Chapter 25 #2
As much as I didn’t like Santo, he would always be in our lives because Marco couldn’t break away from him.
That would have meant breaking away from his family.
For as much as Dom was a Deluca, he wasn’t around nearly as much as everyone else, and I think that was something else that he considered from time to time.
Especially knowing how close he was to Dom.
He must have wished he was around more but had to accept the way Dom wanted things.
He had chosen another life, a different one, and it wasn’t without its consequences.
As for Regina not being here to make them feel better or make sure they knew none of the blame was on them, it likely made things difficult and more heartbreaking.
Although I didn’t know Regina, I would’ve thought she would never blame her family.
I couldn’t see how a mother could do that.
Not when they had already worked so hard to preserve her legacy.
“But what are you going to do with a publication like that?”
He exhaled. “I have some ideas.”
“You’re thinking if you bring it under the Deluca Industries umbrella, you’ll have freedom to do what you want with it?
” I was sure it would also give him more ground to stand on when he made a move to become CEO.
His priorities seemed to have shifted since we decided to make this work, but I was sure he was still quietly fighting to make that happen.
And I understood the hesitation he was probably feeling in disclosing all of the CEO details with me, since the last time I had become obsessed with screwing over Santo.
“More or less,” he said, sounding vague, almost as if he was still thinking it over. It was understandable because it was a big decision. “I’m just not sure Maria will go for it.”
I wouldn’t have been so sure of that. I may have had an idea on how I could help.
I wouldn’t be going as far as I had with Santo and the office shenanigan, but I wanted to make sure Marco got what he deserved.
That was all. “She’ll agree,” I said confidently, my intention to pay the mom of three a visit.
It seemed we had some things to discuss.
She was with a Deluca. I was with a Deluca.
She was a mom. I was going to be a mom. From one woman to another. What was the harm?
Smiling, I curled my fingers over his forearm, and his eyes fell there as he fidgeted with his fingers.
My man needed to know I fought with two swords, one in each hand, when I fought for someone I cared about.
I was always ready for battle. Changing the subject, I questioned, “What do you do anyway? I can’t believe all this time, and I never knew or thought to ask. ”
He gulped. “Honestly, it’s not important.”
Moving my hand off of him, I fussed with my hair that had slipped from the braid. “I gather you think that.”
A smirk tugged at his lips as he jerked his chin at me. “I oversee the seamstresses for a clothing line we acquired semi-recently.” It was like he was daring me to see things differently than he did while still thinking it wasn’t possible.
“As in?”
“As in I hardly have anything to do and really have no reason to go into the office. Not in the same way some of my brothers do.”
“That explains your drab work environment.”
“Nothing about the job feels like it belongs to me.” His jaw hardened, and my fingers tingled as I forced myself not to touch the spot.
He needed to go through the frustration on his own.
I knew that. “It feels like my father threw me a bone because there was nothing else he thought I was good enough to handle.”
“He’s a fool.” My lips thinned as I shook my head.
Looking ahead, his eyes glazed over as he spoke. “There was a time when I thought it was because he knew something about me I didn’t want to admit to myself.”
I inched up on the bed, leaning over to put my fingers under his arm and on top of his shoulder as I massaged him. “Like what?” I asked softly.
He rubbed his hands together, his focus not breaking on the distance ahead, a black television screen and console with a white Greek god statue beside a stack of random classic novels. “That I wasn’t capable of much else.”
I paused, giving him a slight shove as I tried to get him out of his head. He needed to see that it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with his father. “That’s crappy parenting,” I told him, moving away and leaning back on the headboard.
He didn’t look fully at me, only from the corner of his eye. “Speaking from experience?”
The question was a lot more loaded than he could have imagined, and like him, I didn’t want to dwell on it.
“Something like that.” Mine had made a lot of mistakes, but I didn’t help either, feeding into their sicknesses, giving them everything they ever wanted.
I could have pushed back on some of it. Our relationship today might have been better for it if I had.
Now, though, all I could do was forgive them and change my ways going forward.
And I thought I had been doing a good job of that after starting with our wedding venue, if I did say so myself.
“You know, I’ve thought about what kind of mother I’m going to be a million times over again, and every time I do, I only hope I don’t make the same mistakes my mother made with me.
” Instinctively, my hand went to my swollen belly, and I thought about how much I could learn from them if I kept an open mind.
His eyes settled on my hand, but when he caught me looking, he looked away, focusing on my face instead. “You won’t. You’re aware of it, right? So, you’ll make sure not to follow in her footsteps.”