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“Rome, that’s too much,” she says, moving off the bed to grab underwear from the drawer. My gaze rakes over her as she tugs her panties up. When she looks at me again, she mumbles. “I can’t just leave.”
“Of course, you can. We’ll be gone for a week. We can chat with Mia and see if she knows anyone who would be willing to look after the bakery for a few days. Elisabet,” I say, “this is going to be a break from everything we’ve been through. We can have a few days to just be together.” Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I stand and go to her.
“But—”
“No buts,” I tell her confidently. “You need it. And frankly, I wouldn’t mind a vacation with you. It’s one week.” Even as I implore her, I see the worry turn to excitement, and the concern turn to happiness.
She gifts me a smile that makes my heart leap in my chest.
“Okay,” she finally speaks, her voice small, a whisper of contentment, and I pull her into my arms. I know this was a good idea, and I can’t wait to be alone with her and have her show me around the place she grew up in.
Chapter 31
Elisabet
A whole week away in the sunshine has been good for me. Rome was right — Italy was everything and more. Being back there has inspired me to venture back into cooking instead of just focusing on baking.
But now that we’re in New York, about to see my father, I’m nervous, and all the tension that had a hold of me before we left is back. Even though he told me he wanted to meet Rome and he isn’t angry at me for running off without marrying Marco, I know my father will have something to say about my choices.
Though I am a grown woman, I still feel like a wayward teenager when he’s around. My father has always made me feel like I’m doing something wrong. Being an only child, he doted on me like I was the most fragile thing he’d ever owned. I felt like I needed to breathe at times, but my father wouldn’t release me. Even though he was focused on work, he knew how to keep tabs on me. I spent my years needing space from his overprotective bodyguards he would have follow me around.
I hated the life, but I knew that he was only trying to keep me safe. And even then, I still resented him for doing it because all his protection didn’t keep my mother alive. That was something I told him once, and I regretted it the moment it fell from my lips.
He had no control over what happened. And I knew it. But I still blamed him for that day.
“You look nervous,” Rome says from behind me as he steps toward me. I’m staring at my reflection, making sure my dress is perfect. My father was always about presentation, making sure everything looked perfect on the outside.
“I am, sort of. My father isn’t the easiest man to get along with, and now that I’m going to walk in there and tell him that all his plans for me will need to change because I want something else, it’s not going to go down well.”
“I’ll be right beside you. And even if he doesn’t like what we tell him, he will have to come to terms with it at some point, because I’m not walking away from his daughter any time soon.”
Rome’s hands land on my shoulders, the warmth calming some of the tension, his strength holding me up at this point. He’s taller than me, but I can see his eyes as we look at each other in the glass.
“You seem so convinced that you won’t be scared off by my father,” I tell him with a smile, hoping to lighten the tension holding me hostage.
“I am,” Rome answers confidently. He tips his chin up in a show of confidence. “Because I love you, and I would do anything for you. And if he can’t see that, we will have to show him. I’ll have to show him. Even if it takes a lifetime.”
His words have my chest tightening. “What?” Shock overtakes the nerves, and I turn in his arms to look at him. “What do you mean?”
A small smile tilts his lips; the playfulness I’ve come to love about Rome is back, and my heart skitters in my chest when he drops to his knee in front of me. He takes my left hand, holding it in both of his.
“I wanted to ask his permission, but since you’re so nosy,” Rome says. Chuckling as he shakes his head, he continues, “I wanted to ask you if you’d do me the honor of giving me more than just one night only?”
