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She hated when he yelled. It always brought the little girl who loved her daddy trembling to the front of her brain, afraid to do anything wrong. She fought to stay focused and stand up for herself. “Barely. Adrian and I have kept this pilot project afloat, because you couldn’t handle it. All I’ve seen you do lately is peek over Jake’s shoulder and raid the craft services table. I’ve been asking you for months to figure out what you want. The time has come. I want you to step back. I can hire an office manager to take over my duties there, with my supervision.”
“Money should be handled by family.”
“Then get someone else to do it. I think I’ve proven my business and creative chops, and I deserve a chance to keep designing.”
“One over-budget house design doesn’t make you a designer. Did you think I wouldn’t hear about how your plan kept shifting to recoup losses? Or how you wanted to take out a structural wall just because? Or that you strong-armed Enzo and Seth into donating their labor for free? That is not how we run Valenti Brothers. You give the client a solid plan in their budget and you stick to it. We pay our employees what they’re worth. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
“But Dad, if it is broken, why can’t we fix it to be amazing? Did you see the look on the Shahs’ faces? They love that house,” Sofia pleaded. Why couldn’t he see that she wasn’t trying to kill the company, but expand it and make it better?
“Good work, safe fixes, under budget. That’s the promise I’ve made for thirty years, and just because you want to play dollhouse with people’s lives doesn’t mean I’m going to step back and let you.” His angry words slapped at her pride, and she lashed back.
“Is that what you think I’m doing? Playing dollhouse?” She cringed at how shrill her voice had become but it was hard to stay calm when your father was tromping all over your dreams with his steel-toed boots.
“I don’t have time to let you experiment with people’s homes. I need you to take care of business.”
“Is this how you treated Mom? Did you just dismiss her dreams and needs because they didn’t line up with your expectations? Because I’ll tell you, it feels pretty shitty. I can understand why she doesn’t want to be around you anymore. I don’t either.”
“Did she say something?” A hint of vulnerability teased the edges of his voice, but Sofia wasn’t going to get sucked into this. This roller coaster ride of emotions was making her sick, and she was getting off. The fact that after everything that had happened for the show her father still didn’t respect her skills had despair threatening, and she wasn’t sure how long she could hold it together.
“No, if you want to know how Mom feels, you’re going to have to ask her yourself. I’m going to go back inside and eat my meal, with my boyfriend Adrian, and enjoy myself, since I know this mess will be waiting on my desk in the morning.”
“So you and Adrian are serious?” The doubt in his voice poked at her already tender heart.
“We’re seeing each other and figuring that out. Is there a problem?”
“No, just that he’s a good man. He’s been through a lot in his life, and he deserves to be happy. I rely on him to keep the crews running. I don’t want this to cause any problems.”
“Business first. Right, Dad? How’s that working out for you?”
He turned and went back into the house, and Sofia could do nothing but stare after him. Lowering herself to the back stoop, she let her frustrated tears fall. Had he really just assumed that this relationship would fail? And he was more worried about Adrian than his own daughter? Where was her father who had always told her she could do anything she wanted for the first twenty years of her life? Where was her mother who’d always been her biggest cheerleader? And how had it gotten to the point that her parents weren’t speaking? Had she been too wrapped up in her own grief to see that their marriage was disintegrating? The painful reality was that her parents were humans, just like anyone else. Her shiny image of theirperfectmarriage was tarnishing quickly. If they couldn’t pull it off, what made her think she could? From seeing Adrian sitting in Gabe’s chair to being dismissed professionally, she hadn’t thought her heart could be hurt any more tonight. Once again, she was wrong.
Chapter 23
Dom returnedto the table a changed man. He looked tired. In all the years Adrian had worked with the man, he’d seen him worn out at the end of a big day, but he’d never seen him this soul-deep exhausted. Adrian almost felt embarrassed to witness the longing glance he sent across the table toward Jo.
Jo caught the look and turned away, leaving the table without a word. Dom’s eyes followed his wife as she left the room, but he didn’t go after her. Adrian didn’t understand it. If his wife were mad at him, he’d chase her down and argue it out. You couldn’t have make-up sex if you skipped the fight. He could picture himself and Sofia arguing fiercely over some future disagreement. Yeah, he’d really like to make up with her. Oddly, instead of worrying him, the image clicked in a fundamental place deep inside him as exactly right. He glanced at the back door, waiting for his partner to come back in.
“Zio Dom, I love you. We can talk more later, but Brandy’s got an early morning. We should get going.” Seth rose from the table as if on cue. Hugs and kisses passed between everyone before the young couple finally took their leave.
Dom gestured to the dishes left at the table. “Enzo, Frankie, you’re on dish duty.”
“But, Dad…”
Dom cut off the whine with a glare and a head shake. His remaining children left the table, leaving Dom and Adrian alone. This was it. They were going to talk about the proposal now. Why else would he have sent everyone away? Was Sofia giving them space for this conversation? Somehow he’d thought she would be by his side for this moment. Dom dropped heavily into his chair and drank down the rest of his mostly full wine glass.
“Adrian, you know I love you like you were my own.”
Oh no. That didn’t sound good. Adrian’s gut clenched in anticipation.
“Yeah, Dom, I know. You’ve been a second father to me every step of the way.”
“You make me so proud, which is why it kills me to say this.”
Why wouldn’t Dom look him in the eye? “Then don’t say it yet. Let’s talk about it.”
“I’ve been turning over your idea in my mind, trying to visualize how it would work, but there are too many obstacles to see a clear path.”
Adrian took the words like a punch to the stomach. It hurt like hell to hear it, but it wasn’t going to knock him out of this fight. “Like what?”
