15
Bosco
I met Ronan at the casino.
“Why do you look like hell?” he asked bluntly. “Just a few days ago, you were happy.”
“Cane is pissing me off.” I walked past him and stepped into the elevator.
He joined me. As we descended to the underground office, he spoke. “What’d he do?”
“More like what he didn’t do. He’s a fucking pussy. Carmen keeps trying to talk to him about me, but he refuses to have the conversation. He doesn’t want to deal with it, so he keeps avoiding her, like he can stop his worst nightmare from coming true.” I’d expected things to progress slowly with her family, but I didn’t think I would be met with a man who refused to acknowledge my relationship with his daughter.
The elevator stopped at the bottom, and we took the stairs to the office.
He chuckled. “That’s one way to handle it. Pretty clever, honestly.”
“It’s hurting Carmen, so I don’t think it’s clever.” I sat in the leather chair behind my desk. “I didn’t think he could stretch it out very long, but somehow, he’s managed.”
“What are you going to do?” He sat on the black sofa and helped himself to my booze. “Just wait it out?”
I hated seeing the way it affected Carmen. It made me rethink her entire relationship with her father. She wanted to come clean about her love for me, but Cane refused to listen to it because I wasn’t good enough for her. The only person it was hurting was his daughter. “No. I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind.” I grabbed my phone and made the call.
Ronan’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh…this should be good.”
I listened to it ring three times before he finally answered. It was late in the evening, so he probably had to maneuver away from his wife to get some privacy. When he picked up, his tone was loaded with distaste.
“Asshole, do you know what time it is?” he hissed.
“I’m not the asshole who rejects my daughter every time she tries to talk to me.”
That silenced him.
“I don’t care that you don’t like me, Cane. But I care about Carmen. This behavior is ripping her apart. She’s confused and doesn’t understand why you’re shutting her out. I know you don’t want to acknowledge me, but you need to acknowledge her. Knock it off.” I hung up and set my phone on the desk.
Ronan couldn’t suppress his laugh. “That was some interesting ass-kissing…”
“I’m not gonna kiss his ass. Carmen is the most important thing in my life, and I’ll stand up for her when she needs me to—even if my opponent is her father. He knows his behavior is inexcusable, and I’m not putting up with it. I’m devoted to his daughter, not to him.”
Ronan filled another glass then stood up to hand it to me. “Hopefully, he sees it that way…but I doubt he will.”
16
Carmen
I’d given up trying to talk to my father.
Hopefully, his mood would pass, and he would behave normally again. Whatever his problem was wasn’t my problem. If he found out about Bosco in the meantime and got angry about it, I would feel guilty.
Because I’d tried to come clean.
I was at the shop when my phone started to ring.
And my father’s name was on the screen.
Finally. This better be some good news. “Hey, Father.” I stood behind the counter and watched the pedestrians pass on the sidewalk. People were taking advantage of the sunshine as long as they possibly could before the rain inevitably returned.
“Hey, sweetheart.” His tone was gentle, like a drop of rain on a rose petal. He wasn’t flustered or annoyed like he’d been all week. He sounded like himself but with a hint of disappointment. “I’m sorry about earlier this week…things were just crazy.”
“I hope everything is alright.” I’d never seen him act that way in my whole life. I always felt like the priority. Not work.
“Yeah…it’s better now. So, you want to come by and have that conversation?”
Now that the moment had arrived, I dreaded it all over again. His complete attention would be on me, and I would have to deal with his wrath. There was no doubt in my mind he wouldn’t like Bosco. “Yeah, sure.”
“Okay. Because I have a few things I’d like to say to you too.”
Bosco called me during the drive. The sound came through my speakers due to the Bluetooth. “Where are you going?”
His men tailed me twenty-four hours a day. There was nowhere I went without them knowing about it. “My father called…and invited me to the winery so we could finally have that talk.” I sighed as I drove with both hands on the wheel, my sunglasses on the bridge of my nose. “So, this is really happening…wish me luck.”
“Good luck, Beautiful. I’ll be waiting for you when you come home.”