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“Excuse me?” Alessandra puzzled, her gaze going between me and my father. “May I ask who you are?”
“This is my father, Giovanni Donato,” I answered before my father could. “And I have no idea what he’s doing here.”
I couldn’t believe he’d come all the way here. Normally, my father sent people to do his bidding, rarely doing the legwork himself. Retirement wasn’t entirely a good fit on my father as of yet but Luca was firm in his dictate that our father wasn’t to meddle in the business any longer, which only left him to meddle elsewhere. Was this another example of his thinking I couldn’t get the job done myself? Not that I wanted to anymore.
“I’m checking on the progress of my newest acquisition. You haven’t been returning my calls so I figured a trip to Italy would be a nice change in scenery. But now that I’m here, I can see why you’ve been occupied,” he said, winking.
I scowled, hating how easily he made what Alessandra and I shared seem cheap and tawdry; but then I remembered, I had started out with a ruthless mentality, determined to win at any cost. I’d learned it from him.
Alessandra cooled as she shared a look with me before saying to my father, “You made a wasted trip. As you can see, we are celebrating the launch of Uva Persa, a new wine by Castello di Baroni. And we are in no way interested in selling. I thought Dante had already told you as much.”
“Cute presentation,” my father said, dismissing her. “Where’s your father? Let the menfolk discuss things further. I’m sure we can come to an equitable agreement.”
Before Alessandra could lose her temper, I stepped forward, barely able to rein in my own. This was her night, I wouldn’t let my father ruin it. “You weren’t invited, Father. I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You shouldn’t have come.”
“I had to. Someone dropped the ball,” he said as if I hadn’t spoken. “I knew I should’ve sent Luca. Maybe even Nico.”
I felt the jab in my heart but what hurt more was his casual treatment of the incredible woman who was the driving force of everything good in my life. That was when I lost it.
“You can insult me all you want but you will not treat Alessandra that way.” I grabbed my father by the arm and for the first time in my life, forcibly escorted my father out of the room. My father was still strong and hale, but he was no match for me. Once free of the people, I turned on him, ready to unleash a lifetime of anger on his ass.
“You’re an asshole,” I said, seething. “I’ve done nothing but try to show you that I’m worthy of your respect but I’ve been going about it all wrong. I shouldn’t be chasing your respect. You should see what’s right in front of you and if you don’t it’s your loss.” I stared my father straight in the eye. “I’m done seeking your approval, because you’ll never give it. You’re a bored, angry old man with nothing better to do with his time than make others miserable. At this rate you’re going to die bitter and alone.”
He barely flinched at my cold words. “I sent you to bring me this winery. You failed.”
“You don’t deserve Castello di Baroni. Alessandra has managed to turn a legacy into an empire and all you would do is tear it down when it no longer served your ego. You disgust me. Even if I wasn’t in love with Alessandra, I wouldn’t let you get your hands on Castello di Baroni. You don’t have the depth of character to understand what a gift this place is.”
I felt a weight fall from my shoulders. For so long I’d chased what I couldn’t catch—my father’s affection—and I was done running after something that should’ve been mine all along.
I finally understood what Luca and Nico had already figured out. We didn’t need our father—our father needed us, and if he didn’t realize this sooner rather than later, he would indeed die a bitter, lonely man.
“You can bluster all you like, threaten to cut me out, fire me, whatever. I have my own fortune, I won’t starve and I’ll be happier than you’ve ever known because Alessandra has shown me how a real titan in the industry makes things happen.”
I expected my father to start shouting, to tear me down, anything other than the silence between us. Then he shocked me when he said, “You really love her?” And his gaze tracked beyond me. I followed his stare and found Alessandra standing behind me, listening, her mouth open in shock.
Without returning to my father, I looked her straight in the eye and answered with a resounding, “Yes,” and Alessandra covered her mouth with her hands. “I really do.”
“Then, you should do whatever it takes to be with her.”
I returned to my father, surprised. “Come again?”
“It’s about time you found your balls. I’ve been pushing you harder than Luca and Nico because you were the one with the hardest head. You’re a lot like me. I knew the day you learned how to stand up to me was the day you were ready to be your own man, not just whoever I wanted you to be.”
My father had been testing me? I couldn’t rightly process what was happening. All I knew was that my world had tipped upside down several times in one minute.
“What do I need with another winery? They all start to look the same anyway.” He nodded, gesturing. “Seems to me, you have some loose ends to settle.”
I didn’t know how to respond. My brain was on tilt. Everything I thought I knew was dumped on the ground. I wanted my father to explain but Alessandra came first. “We’ll continue this discussion later,” I managed, leaving my father to go to Alessandra. I took her trembling hands in mine, the worst case of stage fright threatening to reduce me to a babbling idiot. Did she feel the same? Was I making a fool of myself? God, I wanted to throw up.
“You love me?” she asked in a tremulous whisper, her eyes shining.
A dam broke inside me and everything I’d been holding back out of fear came crashing free. I nodded, finally able to admit what I’d been fighting. “I knew it that night but I didn’t have the answers. I thought the best thing to do was leave but I couldn’t. I don’t know where I fit in your world but anywhere by your side is better than without you. I guess, if you’re willing to give me a second chance, we’ll figure it out together.”
“What about your father?” she asked, risking a glance at my father, who was, oddly, grinning as if he were finally proud of me. What the hell kind of Twilight Zone episode was I in?
“I haven’t a clue,” I admitted, still reeling from the revelation that my father had been pushing me in a different way than I’d ever imagined, hoping I’d finally stand up to him. Here I was trying to earn his respect when the old coot would’ve respected me more if I’d told him to fuck off and stop being a dick from the start. My family wasn’t normal. “I’m sorry he crashed your party.”
She surprised me with a smile, gesturing magnanimously toward my father. “I know something about difficult fathers. We will figure things out.” Then she slipped her hand in mine. “Come. We are about to unveil Uva Persa.”
“Have I mentioned how much I love you?”
“I will never tire of hearing it,” she said, rising to brush a kiss across my lips. “Let’s get back inside. I don’t want to miss my father’s reaction when he sees how well the wine is received.”
I smiled, more proud than I had a right to be of the woman I’d crossed an ocean to meet.
I never could’ve known that the love of my life would be waiting for me when I arrived.
I was a changed man—a better man—all because of Alessandra Baroni.
I finally realized why my brothers were blissfully happy.
They’d discovered that love was real.
And now, I had, too.
EPILOGUE
Alessandra
I SAT QUIETLY, calming my nerves in the spare moments before I was supposed to walk down the aisle to marry the man of my dreams.
I missed Enzo and our mother but I was happier than I ever thought possible.
I cou
ldn’t wait to start my life with Dante. Everything up to this moment felt like the practice run for what would become the real deal now. How silly I had been, believing that true love wasn’t in the cards for me. I smiled softly, running my hands down the front of my gown, breathing carefully in the tight bodice.
My dreams had come true. Even dreams I hadn’t known I wanted.
My father knocked lightly on the heavy wooden frame. I glanced up with a smile. “Yes, Papa?”
“May I have a minute?”
“Of course.”
We hadn’t spoken much since the Uva Persa launch. I knew he needed time even though it killed me to have this distance between us. His hurt had run deep but he would never miss the opportunity to walk me down the aisle.
He grasped my hand, his mouth working to produce the words that were strangled in his throat. I understood how he felt because I felt the same. “I’ve been wrong,” he said, his bottom lip trembling. “All this time I never saw who you truly were. I was being a stubborn old man and I nearly cost you your biggest triumph by being hardheaded. I am so happy you pushed forward in spite of my stubbornness. You were right. Enzo was the dreamer, you were the one who was never afraid to take risks.”
I struggled to hold back tears. I knew how hard it must’ve been for Papa to admit his own failings. My heart was bursting with love and relief. My papa had forgiven me!
“I am so proud of you,” he admitted. “Can you ever forgive me for being so blind?”
“Oh Papa, there is nothing to forgive,” I said in a rush of tears, wrapping my arms around his weathered neck. “I love you. I’m sorry I hurt you. I am so grateful you’re here with me today. I could not do this without you.”
“Dante is a good man. A better match than Alberico ever could’ve been. Now that my eyes are open I feel a fool for pushing you in all the wrong directions. If your mother were alive, she would’ve slapped a knot on my head long before now.”
I laughed through my tears. “Yes, she might’ve.”
He chuckled, adding, “And once again your intuition was correct. Sophia seems taken with Alberico, though I can see she is taking things slowly.”
I nodded. Indeed Sophia and Alberico were a good match. I suspected I would be attending my best friend’s wedding sometime next year but in the meantime, they were like two people from a forgotten era—courting politely and stealing chaste kisses in the garden. It was darling and I was so happy for my sweet Sophia, who was also my new right hand. She had seamlessly stepped in where Como had left off, and even improved upon a few of our operating procedures and advertising venues.
Papa regarded me with love shining in his eyes. “You are the most beautiful bride.”
“Thank you, Papa.”
His twinkle slowly returned as he straightened his tuxedo and gently wiped away the tears from my cheeks before offering his arm. “Shall we do this?”
I nodded, swallowing the happiest of tears. “Yes, I’m ready.”
And I was more than ready for what was to come.
I’d spent my adult life pursuing professional respect yet had found something far more profound, the confidence to push forward without needing the permission of others.
I’d also found the love of my life in the most unlikely of places.
