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“What’s going on, Liliana?”
I can’t do it. I just can’t. I end the call, covering my mouth with my hand to keep from throwing up. I don’t know what to do, what to say.
“Just hold on a bit longer,” Nico says, his voice layered with concern. Up ahead, I see the hotel looming. “I’m with you. It’s going to be alright.”
I nod silently, even though I’m not sure about the truth of his words. How can it be alright?
It’s over, isn’t it? This is the last time I will see him. We had a good time, but now reality is calling.
We pull up outside the hotel and get out of the car, hurrying up to our floor with my bags. When I get there and open the door, I see Dad pacing in front of the window in my room, turning to look at us with a frown.
“What was that all about?” he demands, then looks past me. “Nico? You drove her back here?”
“Yes,” he says from behind me, carrying my bags inside and closing the door behind him. It’s not as though he can hide the fact that he has all of my belongings with him. There’s going to be a reckoning. “Lili has been staying at my place since it’s easier than coming over the border every day. I have the space.”
“Then why have I still been paying for a hotel room?” Dad asks, and I can see that this is only his first objection. There are going to be more. He’s angry, and he doesn’t understand what’s going on.
“Dad…” I start but find myself at a loss for words.
Thankfully, Nico steps forward, past me, into the small space of the room. He puts his hand on my arm, letting me know that it’s alright – that he’s going to take care of it. “The thing is, Frank, we’d like you to consider something. You’re still staying for tonight and then tomorrow, isn’t that right?”
“Yes,” Dad says, grunting and frowning at Nico. “I already let my room go, but I figured I could sleep on the floor in here tonight and then spend the day in Monaco tomorrow.”
“Then I’d like you to spend that time also considering what I have to say,” Nico says. “Can you do that for me?”
“I don’t know what it is you’re asking,” Dad says, his eyes narrowed. He keeps looking between the two of us. He knows that something isn’t right.
“That will all become clear momentarily,” Nico says. “I just want an assurance from you that you will handle this like an adult. That you’ll think and consider before giving me an answer. Do I have that?”
Dad looks at me, looks at him, looks all around the room. I can see that he’s trying to find the loophole, the way out. Because no one should logically disagree with the idea of behaving like an adult – but then again, he knows right away that he’s not going to like this.
“Fine,” he says. “I agree.”
“Good.” Nico takes a breath. “Because, Frank, your daughter is the one for me. I love her, and I want her to stay here for good.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Nico
I knew it wasn’t going to down well, but I’m not fully prepared for this.
“I’m going to call the police,” Frank snaps, grabbing his phone out of his pocket and stabbing at the screen.
“What?” Liliana gasps. “Dad, why?”
“Because he’s been grooming you!” Frank retorts, staring at his screen in confusion. “Why isn’t this…?”
“Did you try calling 911?” I ask, trying to remain calm. “That’s not the emergency number here.”
“Seriously, Dad? He hasn’t done anything illegal,” Liliana protests.
“He’s been seducing you…. Some kind of pervert, pedophile…”
“I’m not a child,” Liliana says, then bursts out a half-laugh. “I know you think of me as one, but really? I’m twenty years old. That’s over the age of consent… well, everywhere.”
Frank stares at her and then at me with anger and desperation, and I can see his brain working. She’s right, of course. He just doesn’t want her to be. He throws his phone onto the bed and then marches towards me, his hands waving in the air.
“Fine. If the law can’t help me, then I’ll just have to remove you from here myself!”
“DAD!”
I stay stubbornly still as Frank batters into me, trying to push me towards the door. I’ve kept myself in good shape, worked hard at the gym, trained in the boxing ring for fitness. It doesn’t look, or feel, as though Frank has done the same. Given that I also have a height and breadth advantage over him, I have no worries that he’ll actually be able to push me around.
“You have to get out of here,” he snarls. “This is my hotel room. I paid for it. Get out, now. Or I’ll call hotel security!”
