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“Come in, Gia,” my father calls from his office.
I’ve been pacing just outside his door for fifteen minutes, trying to get the nerve to walk in. Two weeks I’ve been home with no word from Romeo. At first, I expected to hear from him within the first few days. I stupidly envisioned him sneaking in because he couldn’t live his life without me. I got up and showered in hopes he would come for me. It never came. It was more wishful thinking than anything. Each day, another piece of my heart cracked and broke off.
“Hi, Dad.” I swallow down my nerves. I have a crazy idea. I don’t even know if my father will go for it. He is the most loving man I know, but it comes with a violent protectiveness I never experienced until Romeo. This plan of mine goes against everything he believes in for us girls yet is everything he does in business.
I take a seat in front of him. My fingers keep twisting around each other. “Please don’t make me marry Alfonso.” My eyes meet my father’s. They’re the same gray as mine. He was the first one there when I scraped my knee as a kid. He was at every important event in my life. I just don’t know if he is ready for me to grow up. To listen to me when it comes to decisions about my life.
“Then who, Gia?”
I blow out a breath. My stomach threatens to release my breakfast. Its contents rise and fall with my nerves. My father radiates kindness through his eyes, yet his posture is stiff.
“I want you to hear me out,” I say slowly.
My father nods, but I know him. When I start, he’ll yell, and our conversation will be over.
“I think my hand in marriage should go in an auction.”
My father’s eyes widen. My breath catches in my throat. This is the riskiest thing I have ever done. I put my hand up when he goes to open his mouth. “You can have Alfonso there as a fail-safe. If you don’t like who’s bidding on me, have him win.”
He eyes me skeptically. “So I pay myself for Alfonso to marry you. Why the show?”
He’s taking this better than I anticipated. But that’s only because I’ve told him half the story. “Because I’m pregnant with Romeo Mancini’s baby, and I want him to have an opportunity to be my husband.”
My father stands, throwing his crystal glass against the wall behind me. He curses in Italian incredibly fast; I can’t catch any of it. I still, scared to move a muscle.
Just last night, I had my sister go get me a pregnancy test. I couldn’t remember the last time I had my period. My stomach keeps revolting against me, making me suspect. I’ve ruined my image in my father’s eyes with one statement.
“I will not give the man who defiled my baby girl a second chance. He’s a dead man. Pregnancy out of wedlock. Your grandmother is turning in her grave right now.” My father goes and pulls out two guns, flicking the chamber open. One gun is full while he places bullets in the other.
“It doesn’t have to be out of wedlock,” I try to explain.
“You cannot be tricking Alfonso into marrying you, or anyone else. There will be no auction,” he bellows.
“Dad!” I yell. “If they’re buying me at an auction, I think their morals are already skewed. Put an ‘as is’ line somewhere,” I try to joke.
He doesn’t find it funny at all. His face is turning red. His fist clenches at his heart.
“I know Romeo will come.” My voice comes out as a plea. I need him to see it from my point of view.
“He’s not coming for you. He sold you for some territory.” My father is walking around his office, picking things up and placing them back down.
“I love him, Dad.”
He scoffs. “A Mancini? Hell must have frozen over. What did I do to deserve your resentment?”
“Dad. This has nothing to do with you. But I can’t help what my heart wants.”
“The boy is poor. He has no money to buy you. You’ll end up being sold as a pregnant sex slave.” He makes a sign of the cross in front of his chest.
“I won’t, because you’ll have Alfonso there, ready to outbid anyone. When Romeo wins, you won’t look like you’re caving. But like you’re a man of his word.”
“I don’t like this plan. These things are not meant for good girls. For my sweet daughter.”
“If Romeo doesn’t show up or bid, then you get what you want. I marry Alfonso. I’ll never complain. I’ll be a loving wife.”
“You’re forgetting you’re pregnant. He’s a smart man. He will not take a pregnant soon-to-be wife.”
“Let me deal with Alfonso if it comes to that. He’s been my best friend my entire life. He owes me anyway. He won’t cause a problem. I promise you.”
