Lover in Lingerie (Lingerie 15)

“Yes, I’m all those things,” I said in agreement. “But not when it comes to Carmen.”

“But you have no problem acting like an asshole in my house.” Cane’s voice rose higher, his anger bouncing off the vaulted ceiling.

“Cane.” Adelina silenced him with her stern voice. “He literally just sat down, and you’re already ripping into him.”

“What happened to giving him a chance?” Carmen demanded.

“He just behaved like a jerk.” Cane addressed his daughter next, throwing me under the bus.

“Because you provoked him,” Carmen countered. “Father, you need to calm down. You’re being ridiculous right now.”

I was glad she defended me instead of letting her father get away with his juvenile behavior.

“Let’s start over,” I offered. “Let’s just forget the last two minutes ever happened.”

Adelina looked at me. “I think that’s a very forgiving offer, Bosco. And we all accept.”

“I don’t,” Cane barked. “You think you’re a better man than me? Try being a father to a wonderful daughter. Then we’ll see how forgiving you really are.”

This man couldn’t even look at me without losing his shit. Just my face alone made him spiral out of control. When he spoke to Carmen last night, he’d seemed reasonably calm. But now that I sat across from him, calm simply wasn’t possible. I tried another tactic, only because I loved Carmen so damn much. “I’ll have dinner with you as many times as it takes to gain your acceptance. I’ll put up with your rage and your bullshit as long as you want. Nothing you say is gonna chase me off. It doesn’t matter how insufferable you are, I’ll put up with it. I love your daughter, and I’m here for the long-haul, the forever, the rest of my life kind of commitment. You’re the most important man in her life, so I’ll keep sitting here as many times as it takes for you to give me a chance. Just to be clear, I don’t care if you don’t like me. But it would mean the world to your daughter, the woman I love, if we could at least try to move forward. I’m willing to keep an open mind if you are.”

He held my gaze without blinking, respecting my speech but also hating me more because of it.

The corner of Adelina’s mouth rose in a slight smile.

Carmen didn’t do anything. She just waited for some kind of reaction.

Cane kept up the stare. It seemed like he could do it forever.

“I promised Carmen I would sell the casino to my brother, completely cutting ties to the business so I could live in Tuscany with her. She wants a family, and I’ve agreed to give her that. Even after selling the casino, my net worth is astronomical. I can give her the life she wants, the kind of life no other man could offer her. You think I’m not good enough for your daughter, but you’re wrong. I’m the best candidate for the job. Maybe I’m pompous. Maybe I’m arrogant. But you should want an arrogant man. If he has so much success that he is arrogant, then he understands his self-worth. I don’t put up with bullshit—not even from you. That’s the kind of man you want for your daughter, someone who doesn’t bow down to anyone. The only person I’ve ever kneeled for is your daughter—and that’s exactly how it should be.”

Cane remained silent.

Adelina grinned widely.

Carmen still didn’t say anything.

“Well, I like him,” Adelina said. “I think he’s a confident young man who fights for what he wants. He’s given up everything for our daughter, and that’s more than enough proof for me.”

Cane broke his trance and looked at his wife. “You remember what he did. You remember who this man is, what he’s done—”

“And that has no bearing on the man I’m looking at now.” She stood up to her husband the way Carmen stood up to me. “I see a man who loves and respects our daughter, who’s willing to do anything for her, even put up with you. If he stands up to you, that means he’s always going to stand up for our daughter. That’s more important to me than who he used to be. And you should be the last person to judge a man for something like that.” She turned away and drank her wine.

Cane didn’t challenge her again. He slowly turned his head back to me, the fury not so apparent in his gaze. “I won’t apologize for what I said. I won’t apologize for wanting the best for my daughter. But…I will try to be better.”

That was better than nothing, I guess.

The women did the dishes in the kitchen, so I sat on the other couch while Cane sat across from me. Like a baby with a security blanket, he brought his decanter of scotch everywhere he went in the house. Now it was on the table between us.