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None of it made any bloody sense.
If he wanted me, he’d try to make that clear.
If he didn’t want me and wanted Italy, he would have tried to provoke me and force me to break the agreement. But he wasn’t doing either of those. He was simply…doing nothing. For a man to come into our home, to have the backing of my grandmother, and the word of my parents but to simply do nothing didn’t add up. This was why I knew something was wrong; I just wasn’t sure where to start looking.
“Ma’am, we’re here,” the driver informed me. I looked over to the restaurant on my right, the name Melody’s Garden etched into the glass. The valet opened my door quickly for me to step out.
“Welcome, Ms. Callahan,” The freckle-faced man said, pointing me forward as I took off my sunglasses.
This is going to be fun, I thought sarcastically, walking through the wooden doors as they opened for me. Once inside, as always, it felt as if I’d been transported to Verona, one of my mother’s favorite cites in Italy. The walls that led to the dining hall were made of brick that had been imported from the city itself. The end of the hall was so bright, it looked as if you were walking into the light at the end of life. I could hear their soft voices as they laughed and giggled, which died down when I reached the light at the end. As always, I found myself unable to look away from the glass dome above, where all you could see was the bright blue sky. Centered in the middle of the dining room was a saltwater Roman-style fountain. Apparently, the statue of a woman pouring water from a jug was meant to look like my mother…but I couldn’t see it. All around the restaurant were perfectly trimmed and managed bushes.
Inhaling, I smiled; “Good morning, ladies.”
“Good morning, Donatella,” they all said it, which was kind of funny. They sounded like school children and I was their teacher… No, not funny—pitiful for them. They were all much older, much more important in the public eye at least; one of them being the governor’s wife and another the mayor’s, and yet even they had to come for the monthly Callahan Foundation meeting.
“You look beautiful, as always.” The governor’s wife came up to me first, as usual. Her brown hair cropped short at her shoulders. She came up first as a way to define the order of importance to the other ladies and I didn’t stop her.
“Thank you, Brigitte…” I reached out to take her hand when she offered it, but she paused… No, not just her, but all of them looked around me.
Turning around, I watched as Ivy came in, dressed in a tight pale pink dress and a white jacket that hung on her shoulders. Her golden blonde hair over one of her shoulders in soft waves, she tucked her beige clutch under her arm, taking off her sunglasses and smiling at the ladies assembled.
“Morning ladies,” she said and even though no one replied, she confidently made her way towards me.
“Dona, you left without me! I know you hate being late but honestly… I’m hurt.” She laughed, grabbing on to my arm. I stared at her, unsure of what to stay. No…that was a lie. I wanted to tell her to let fucking go of me before I kicked her to moon. “Can you do me a favor?” she had the nerve to ask.
“Can you tell them to step back?” She nodded at the guards behind her… One of them being Greyson himself. He nodded to me but then focused on Ivy. She whispered, “Ethan is strict about making sure I’m protected. However, you don’t have guards so obviously I don’t need one either.”
No. She needed them.
She needed them to protect her from me.
“Ivy, welcome!” Nari came to her rescue, hugging gently and kissing her cheeks. “I’m so glad you could make it today. We thought you were still resting.”
“Do I really need that much rest from my honeymoon?” Ivy laughed, letting me go and taking Nari’s hand. “Actually, I take that back.”
A few of the other women laughed, and as if she didn’t see me, Brigitte stepped before me to Ivy offering her hand.
“Mrs. Callahan, I’m so happy we can finally meet.”
“Brigitte Orton.” Ivy took her hand and shook it. “I’ve heard so much about you from Dona. Thank you for your donation last month; who knew we’d end up needing it and so much more for the hospital? How’s your husband? Ethan was saying we were all going to have dinner sometime soon.”
“I will only agree if you and Ethan allow us to host you both at the governor’s mansion.” Brigitte smiled brushing her hair behind her ear.
“I’ll see when Ethan has time.”
“Well, I’m hurt.” Fatimah Gupta, the mayor’s wife, came forward. “Where is my invitation?”
“Mrs. Gupta, how are you?” Ivy asked, offering her hand. One by one, it went on like this, the crowd around her growing and growing, and pushing me farther and farther out. I felt the lump in my throat growing.
“Ethan!” I was going to kill him. This place was mine. He knew that. Mother had left it to me, and grandmother had taken care of it until I took over four years ago. For four fucking years I had built this! Why the bloody fucking hell was I feeling excluded? Why the hell was she here?
“Breathe, Dona,” Helen whispered, suddenly appearing beside me. “You can’t leave but—”
“Why would I leave!” I hissed at her under my breath. “The foundation is mine.”
She squeezed my arm, her brown eyes piercing into mine; “The Callahan Foundation belongs to the next Mrs. Callahan. That isn’t you, Dona; it’s Ivy. You know that. Everybody knows that. So, act like you know, and don’t get angry.”
I stared at her in disbelief and then a small, short laugh escaped from my lips. Reaching up to her arm, I pushed her hands off of me.
