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SEVEN
REBECCA
No one puts baby inthe corner.
Or the queen.
Yet, that’s exactly what happened.
For five days, I wasn’t the heir to my father’s throne. Or even Domenico Holdings’ CEO. I was Becca. Giovanni Domenico’s youngest daughter.
My mother leaned on Nate and to his credit, he bore the brunt of the ‘ceremonial’ responsibilities. My sisters and their husbands had better seats in the church than me and more of a spotlight on them.
I couldn’t even have my men around me, the way I wanted to at a time like this. Nate barely accepted it, and he shared a woman with two other men. Chrissy and Cami knew the guys had been parading me all over town at one time, but I’d not given away the end of that story. Didn’t want to be judged.
I had three lovers, but I had to stand alone on the receiving line during the wake services. I sat alone in the church. Alone in my Town Car, except for my guards. And no one held my hand as they lowered the casket.
I felt invisible.
Maybe that was for the best. Dressed in black like everyone else with my dark hair pulled back, I could have been mistaken for any number of mourners. And with rockstars in attendance, certainly no one singled me out for attention.
A pit laid in my stomach the three days and nights we waked my father in the funeral parlor. My men held me and loved me in the dark, but during the day I stood alone. Lacey, God-love her, she took up position at my side as often as she could when my mother couldn’t let go of Nate.
Would my mother demand I step aside for him?
A shiver went through me.
Would my mother demand Nate give up music?
Anything could happen at this point. Standing up to her wouldn’t be easy, and it could tear our family apart. But I would do what I had to, knowing I had the love and support of Anthony, Giancarlo, and Sebastien.
At work, activity had buzzed around me. My GC practically camped out in my office. Felicity, my deputy CFO, and I had a standing lunch date in her office as I took over as CEO. Here, at the cemetery on Long Island I felt like I didn’t exist.
Six eyes on me at all times reminded me I did. Ten if I included Vale and Gil. Their eyes weren’t on me right now. Their eyes were on the crowd. The heat I felt down my back often came from Sebastien, Anthony, and Giancarlo.
The priest, Nate, and others spoke at the gravesite. It all blurred out for me. Exhausted, mentally and physically, all I could think about was returning to my townhouse and collapsing in the arms of my lovers.
By the time the limos were revved up and ready to leave, I didn’t want to be in a car with anyone other than my men. Lacey sent me glances these last few days, clearly going through what I was experiencing.
Hiding.
We were both hiding who we really were. Who we really loved.
“Becca...” Anthony’s voice felt like a gut punch after so many days of him and the others keeping their distance during the daylight hours. “I’m telling my father to leave. Bastien, Gian, and I will wait for you by your car.” All so their fathers wouldn’t get suspicious.
I shook my head staring at a casket in the ground and mounds of dirt that had been dug up next to it. “I’m not ready to leave.”
“It’s time to say goodbye to him, angel. And let these guys do their job.” Anthony referred to the groundskeepers leaning on their shovels, no doubt wanting to finish their day. Go home to their families.
I wanted to hug Anthony so badly, but I couldn’t. Feeling like I just didn’t care anymore I leaned into him.
He backed away, his eyes wild. “Sorry, angel. Papa is watching. He’s already on my ass about us getting married. You wanna make it harder for me to explain why we’re not?”
“Right.” I glanced over his shoulder and sure enough, Anthony Sr. stared at me, his guard Vito practically holding him up.
Behind the Messina limo, Sebastien and his father looked deep in conversation. And not a pleasant one by their body language. I hadn’t even wrapped my head around the monster Richard Daria had become. Everything happened so fast a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to see him in my office sooner rather than later.
