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“I never left. Not really. Just stepped back for a while. But then, one thing after another, and when it was clear I couldn’t come home safely, I went back to Italy. And there I stayed until it was safe. But by then, your Papa was so big, so powerful himself, and everyone assumed I was gone for good. It was just easier to stay gone for the family’s safety,” she says, looking at her feet.
Obviously wishing they’d made better choices years ago.
“But…why? Why show up now?” he asks both his parents earnestly.
“We don’t have long, Rocco,” his father pipes in, resting his hand on his wife’s knee.
“I only got one thing wrong…everything!” he exclaims, laughing a little bitterly as his hands shoot skyward and he shakes his head, lamenting the past.
“But now I’ve gotten older and now weaker with age. I don’t want to live the rest of my days with your Mama in hiding. Or without my boy by my side. I want the whole family to be together again, Rocco. All of us,” he adds.
With Catriona giving me an icy look.
Not you, though.
Those are the words I’d put in if I had to caption her face right now.
And then Rocco clears his throat, ready to speak. I know it doesn’t matter what his Mama or Papa thinks of me.
It’s clear from his eyes as he looks at me that he’s not going to do what he’s told anymore, especially if the only reason is that his aging mother has come back.
But Rocco surprises even me with what he has to say, and I’ve never felt more in love with him.
CHAPTERTWENTY
Rocky
The first things outta my mouth should be questions for both my parents, but seeing the two of them so close after all this time.
Knowing it’s their own version of how I know I feel about Jasmine deep down?
It leaves a hell of a lot unanswered but I’m happy to keep it that way.
If anything, I’m struck by just how important it is that I tell Jasmine, not just my mother and father, exactly how I feel about her.
About how much I want a whole life with her, not just a few days, weeks, or even years.
A whole life together, that’s what I want.
But before I can say that, I guess Iamdying to know what they’re both doing in the suite opposite us.
“I knew you’d be out of town for a few days, and your Mama and me, we meet up on special occasions,” he says with a stern face at first. But the way both of them stare and giggle at each other makes me wonder just how often these ‘special occasions’ are.
Every year? Every week?
By the looks, it’s not often enough, but whatever reasons they have for keeping it the way it’s been? I can’t say.
I can’t judge them for it either, but I’ll make damned sure that Jasmine and I don’t ever feel we need to be apart.
“I’m out, Papa,” I tell my father.
No real emotion in my voice but a clear explanation for him.
“I want out of this life. The family…all of it. I’m done. If Mama can disappear, then so can I.”
My father frowns for a moment, and my mother clutches her hand over his. She tries to say something, but he speaks over her.
“I knew you weren’t boss material,” he says in a low, slow voice. Repeating something I’ve heard him remind me of a thousand times.
