had slept with a man almost twenty-five years older than me would go over so well. And given who he was wasn’t going to earn me any points.
Sebastian and I were doomed before we even got started.
“If you did sleep with this guy, I wouldn’t be upset,” she said.
That’s because you don’t know who he is.
“I wouldn’t have any right to be upset, but you know you can talk to me about it if you need to.”
“I know I can tell you things.”
“As long as you were careful and you thought he was worthy, then I trust your judgment.”
“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think he wasn’t the right guy.” I sat back down. “I thought it was going to be a one-night thing, but then we spent some time together and I realized I wanted to explore more with him.”
“He must have felt the same way.”
“He does.” I looked down at my lap. “But I don’t see how we can. We’re in different countries and I have to finish school. He has responsibilities.”
“He’s not in school?”
“No.”
“I’m glad you had that adventure.” She patted the top of my hand. “It will be a memory you can cherish for years to come. You met a guy in a foreign country and had fun in the sun. That’s pretty cool.”
“What if I’m not ready for it to end?”
“Give it a few days and see if you still feel the same way.” She sipped her coffee. “If it’s meant to be, you’ll find a way, but something tells me this was a fling.”
“I never really considered myself a fling kind of girl.”
That was how I propositioned Sebastian though, wasn’t it? I told him I wanted one night and he agreed. One night wasn’t enough. We both knew it before that night was even over.
“You’re going to be twenty-one next week. You deserved to explore and get it out of your system.”
“Why would I need to get it out of my system?”
“Now that you’re an adult, you have to do adult things,” my mom said.
“Like what?” This conversation had taken a strange turn. “What adult things?”
“You have to finish college and then learn how to run a hotel.” She pushed her mug away. “Your father has big plans for you. Exciting stuff is heading your way.”
“I guess.”
“Don’t mope.” She stood from her chair. “We’re going to have mimosas and that stuffed French toast you like.”
“The one with enough calories for two days?”
“We’re not going to worry about calories today.” She put her mug in the sink. “We’re going to go birthday shopping too, and we have to plan a dinner for your big day.”
“I don’t need a party.”
“Not a party, but a special dinner. You can invite your friends, and we’ll get that banana cake with the chocolate frosting you love.” She stood behind me and gathered my hair in her hands. “I’ll curl your hair before breakfast.”
“I’d like that.”
“And you can tell me all about this fantastic guy you met.”
“He’s cute and treated me well.” I closed my eyes when she began braiding my hair. “We went boating, swimming, and to his club.”
“His club?” She stopped twisting my hair. “How old is he?”
“Older than me, but I never asked how old.” We needed to change this conversation and fast. “It doesn’t matter.”
“As long as he treated you well.”
“He did.” My insides tingled when I recalled the night we went skinny-dipping. I had no idea what was coming next after that night, but I was glad I took him up on his offer. “Very respectful.”
“An older, sexy man who buys you a dress and shoes.” She went back to doing my hair. “Too bad he lives so far away.”
“I’m thinking I might go back for a few weeks before school starts.”
She didn’t say anything as she undid the braid and started over.
“Maybe after my birthday?” That didn’t work with Sebastian’s five-day timeline, but if he wanted me to come back, he’d have to compromise a bit. “I’ll have a few weeks before school starts.”
“Why don’t you let things settle? You just got home.”
“Because I don’t want things to settle,” I said. “Can you help me with Dad?”
“Capri, don’t put me in that position. He wasn’t happy with me when you didn’t come home right after the summer semester ended.”
“Mom, I’ve been working so hard at school.” I turned and looked up at her. “I’ve done everything Dad wanted. You know I wanted to major in fashion.”
“I know you did, but this is going to work out for you.”
“I gave in.”
“You don’t have to give up on your dreams. You can still design your dresses.”
“If I had a degree in fashion design, more doors would open for me.”
“Your father is Leonardo Ferrante.” She tucked some of the stray hairs that fell from the messy braid behind my ear. “Any door you want will open for you.”
“That’s not the same.”
“Your father has a trip planned for the Hamptons after your birthday. He wants you to see the progress they’ve made on the hotel.”
“Can’t we go in the fall?”
“Remember I told you about the associates that are coming tomorrow night?”
“Yes,” I said.
“They’re influential in the industry. They are looking to invest in the hotel or something.” When she went to the sink, I couldn’t see her face, making it difficult to read her. “I’m not really sure, but I know it’s important for you to help him with these people.”
“How can I help him?” I asked. None of this made sense. My father had never asked me to get involved in any of his business dealings. Why now? “I don’t know anything about the hotel industry. Nothing significant.”
“Just follow your father’s lead and do as he says.” She fumbled around in the pantry, still not looking at me. Strange. “These people could change the course of your future. Our family’s future.”
“What does that even mean? Why does our course need to be changed?”
“Go up and get ready,” she said. “We need to get moving if we want to eat before our nail appointments.”
“Fine.” I sighed as I got up from the table and grabbed my phone. “I won’t be long.”
“Baby.” She reached for my hand before I could get up the back staircase. “Don’t stress over anything.”
I wasn’t until she got so weird with this conversation.
“Things have a way of working out,” she said. “Maybe after you help your father with these people and visit the Hamptons in a couple of weeks, we can revisit you going to Greece before school. If you even want to. But right now, do what your father needs.”
“Okay.”
I just had to find a way to keep Sebastian from coming here. No good could come from that, especially with my father so focused on whoever these men were that were coming to the city.
Something told me my dad didn’t need the skeletons of his past tumbling out of his closet.