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“Sit back down.” The command in his voice didn’t even faze Sofia, and Adrian was reluctantly impressed. “You’re overreacting, Sofia.”
“No, Dad. The sad thing is I’m not. If you want me to be the business manager, you shouldn’t make decisions like this without me. Oh wait, I don’t hold that title, do I? I’m just the lowly office grunt.”
Dom tried to strike a conciliatory tone, but Sofia was having none of it, her thumbs flying over the screen of her phone. “Sofia, you know I rely on you to—”
“To clean up your messes? Yeah, that’s becoming abundantly clear.” The phone in her hand began to ring. “Oh look, it’s Jake. Imagine that. Excuse me, I have work to do.” She headed out the back of the house.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’m sure she’ll come around. Hey, after all, who doesn’t want to be on TV?” Frankie’s youthful enthusiasm wasn’t enough to break the tension.
Dom eyed his wine glass, twirling it in his hand before pushing back from the table and following her out back. Adrian wondered if he should follow, but Seth shook his head.
“Better to let them sort it out, if you’d like to keep your head attached to your body.”
* * *
Sofia managedto keep her voice calm as she talked to Jake on the phone.
“I’m sure it’s fine, but none of us got to read through it, so the signature is at worst invalid, at best incomplete. Do you mind sitting on it for two days while I vet it?”
“No problem, Sofia. I’ll be honest, I was surprised to get it back so soon without a mark on it. The first contract looked like my high school English papers. I’ll bring it back by the office in the morning.”
“Thanks, Jake.”
“And in return, you’ll do me a favor.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Convince your mother to be on the show.”
“You’ve got a better chance of getting an appearance from a flying monkey.”
“I want to get the dynamic between your parents for the full season.”
“Trust me, that dynamic right now isn’t going to reflect well.”
“Just promise me you’ll try.”
“I’ll try.”
“Good. I’ll get those papers to you in the morning.”
Sofia hung up the phone, relieved that she’d dodged that bullet. She turned and realized she had another one barreling straight for her.
“Don’t worry, Dad. He agreed to return the contracts and let me go over them tomorrow.”
Dom pulled up short right in front of her and snatched her phone from her hand. His nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath and struggled to keep his voice calm. “Whose company is this?”
“I don’t know, Dad. Have you figured that out yet?” Her sarcasm would only make the situation worse, but she couldn’t stop herself as she grabbed her phone back.
“It’s mine. My company! I poured years of blood, sweat, and tears into it to make it what it is today. First, you kick me off of my own show. Now you think you can kick me out of my own company? You have no right to treat me like a child at my own table and embarrass everyone! How dare you question my leadership, especially in front of Adrian?”
Usually her father was all bluster and little bite, but today, Sofia knew she’d pushed him into true anger. But she couldn’t back down now. She’d come too far to lose it all. She met his accusations with an angry one of her own. “How dare you determine everyone’s future without thinking through the details?”
“Little girl, you watch your tone,” Dom snapped.
“That’s just it, Dad. I’m not a little girl anymore, and you can’t keep treating me like one. For years, I’ve dreamed of running this company with Seth, Enzo, and Frankie. Is that ever going to happen? You need to nail down your retirement plan before we sign these contracts. Otherwise, you’re locked in, and the rest of us can’t move forward.”
“I’m still running this place.”
