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I stop. I can’t think or move. “What are you saying?”
“My daughter deserves love and someone who treats her with dignity. Not with a guy who is still lost in the past with a woman who can’t hold a candle to my Emilia.”
“Maxwell, you know me. You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. Nothing happened with Katherine. Hell, she showed up on her own. She claimed—”
Maxwell holds up his hand, stopping me. “When I say I don’t want to hear it, I really don’t. You need to give your explanations to Emilia.”
“Fine.” I’m pissed Maxwell won’t hear me out. It burns inside of me that he thinks I would disrespect Emilia in any way.
“Agreeing to have lunch with Katherine was wrong in and of itself, Niko.”
“I invited you there. For me, it was nothing more than catching up with a former business acquaintance.”
“Do you stick your dick in all your former business acquaintances, my boy?”
His words are blunt and slam into me. “Damn it, Maxwell,” I huff out.
“When a woman is involved, things are never so cut and dry.”
“After the shit Katherine pulled last night, I can honestly say that she will never be an issue.”
Maxwell cracks a smile. “There might be hope for you yet. Patch things up with my daughter. I think if anyone can it’s you. Still, if she doesn’t willingly agree to the marriage any longer, I won’t demand it. Emilia deserves better than someone who pushes her into the background at every turn and that seems to be how you deal with personal relationships.”
“Other than you, Maxwell, I don’t do relationships.”
“Yeah, and that might be the problem. You can be a hard man, Niko. That may be too much for my daughter.”
I’m internally seething but I do my best to contain it. Maxwell has reason for his position, but I’m not letting her go.
“Then she will need to adapt. She’s going to be my wife. That’s not changing.”
Guilt churns inside of me and I’m feeling a hundred things—all of which is nothing I’m used to. I don’t question myself.I don’t feel.I hate that I hurt Emilia. It was out of my control, but I can admit that I opened the door and that was my mistake. On the flipside of that, I’m pissed that she would call Maxwell instead of me. She needs to learn I’m her man. She needs to come to me now—not her father. She needs to learn that because I’m not letting her get away.
“Do we have meetings tomorrow?” I ask, mentally trying to plan the steps to make this right with my woman—and she is mine.
“I’m not sure. Although, tonight my meeting with Antonio might change things. I think he’s done with Dracos, though. Let’s be honest, there are other deals to be made.”
“You can let me know. We’re not scheduled to leave until around two tomorrow, right? We can meet for lunch at noon as planned. Right now, I’m going back to the hotel to talk to Emilia.”
“Will Katherine be joining us tomorrow?” Maxwell asks with a smirk.
I growl under my breath. “I told her last night not to show. I warned her that if she did, my future father-in-law would be there and as unhappy to see her, as I would be.”
“Let’s see if I’m going to be your father-in-law before I celebrate the fact your brain seems to have returned, son.”
“Emilia will be my wife, Maxwell. I don’t care who tries to get in the way, even if that’s Emilia herself. I’m not letting her go—contract be damned.”
“Careful, it’s sounding like you might actually care for my daughter.”
“I do,” I admit. Maxwell grins and I shake my head, smiling with him. “That still doesn’t mean I’m not going to punish my wayward fiancée for not calling me instead of running to her father.”
Maxwell laughs as he grabs the bottle and pours us another drink. “If you’re going to try to tackle that mountain, you’re going to need this. Listen to me on this one. It’s a lesson I learned a long time ago, Niko. A good woman loves to tangle you up in knots, but they make it more than worth it.”
I take the drink, downing it in one swallow, relishing the burn as it goes down.
“God, I hope so,” I sigh out. I’m not a religious man, but in this moment, I’m praying Maxwell is right, because for the first time in my life I am completely twisted up over a woman.
Over Emilia.
