7. Antonio #2
Her eyes close and her head dips as she huffs out a breath, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.
And when she looks up with a new fire in her gaze, I know she’s finally ready to let me in.
“I’m feeling so out of control. With my parents, you, Gio, just everything.
” With a tilt of her head, she continues.
“It’s like I’m that little silver ball in a pinball machine.
Pinging from one crisis to another, and my father has control of both flippers. ”
Despite her distress, I smile at her analogy to the Getaway pinball game we played for hours as kids.
I run my palms down her arms to hold her hands. “What if you let me take control on one side, and you take the other? We always got the highest scores when we played the game together.”
A beautiful smile softens her features, and I know she’s remembering how much fun we had playing that old machine.
“What I’m saying, Luce, is that you don’t have to do this alone. You can lean on me. It’s probably going to be difficult finding the right balance with us getting married, but I’m still here. I’m your friend first and foremost. You can share things with me.”
“Thank you. I think I needed to hear that.” She gives my hands a light squeeze while the crease between her brows smooths.
“I know this is hard, for all of us. Gio looks miserable most of the time. While you seem angry.” She draws in another deep breath, her shoulders dropping on the release. “And I’m just lost.”
There’s no denying her summary of the situation. Anger is exactly how I’d describe the force flowing through my veins having to watch from the sidelines.
“Gio is taking his break from Tori hard. For the first time, he seemed to really be falling for someone, but now it’s over.
” A heavy sigh is forced from my lungs. “And I get angry at the paparazzi shoving cameras in your face and demanding you two kiss.” My confession is met with a further softening of her expression and the faintest hint of a smile.
“Promise me that through all this mess, you won’t stop being my friend.”
“I promise, Lucia. Nothing could ever ruin that.” Dropping her hands, I give her a quick hug.
“Now, do you want a drink?” I walk away before I’m tempted to do more than hug her.
Our friendship is changing, and until I learn how to deal with that, it’s best I minimize the physical contact between us.
“Have you spoken to your father this visit?” I ask, grasping at a topic change like I’m drowning at sea and it’s all that will keep me afloat.
“Sì, but I wish I hadn’t.”
Hmm, so that’s the reason for her melancholy mood .
“Though he doesn’t know I’m still here in the city,” she mutters as she wanders over to the window that overlooks the river.
“Well, you’re always welcome to hide out with me.”
The smile she throws me over her shoulder is a little sheepish this time.
“I was hoping you’d say that. My bag is in the rental car downstairs.
” She turns back my way. “Every time I speak to my parents, all they want to know is if I’ve set a date.
It’s only going to get harder to keep up the lie if I don’t give them something soon.
” She scrunches up her nose. It’s an adorable habit she’s had since she was a teen.
“I was hoping we could discuss a timeline while I was here.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing. I’ll message Gio now to ask him to drop in when he finishes at the office.”
“He’s still working?”
“That’s all he does lately. I think he’ll be happy to have a date sorted too.”
Lucia picks up the glass of wine I’ve poured her, and walks over to sit on the sofa, her bare feet tucked underneath her.
“The last time we shared a drink like this was in Capri.”
She stares into empty space. “That seems like a lifetime ago.”
“A lot has happened since then.”
I drop onto the cushions beside her, lounging back with my legs stretched out in front of me and my eyes closed. It’s been a long day, and moments of relaxation like this are a rarity.
She shifts beside me, and the cushion sinks lower. “I asked Papa about the marriage contract,” she muses.
“What did he say?” I tilt my head to the side and peel my eyes open.
Her elbow rests on the back of the sofa, her head lying in her hand.
She’s so close her perfume wafts around me in a floral cloud and the tips of her auburn waves tickle my arm.
My fingers flex with the temptation to twist a curl around them.
What the hell am I thinking? This is Lucia, not a date. I sit up straighter and take a gulp of wine.
Only, Lucia’s eyes follow my movements. “Your father asked him for a loan about twenty years ago when the Barbieri Corporation was suffering some cash-flow problems. Papa decided to use the marriage contract as leverage in case your father didn’t pay him back.
” She sighs. “My father has never passed up an opportunity to take advantage of another person’s misfortune.
He even sounded proud of the deal when he told me. ”
“I’m sorry,” I say, knowing how much her father’s callous actions hurt her. “Did the loan get paid off?”
“Sì, but the marriage contract remained. It wasn’t tied to the original loan. Papa must have forgotten about it, because I’m sure if he had remembered, we would have been in this position a lot sooner.”
“What made him remember now?”
“Your father came to see him and suggested it would be a good time for me to marry Gio.”
“But why?”
She lifts her head to take a sip of her drink, and I wonder at her hesitation.
“Maybe he wants grandchildren. After all, that was why my father agreed. He thinks I’m past childbearing age.”
“What? You’re only thirty-two.”
“To my father, that is about five years too late.” She grimaces, staring into her glass. “And for some reason, he thinks marrying a Barbieri will be beneficial for the Romano family bloodline.” She’s trying to make a joke, but I’m too angry at her father’s behavior to find anything amusing.
“I know he’s always hated you having a career. But even for him, this arranged marriage is extreme.”
She remains statue still, and we both fall silent, each lost in our own thoughts. I check the time. Gio will be here soon.
“Do you mind if I grab a quick shower before Gio arrives?”
“While you’re doing that, I’ll run down and grab my bag.”
“The spare key card is on the hall table,” I say on my way to my bedroom.
Everything Lucia just revealed replays through my mind as the warm water cascades over my body. The sooner I can support her stance against her father as her husband, the better.
The murmur of voices in the living room tells me Gio has already arrived, and I quickly throw on sweats and a T-shirt.
“Hey, bro,” I say, walking toward Lucia. She’s in the kitchen placing cheese and olives on a board, and Gio already has a glass of wine in his hand. “Do you need help, Luce?”
She leans into me like she’s sharing a secret. “You know you’re hopeless in the kitchen.”
“Even I could put some cheese on a board.” I scoff softly.
It earns me a slap to the chest and a cute giggle. “No, it’s fine. Please sit with your brother.”
It’s a lighthearted moment that has been missing between us lately. And it gives me hope that our relationship is back on track.
I join my brother, picking up my refilled glass. Luce joins us, placing the platter on the coffee table between us. The whole dynamic between the three of us is more comfortable, and with the tension easing in Gio’s shoulders, I can tell he’s noticed it too.
“Luce, tell Gio what you learned from your father about the marriage agreement.”
She takes a sip of wine, then proceeds to tell Gio what she told me earlier.
“Do you know how much the loan was for?” he asks.
“No, sorry. He didn’t say. But the marriage agreement was his idea to ensure that if the money wasn’t repaid, he had a way to get retribution.
” She takes another sip of her wine. “My father was being deliberately vague about the details, and as you can imagine, I wasn’t very happy to learn that he used me, his only daughter, as some type of loan guarantee. ”
“Why now?” he asks, sounding more like he’s posing the question to himself, not us.
“That, I don’t know, and neither does my father. It was your father who set the wheels in motion.”
“It’s a shame we won’t get to see our father’s face when he realizes that we’ve played him at his own game,” I add with a smirk.
“Speaking of the wedding. Have we got a date?” Gio asks, looking between us.
We all pull out our calendars and start calling out dates until we land on one we can all do.
Gio stays only long enough to finish his wine and confirm that he’ll reach out to our brothers.
The door bangs closed behind him, and Lucia turns to face me, tucking her bare feet underneath her again. We’re back on the sofa in the same position as earlier this evening.
“Can I invite Rose to the wedding?” she asks before pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. My gaze drops to her mouth. Fuck, I wish she wouldn’t do that. It fills my head with sexy thoughts that have no place being there.
“Of course.”
Rose is Lucia’s closest friend from school. We’ve met several times over the years, and it’ll be good for her to have someone other than me for support.
“And Dante?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. He really isn’t happy about any of this. If he was there, at best, he’d try to stop us. And at worse, he’d punch you. He really doesn’t need to know anything about our plans.”
“Good call, then.” I stand and pick up the empty glasses and plates.
When Luce offers help, I take the plate she’s holding too. “Cleanup is something I can do in the kitchen.”
She giggles. “One day I’m going to teach you to cook.”
“One day I might even let you,” I reply, and with a wave, she turns and walks to her room.
Finally, we’ve got a date. And the heavy weight that’s been pressing on my chest eases just a little.