Chapter Seven #4
Lily looked up at him, her eyes wide. Caught out? Or perhaps it was his voice. Maybe that had come out a little sharply. He took a slow breath, trying to moderate the anger. ‘What happened to them?’
‘Nothing happened to them. We’re estranged.’
‘So you do have family,’ he said.
‘That’s debatable. Is this twenty questions? Getting to know you?’ Her voice held the hint of acid to it.
‘You say you’re going to be the mother of my child. It seemed wise.’
‘I know I’m going to be the mother of your child,’ she said. ‘But I thought you weren’t interested.’
‘Let’s say I’m interested now.’
‘So do I get to ask questions of my own?’ she asked. ‘Since you’re going to be the father of my baby.’
Rocco shrugged. ‘As you wish. My life’s an open book. Much of it seems to be readily available on the internet.’
He couldn’t help the dig. Beneath him, perhaps, but right now he didn’t care.
‘I don’t believe everything I see there,’ she said. ‘And I read the article about you out of necessity. You have a mother and father, but it didn’t mention anyone else. Any siblings?’
‘No.’
Liar.
He tried to ignore the DNA results he did have, now sitting in the drawer of his desk. A reminder of the falsehoods his family told. Proving Leo Zanetti was his brother. But he wasn’t admitting it to her, although the double standard pricked at his conscience.
‘Was that nice or lonely, not having a sibling?’ she asked.
He’d always wanted a brother or sister. His friends at school came from big families.
When he asked why he didn’t have one, his parents had said they’d wanted only him.
At the time, it had made him feel special.
Later he’d discovered that despite their efforts, his parents hadn’t been able to conceive another child.
They’d wholly ignored the brother he did have.
‘Since I don’t know what having a sibling is like, I don’t believe I’ve missed anything.’ Though …what if his father had acknowledged Leo? Would they have been friendly? Friends? Or would the rivalry have always been there?
‘My brother was a jerk,’ Lily said. ‘He used to pull my hair. Of course, I used to put on my school shoes and kick him in the shins. So I guess we’re even.’
Rocco laughed, despite himself, imagining an angelic little girl with blue eyes and long auburn hair walking up to her brother in school shoes and kicking him hard and leaving bruises for some imagined or not so imagined sin.
She smiled back, but there was a tinge of sadness about it. Although he could never forget—none of this might be true at all.
‘Do you believe your response was proportionate?’ he asked.
‘I believe I needed to stand up for myself, because if I didn’t, who else was going to?’ She took a tentative nibble of her pastry.
He forced himself to try eating one of his own since he always appreciated Carmella’s efforts to feed him.
‘Why are you estranged from your family?’ he asked.
Her teeth worried at her lower lip. Lily shrugged. ‘Things happen in families.’
‘I’d like to know what happened with yours.’
‘I don’t feel like telling you.’
‘And yet they’ll be the grandparents of my child,’ he cocked his head. ‘So you say.’
‘Is this a morning thing with you?’ she asked, narrowing her eyes. ‘I’m guessing you’re not a morning person?’
He didn’t take the bite at the jibe.
She blew out a long, slow breath. ‘Look, they didn’t agree with some of my life choices. And sometimes, for self-preservation, you’ve got to look after yourself. The cutting off was mutual.’
‘What didn’t they like, Lily? That you went to Italy on a holiday and came home pregnant?’
He winced. That was beneath him. Where was his finesse? Something about her inflamed him, caused him to lose all subtlety.
‘Ouch,’ she said, sarcasm hardening her tone. ‘No. They don’t know about the pregnancy. I don’t think they deserve that information from me.’
‘Why?’
She crossed her arms, an almost protective move.
Like shielding herself from something. Not him, he didn’t think.
A memory. ‘Because they didn’t have my best interests at heart.
I don’t think they ever have. Is your family happy?
All sunshine and roses for Rocco Silvestri?
You’re in the family business. What happens when you disagree? ’
That final question let him off the hook. Whilst Rocco wanted to know about her, he wasn’t ready to talk about himself with this woman. He might never be.
‘We talk,’ he said, this lie almost choking him recalling their last conversation which was all shouting and recrimination. ‘Isn’t that the way you resolve disputes?’
‘Sometimes talking doesn’t make any difference at all.’
As he knew too well …
‘Are there any—I don’t know—boyfriends or significant others to account for?’
That last question was a test. Of course he knew the answer, but she had no idea of the investigations he’d conducted. Lily narrowed her eyes. ‘If there were I wouldn’t be here. What’s the point to these questions?’
‘Call it due diligence,’ he replied.
‘And what is your quest for due diligence telling you? Because I’m sensing there’s a whole lot of judgement going on.’
Lily’s gaze narrowed. Her pastry now discarded on the plate. Her tea, barely touched. She should be eating. Drinking. Rest, fluids, nutrition was what the doctor had said.
‘No judgement, Lily, just curiosity,’ he bit back.
If he’d been a little more curious with Carla, perhaps he would have discovered that she’d been married rather than making a fool of himself. There would be no similar mistakes here. Especially not with a child potentially at stake.
Lily nodded. Took her napkin from her lap. Placed it carefully on the table. Stood. Still pale, perhaps a little shaky. Was she going to faint again? He placed his hands on the arms of his chair, ready to rise up and catch her.
She seemed to steady, fixing him with her cool, blue gaze.
‘I never pretend to be anything other than a human with a full suite of frailties and flaws. What about you, Rocco?’ Lily turned and walked back towards the house.
At the doorway she stopped, grabbed onto the jamb.
Hesitated for a moment. ‘Because I like to remember that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. ’