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“That's enough both of you,” My father eases the brawl that is starting. “Rose it's fine, there's nothing to worry about, so far he is a good man for rescuing you,” he throws his words carefreely, swinging his fingers in the air as he dismisses how I'm feeling. Knowing him, we will not be having this conversation again.
I don't even know why I bother. What am I thinking? That he will all of a sudden care about how I feel and do what's best for me and not himself? I know that's clearly never going to happen. The only person he might care that much for is Lawrence. As far as he is concerned, I'm already a disappointment. Nobody asked me if I wanted to be married to Romano before giving me to him.
“Are we going to be staying here now?” I swallow painfully, holding back my tears because I know the answer will be disappointing.
“It appears so,” my father asserts.
“And that's all thanks to you,” Lawrence adds.
“How long are we looking at?” I know I don't have much of a life in New York City, at least nothing I cannot let go of, but being here for long sounds terrifying.
“Not sure yet,” my father asserts again.
“And that depends on you too,” Lawrence adds again.
“What do you mean that depends on me?” I face him and he shrugs curtly.
“Lawrence, give us a minute,” my father points him away with his fingers as if shushing a pet.
“Time for some father-daughter bonding I guess,” he rolls his eyes, and prances to the kitchen, “See you around, Rose,” he hollers over his shoulder and disappears into the corner.
“Dad?” I move closer to my father.
“Hm,” he grunts, scratching his few days' stubble the same way he always does when he is about to ask me to do something I won't like but he is not giving me a choice to say no.
“Dad, what do you need to talk to me about and why is our staying here dependent on me?”
“You have nothing to worry about, I have known Claudio for a long time and he is the one who gave us access to the Monti Clan. He introduced us to them, and even suggested the merger that you blew up.”
Except that isn't what I wanted to know, for goodness’ sake.
“Dad, that isn't what I'm asking.” I feel jittery seeing that we are no longer talking about Benedetto but his uncle, Claudio.
“What are you asking?”
“Why are we staying here?”
“Because you put us all in danger with your recklessness.”
I swallow the spiky truth of his words, “And why is how long we are staying dependent on me?”
“Because you will have to fix what you ruined.”
“And how do I fix that?”
“Do as Claudio tells you,” he chirps.
“What if I don't want to?” I'm shattering to smithereens inside.
“Who said you have an option?” he barks and I flinch. “You should be grateful he is allowing you to stay here in his house even though he knows of your affair with Tiziano, after he personally vouched for your union with Romano,” he shoves his hands into his pocket. “The fact that he is not making you face repercussions for your stupid actions means he is to be trusted,” he states the last part firmly, indicating I don't have a choice but to trust him.
I nod, folding back to my place where he and my brother never stop shoving me back into.
“We are attending a meeting with him shortly as a family, which includes you, so go do what you know how to do with yourself so you are appropriately dressed for the meeting,” he places his hand on my shoulder tenderly. “We have to find a way to salvage the situation and come out alive in the end,” he squeezes gently, “and we will be doing that as a family,” he pulls me in and kisses me on the forehead.
It looks sweet. Everything Looks like a father trying to help his daughter. But I know that is not the case. It's about the underworld business, and he doesn't care what I have to do, or how I have to do it. Even if Claudio asked me to be his mistress for us to fix this mess, he wouldn’t care much.
I am already damaged because of the video of my infidelity. There is no way any family with honor would want to have marry into my family now.
