Rico’s smile persists. “We will rename the winery, of course! Simple.”
I press my fingers to my temples and close my eyes. Dante and Marco chuckle quietly across the table, but it’s loud in my ears. We’ve been here all of five minutes and Rico is already fucking this up. I have to do something, fast. Steer the conversation back in the right direction.
“What Mr. Correameans to say,” I cut in, “is that we intend to begin production as soon as it’s feasible again. Sadly, yes, the purchase orders my father took on good faith will not be filled this season because the wine is not available. But we intend to—”
“The exact timing does not matter,” Rico interrupts, dismissing me with a wave of his hand. “We intend to move forward withourwinery. Right,cara?”
Rico has never called me “dear” before, and I find it nauseating. “Well, yes, but first we’ll have to—” I start.
“With all these plans that we have, it would take a lot to convince us to turn over our business to someone else and simply walk away,” Rico says, interrupting me again. He turns his head to look in Dante’s direction. “And by a lot, I meana lot.”
It’s tacky and not at all subtle, the way Rico is trying to get Dante to start throwing out numbers. It’s also not going to work. Rico’s just blown our plan out of the water.
We should have done this my way from the start. Walked in here, told the Bellantis how much we’d take for the vineyard, explained that we were firm on it, and negotiated the whole thing in minutes. Instead, we’re stuck putting on this idiotic charade.
I’m fucking done with it.
“Look. I’m honestly not interested in playing games,” I try again. “It seems like it would be most beneficial to all of us to try to get a purchase agreement for the Abbott compound on the table before we leave today. Now, given that prime acreage in Napa goes for about three to four hundred thousand per acre, on average, I think it would be fair to start—”
“My wife is speaking out of turn,” Rico says. “We do not wish to sell.”
“Actually,” I say, trying to remain calm, “as an equal stakeholder in the property—”
Suddenly, Rico pushes me back from the table with his palm against my chest. His fingers end up splayed across my breast, but rather than move his hand away, he takes the opportunity to grope me instead. It’s so unexpected and inappropriate that all I can do is sit there, frozen, a fake smile pasted on my face. Inside, I’m screaming.
But then I see the fury in Dante’s eyes. It’s enough to spur me to action.
Clearing my throat, I remove Rico’s hand. This meeting has gone to hell, and I’m afraid that no matter what I say, Rico is going to gloss right over me.
“Okay.” I put my palms down on the table. “Can we please take five minutes?”
Dante hasn’t taken his eyes off me this entire time, but he remains silent. Armani nods toward the door.
I get up as gracefully as I can, while Rico looks at me questioningly from his seat. I tilt my head toward the hallway, indicating that he needs to follow me.
Out in the hall, I take a few deep breaths, trying to steady my stomach again. Rico comes up behind me moments later, as excited as a puppy who doesn’t understand when he’s done something wrong.
“We’re going to be millionaires!” He grabs my shoulders, massaging me as he talks, clearly turned on by how rich he thinks he’s about to be. “We are so close!”
“Rico,” I whisper. “You need to slow down in there. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You can’t produce wine on a whim. It takes months to years to produce a quality bottle. You need to let me take the reins on this.”
“You want to know what you need to letmedo?”
He runs his hands from my shoulders up to my neck and then back down, getting handsier by the second. Stepping into me, Rico presses his chest against mine. The wall is behind my back and there’s nowhere for me to go. He starts leaning in for a kiss that I can’t possibly avoid.
When Rico’s lips land on mine, I push back my disgust and tolerate it for a second or two (in case the Bellantis are watching from the other room) before I twist my face away. “Okay, that’s enough. We should go back in.”
“We were just getting started,” he says with a smile.
Sidestepping him, I straighten my suit jacket. “Like I said, let me do the talking.”
I get about two steps away before Rico grabs my arm.
“Rico—”
The next thing I know, he’s flinging me into the living room and pushing me against the wall, his tongue slithering around my mouth like it has a mind of its own. I wriggle in his grasp but he gets even rougher, biting my lip and sticking his hand up my skirt.
“What are you doing?” I manage to choke out.
