Page 143 of Effortless

“Cal,” Tom’s father said, “all he’s asking for is—”

“I know what he’s asking for,” Calisto interjected as his sharp gaze cut to Tommas. “He doesn’t need to ask for it at all.”

“Because you won’t give him your blessing, or …?”

Calisto looked back to Tom once more. “Tom thinks I don’t know about a lot of things. He thinks I don’t know about what he did to a man inside the office of a club when said man insulted my daughter. He didn’t even think about defending her—if it was wrong, or not his place—he just did it. At that time, Tom barely knew Camilla at all. He still did it, though. And, while some might be angry with him for killing a man, and not coming to me with the information, he did what he was told by my son. Something else I appreciate for too many reasons than I care to name at the moment.”

Tom looked to Cross, questioning silently. He had been unaware that his friend chose to share that information with Calisto. Cross only shrugged.

“He thinks I don’t know,” Calisto said, glancing back to Tom’s father, “how Camilla can be, and how difficult and wonderful she is. He thinks I don’t how he waited her out because despite her restless heart, she was worth it.”

Calisto shrugged, adding, “I wish she still danced as much as she did when she was little, and that she still needed me as much as she used to. I wish she would travel more, see the world, and let life figure out the rest for her as she goes. Maybe I would have chosen a million different paths for my daughter, but these are the ones she has chosen for herself. He is the one she has chosen.

“So yes,” Calisto murmured with a smile. “He thinks I don’t know about a lot of things, but I do. I know. Tommaso does not need to ask for something from me that he already has.”

Tom cleared his throat, but stayed quiet.

“What was it that I told you when you first approached me about Camilla, Tom?” Calisto asked.

He didn’t even have to think about it. Not really.

“You don’t make those kinds of choices for Cam because you love her.”

Calisto ticked a finger in Tom’s direction. “Exactly that. Don’t ask me for something you already have. Although even if I did want you to ask me, you should already know, I think you have very much earned my blessing.”

“Where are we going?” Camilla asked.

“For a drive,” Tom replied.

“I didn’t come to Chicago for the weekend to spend a whole day driving around, Tom.”

He shot her a look. “Be nice, Cam.”

She grinned right back. “I think you like me better when I’m kind of nasty, though.”

“Depends on the kind of nasty, babe.”

He squeezed her thigh high under her skirt. She laughed, but didn’t bat his hand away.

“Are you planning on doing something between my thighs, or …?”

Tom winked. “Later, yeah.”

“Boo, you suck.”

“You’re distracting, and I need to keep both of us alive at the moment.”

“Mmhmm.”

She moved Tom’s hand even higher under her skirt, eliciting a thick groan from him when damp cotton met his fingertips.

“Killing me here,” he told her.

Camilla pushed his hand away with one of her teasing little laughs. “You better make it up to me later.”

“You know it.”

“So I seriously can’t do anything to convince you to tell me where we’re going?”