Page 43 of Unruly

“I know, Cece,” he told her.

Mad, disappointed, confused … it was all the same where Catherine was concerned. She had learned over time to handle stressors and her simmering anxieties. She had bleak moments where getting out of bed was a bother, but she forced her way out anyway.

Never with a fake smile, though.

She didn’t fake happiness when she couldn’t feel it.

Still, Cross worried.

Where he had been mentored his entire life to handle his business, and run a famiglia, Catherine had not. Her training started later in life. It was a lot to learn in a short amount of time, and her mother had an interesting way of teaching.

Hands on, and hitting the ground running.

For some, that worked.

For others, not so much.

Cross knew that he was a good boss, but he had also learned how to be over time. It wasn’t easy, and shit still happened that put him off balance. He figured Catherine was going to be the same way.

Their businesses were not the same.

She could not run hers like he did his.

This was not something Cross could teach his wife, and the only person who could teach her, Catherine was now feuding with. He didn’t even think he could help her work through the issues she was facing unless she was willing to talk to him about it.

Right now, she clearly wasn’t.

Catherine had done exceptionally well handling her business alongside her mother. And Catrina? That woman held the top spot as a successful Queen Pin for longer than Cross really knew. Four decades, but maybe more.

Catrina lasted that long.

She was the best one to teach Catherine.

“Daddy?”

Cross’s attention was back on their daughter in an instant. She sat on his lap wearing her leather jacket overtop a cashmere cardigan and purple leggings that matched the same colored shiny bow in her hair. He had even caved to her demands for the clicky shoes in her tiny suitcase before they boarded the private jet.

“Hmm, dolcezza?”

Cece smiled. “Loves my ma, Daddy.”

“Me, too.”

“Crosses hearts?”

His smile matched his daughter’s as that familiar tune came into his mind. It was a game they played, but he opted to change the words a bit.

It was no longer, “Cross my heart, and hope to die …”

“Cross my heart, love never dies,” he told his girl.

Cece nodded fiercely. “Never.”

“Go make Ma happy, Cece. She’ll like it if you do.”

“Okays!”

His daughter crawled down from his lap, and darted over to her mother. Catherine’s distraction finally flew once Cece put her tiny hands to her mother’s knees. Puckering her lips, Cece blew kisses. Catherine returned them, and then pulled Cece into her lap to sit. The two stuck their heads together, and started whispering away about something that caused a round of giggles.