No reaction from him whatsoever. That granite face again. I wish I could smash a wine bottle into it. A thick one.
Everyone is silent as Dante storms over to me, closer and closer until he’s towering over me. I hold my ground, glaring up at him with my shoulders thrown back and my chin high. His jaw grinds side to side before he speaks so low that only I can hear him.
“You still owe me, Francesca. Your family still owes me.”
“We’ll pay,” I tell him. “On our terms.”
He smiles at that.
“You sure will.”
11
Frankie
On my wayback to Vallejo, I try to figure out what to tell Rico to get out of this without losing half my life—and half the Abbott Winery—to him. I need to convince him that a quick, painless divorce is the best thing for both of us. A clean break, an amicable parting of ways. We’ve grown apart, we have dissimilar aspirations, we’re different people now...all the usual irreconcilable differences. Thank God he doesn’t know about the winery stipulation my dad put into my marriage contract. If Rico knew he was entitled to half the property, I’d never get rid of him.
I also need to figure out how to pay Dante back without…fuck, how much do we even owe him? I’ve never seen a number, but knowing my father’s gambling habits, his debt to the Bellantis has to be seven figures or more. I mean, surely I’m worth at least that much. Even so, it makes me sick to know my father is capable of putting dollar signs over his daughters’ heads.
And sicker to know I’m only worth something to the wrong man.
Pulling into the shitty motel’s parking lot, I refocus on sorting through what I need to do now. Obviously I still want a divorce, but what if Rico won’t agree to one? On the other hand, staying married to Rico long term isn’t an option—not when he’s proven himself to be such a lowlife. But in the meantime…I need to weigh all the pros and cons.
Ultimately, as much as I hate the idea of it, the least worst option might just be pretending to reconcile with Rico in order to keep the Abbott Winery in the family, rather than in Dante’s hands. After all, my only hope of generating enough cash to clear my family’s debt to the Bellantisisthe winery. Is it possible to get the place operational again, back to the level it used to be?
There was a time when my parents made decent money. The winery was prestigious, and Abbott wine sold very well. Once my father stopped being able to fill purchase orders, though, everything had a domino effect. Our reputation suffered, sales lagged, profits dried up. The winery fell into disrepair. Without money to pay workers, the grapes weren’t harvested properly and the vines were allowed to overgrow. Some of the buildings are in urgent need of maintenance as well. But for the most part, I’d say most of the damages are fixable. There is nothing catastrophically wrong with the winery that would prevent us from making wine again.
My heart begins to pound when I think about it. Is it possible that Abbott wines could make a comeback? Hell, maybe I can trick Rico into signing the winery back over to me. Or I can conveniently “find” an old document specifying that neither Rico nor I are entitled to the others’ property in the event of a divorce. Assuming that Rico doesn’t try to fight me in divorce court and just goes back to Italy, he’ll never find out. Can you go to jail for falsifying a prenup?
I’ve never been one for manipulation, but it seems I’ve gotten pretty good at it, unintentionally. Day by day I’m turning into less of the person I used to be and more into someone like Dante. The only difference is that Dante is well versed in getting what he wants out of people through intimidation and persuasion, and he has Armani by his side to navigate—or circumnavigate—the legal system in order to back it all up. I have no one to help guide me through this. At least not in the way I’d need to if I want to get rid of Rico once and for all.
I guess it all comes down to this: I can’t risk splitting the business with him in court. It would inevitably result in a public sale, since I can’t afford to buy out his half of the winery—and thus I’d lose my chance to pay back Dante. So, Mrs. Rico Correa it is.
But the thought of going through the motions, even temporarily, turns my stomach. Reconciling with Rico means I’ll have to live with him, eat with him, sleep next to him in the same bed. He’s going to want…sex.
Oh. God.
Breathing slowly through my nose, I push away those thoughts and square my shoulders. One moment at a time. I need to stay focused on getting the winery back to work. I have to do this for my sisters. For Livvie.
I get out of Charlie’s car and walk toward Rico’s motel room, fighting the urge to run every step of the way. I don’t even get a chance to knock, though. The door flies open as soon as I’m outside and Rico stands there with both arms spread wide in greeting.
“Frankie!”
He pulls me in before I can recoil and kisses me on both cheeks. His hands cup my shoulders and he all but drags me across the threshold before kicking the door shut. I smell the dying fragrance of his antiperspirant as he wraps his body around me for a bear hug.
“I heard the good news!”
I have no idea what he’s talking about but I can’t stand here with him touching me a second longer. I shrug out of his grip and take a step back. “What good news?”
He gives me an amusedly sly smile. “Oh Francesca, don’t tease me. I know you came here to tell me. We are co-owners of the Abbott Winery!”
“What—but how—who told you that?” I stutter. I’m stunned. How the fuck did he find out?Ijust found out, for Chrissakes.
“Facebook!” he says merrily.
“What?”
He takes me by the wrist and leads me to a seat at the single table in the room where his laptop sits open. I watch him click a few things on the social networking site and then turn the screen my way so I can see the message he received through Facebook Messenger from Jessica Madsen. Dante’s assistant sent Rico a fucking Facebook message?
