by M. D. Melai
“What happened to you?” I gasped as I took in all of him.
“It’s nothing,” he said, trying to back away from me. I reacted by stepping closer, pinning him between the counter and myself.
“This is not nothing, Emilio.” I touched his face as softly as I could, but he still flinched, and I quickly dropped my hand.
“I got into a small altercation tonight.”
“A small altercation? This,” I said, motioning towards his face, “is not a small altercation.”
His eyes immediately fell to the exact spot Nikolas had grabbed my arm, and when my eyes followed his, I became instantly aware of what he meant by altercation.
“He will never ever lay another hand on you,” he said, staring down at me. “That I can promise you.”
I stood there silent for what seemed like an eternity as my mind raced with questions. Did Emilio just put himself in more danger? Was he going to be okay? If he looked like this, then what had Nikolas looked like?
I felt like a complete idiot. Here I had screamed and yelled at Emilio for something that wasn’t his fault, and yet he still, without hesitation, went after the person who had hurt me. I didn’t deserve him as my friend, or in any other way.
“I’m so sorry, Emilio,” I said as soon as I looked into his eyes. I had no idea what I was going to say, but it didn’t stop me. “I’m so sorry for yelling at you and treating you so poorly. You were right—it wasn’t your place to tell me, and I knew that. I knew it then, but I was just so angry at everyone I couldn’t stop myself.”
I didn’t just stop there, I continued. “And I’m so sorry for leaving. I should have never done it. I needed it, though, so much. I didn’t know what else to do, so I did what I thought was best for me at the time. If I could go back and do things different, then I would. My father might still be alive, and this nightmare I’ve been living since he died would be nothing. It wouldn’t exist.”
He touched my face so tenderly, making sure he had my full attention. “I’m sorry I never told you about Adela and Benito being your parents. I found out after we broke up. I wanted to tell you, and I even tried to call you, but I couldn’t make myself do it. We weren’t in a good place at that time, and I wouldn’t be there to help comfort you. I knew it wasn’t my place to tell you, but I also did it for selfish reasons too. I wanted to be there with you—to help you through it. So don’t apologize to me, I deserve it.
“And as for what happened before and after you left—it’s the past. I won’t bring it up if you don’t. A new start—again?” he said with a slight smile.
“Deal,” I said as I looked into his mesmerizing eyes.
Chapter 6
I rolled over and hit the snooze button on my alarm clock. I couldn’t believe it was already Monday. The weekend had gone by so quickly and in a blur.
Elle and I spent most of the weekend holed up in my home office going over and making plans for an engagement party we were going to throw for Dante and Violet. She had agreed to help me on Friday when the idea had hoped into my head, and I was thankful—there was no way I could do it all by myself.
Elle was becoming an asset not just to our company, but to Violet and me in general. Who would have thought the two of us would have become such good friends, much less co-workers?
It took us two days, but between the two of us we nailed out all the details. We didn’t have much time pull the party off, but we both had our lists and were ready to hit the ground running first thing this morning. With all the horrible circumstances surrounding us over the last couple of years, it seemed very appropriate to celebrate the engagement of Violet and Dante. It was definitely something worth celebrating.
We decided we wanted it to be a surprise as well. Elle and I knew it would be hard to keep it that way, but I knew we could do it. We had three weeks to pull it off. I had done it before, so I knew it wasn’t impossible. Keeping the secret on the other hand might not be so easy.
I laid in bed for a few more minutes going over my checklist once again: invitations, fireworks, caterer, and DJ.
Honestly, I thought I had the easy part. Elle had decorations and was meeting with the party coordinator this afternoon for lunch.
Lunch.
While Elle was meeting her, I had my lunch outing with Lucas. I was excited about seeing him, but things were complicated right now. We hadn’t talked very much since he got back into town.
I hadn’t talked very much with Emilio either. Every time I looked at him this weekend, though, I cringed—his face looked awful, and I knew it had to hurt. I felt like it was my fault, even though I knew it wasn’t.
I sighed at my thoughts before I threw my legs over the side of my bed and headed to get ready for the day.
Violet, Dante, and Emilio were all busy when I came downstairs. Violet was getting our travel coffee mugs ready for the day, Dante was engrossed in the sports section of the newspaper, and Emilio was typing away on his laptop. He looked up over the top of it and genuinely smiled at me.
“Good morning, Lily,” he said, looking at me.
“Good morning,” I said as I smiled back.
Emilio’s smile lit up his entire face, and I felt my heart skip a beat because of it. He looked better today than he did yesterday. Thank goodness.
“Ready?” Violet asked, drawing my eyes away from Emilio to her.
“Yes,” I said, releasing the breath I hadn’t realized I had been holding.
“Okay,” she said as she moved towards Dante. “We will see you tonight after work.” She bent down and gave him a kiss, before telling him she loved him.
I took one last glance at Emilio as he said goodbye to both Violet and me. At the moment, looking back at him, it was hard to remind myself that I needed to focus. I had a lunch date with Lucas this afternoon.
***
“Would you like me to take your drink order while you wait?” the waitress asked.
“Yes, water please,” I said as I looked over the menu.
Lucas had texted me earlier that he couldn’t pick me up for lunch, and instead, he asked me to meet him. I had arrived a few minutes early, which was unusual for me, and got us a table.
“Hey,” Lucas said, startling me. “Sorry I’m late.” He slid his chair back and took a seat.
“It’s okay.” I smiled at him as my heart started to race.
The waitress picked that moment to finally bring me my drink and asked for Lucas’s, before taking off again.
“Have you been here long?” he asked once she was gone.
“No, just a couple of minutes.”
“Good,” he said smiling, making his blue eyes sparkle.
My heart rate picked up speed as I stared at him.
What was wrong with me? My body kept betraying me. Emilio’s smile made my heart almost stop, and Lucas’s made it almost pound out of my chest. They’ll be the death of me if this continues. My heart won’t be able to handle it forever.
“How was your weekend?” he asked.
“It was good. Elle and I are planning a surprise engagement party for Violet and Dante, so we worked on it while they spent the weekend out.”
“Awesome. Let me know if you need any help. I would be glad to do it.”
“Thank you. I might just take you up on that.”
The waitress returned and took our order, and after that, our conversation remained light for a while as we waited for the food to arrive. We both chatted about work and how busy things were since it was summer. I talked about our new project with the apartments and he seemed pretty excited about it, telling me how lucky the new tenants would be to live in a LilyVi creation. I smiled at his compliment.
“How are you doing with the whole Benito being your dad situation?” he asked.
“Not as well as everyone thinks I should be doing,” I replied.
He nodded his head and urged me to continue.
I went on to tell him everything that I had told Violet the night I found out. The more I talked
about it, the more enraged I became. When I reached a certain limit, Lucas leaned across the table and took my hands in his. He gave me a light squeeze and stared straight into my eyes.
“I just can’t get over the fact that they held this from me,” I explained, “after all these years.”
“I was shocked—and that doesn’t happen very often for me,” he said. “I can only imagine what you’re going through.”
“Talking about it definitely helps, but I’m not sure what else to do. I don’t want to be cold toward Benito or my mother, but every time I think of them, I feel betrayed and that makes me not want to see them—ever,” I let out before I snapped my eyes up at Lucas.
He looked surprised for a moment, and my expression probably matched his. That was something that I had only admitted to myself—not even Violet knew that.
“It’s okay, Lil,” Lucas said sweetly. “I won’t say anything. You can trust me.”
“Thank you,” I exhaled, relieved.
“You’re welcome.” He half smiled as his expression turned sad and he hung his head. He shook it slowly, before he lifted his head for our eyes to meet. There was such longing behind them.
“What’s wrong?” I asked concerned. It was now my turn to comfort him.
“I just miss you,” he admitted. “Every day I try to convince myself that I made the right decision in letting you go.”
My eyes widened. I was certainly not expecting that.
“I miss you too, Lucas,” I said, and I meant it too. I did miss him, but he didn’t make a mistake, and even I knew that—no matter how heartbroken I was over it. “But I don’t think you made a mistake.”
He looked taken aback, so I quickly spoke again.
“I obviously have things I need to work out on my own, and you realized that before I even did. Just promise me you won’t give up on me.”
“You’re right, as always,” he said with a smile. “And I’ll wait for you, no matter how long.”
And just like that the happy-go-lucky Lucas returned to me. I knew in that moment all he was looking for was hope. Hope that maybe I would return to him a whole person with my heart intact.
The problem was my heart hadn’t been the same in a long time. It was changing and becoming stronger daily. I wasn’t the weak naïve girl anymore. The events in my life had changed me, some for the good, and some I wasn’t sure about yet. I needed to work on myself before I could handle taking on Emilio or Lucas.
“Well, I need to get back to the club,” Lucas said as he got up and put a tip on the table.
“Thanks for lunch,” I said as I got up. “I’m glad we did this. I hope we can do it again soon.”
“Yes,” he said putting his arm around my shoulder and heading toward the door. “We definitely need to do this again soon. By the way, how do you get around without a bodyguard?”
“You’re just now noticing that?” I laughed.
“Yeah, I guess I am.”
“Well, I’m guessing that Paolo and Lorenzo are not too far away, even though I can’t see them, and then the obvious one,” I said as I pulled my necklace out from under my shirt. “Plus I don’t need a bodyguard anymore. My ninja skills are amazing!”
Lucas grinned, shook his head, and laughed. “I hope your ninja skills are better than your running ones.”
“Hey now, I let you win!”
“Sure you did,” he said with a wholehearted laugh.
“It’s true.” I smiled, knowing that I was right and that he was only teasing me.
“Well, maybe we can put your ninja skills to the test,” he said. “Next time I’m over, it’s me against you.”
“I could save you a lot of time and tell you now that you would lose.”
“Is that so?” he asked.
I nodded in response.
“You’re on, Dapprima.”
“Bring it!” I said back to him, before I smiled and gave him a hug. I held him as tight as I could and a moment longer than I should have before letting him go.
“Thanks again for lunch,” I said as I pushed up on the tip of my toes and kissed him gently on the cheek, before pulling away from him.
“You’re very welcome.”
“See you soon?” I asked and he nodded as I pulled my purse up on my shoulder and turned to head toward my car. I didn’t have to turn around to know he watched me until I disappeared. I could feel him the entire time, and it felt nice.
***
I was bombarded by Violet and Elle the moment I walked back into the store. They wanted to know all about my lunch date with Lucas, and after a lot of begging on their part, I finally broke down and told them all about it.
Of course they both had a million questions I didn’t know the answers to. Was my decision made? Or was it getting easier? When would I know?
I couldn’t answer them, because I didn’t even know myself. It had only been a little over a week since everything had gone on between the three of us. There was no way I was ready to make my decision. I hadn’t even had time to really think about it.
The rest of the afternoon I locked myself in my office. Elle had let me know that she had everything in order she was supposed to accomplish that afternoon, so I needed to work on my part.
I called everyone on my list and put in my orders. I also found a website that made invitations, addressed them, and sent them out. It took me a while to input all the addresses, but I knew it would benefit me in the end.
Before I knew it, Violet was knocking on my door and pointing to her watch. When I looked up at my clock, it was past six. I motioned for her to give me another minute.
“Did Elle already head home?” I asked as I walked out of my office.
“Yes,” she laughed. “You know Elle, at six o’clock on the dot that woman is out of here. She must have one hell of a social life outside of us.”
“I’m sure she does.”
The drive home was devoted to wedding planning. Violet had set up a dress appointment for this weekend. Her mother was flying in for the occasion, and she seemed extremely excited about it. I wished I was as excited—my mother was coming too. I was trying.
As soon as we walked into the house, we were greeted by Emilio, who was already eating.
“Dinner is on the table,” he mumbled, before swallowing. “Dante and I are working on the books for the club, so help yourselves. And don’t worry Violet, I won’t keep him long.” He smiled at both of us, before heading out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.
I was about to say something to Violet, when Emilio called back from the basement steps.
“Oh, and Lily… Benito called,” he said as he started laughing. “He said if you do not call him back tonight, then he is personally coming over, packing all your shit, and moving you out of this house and into his—and he meant it.”
My eyes widened.
He wouldn’t dare!
The look on Violet’s face said otherwise, though.
It was definitely time to talk.
Chapter 7
“What time are you supposed to be meeting him again?” Violet questioned. It was only the hundredth time she had asked me today.
“Late lunch, remember? Around two,” I replied.
Violet nodded in response—although I wasn’t sure she was really listening.
It had been a couple of days since I had called Benito back, and he insisted we have lunch together. I was busy for most of the week, so we scheduled it for today. He had wanted to talk to me for some time now.
As soon as Emilio told me what Benito threatened me with, I thought it was time to call him and schedule a time to meet. If I kept having all these lunch dates, then I was never going to get anything done around here.
“What do you think he wants to talk about?” Elle asked as she came into my office.
“Not sure.”
“You’re going to hear him out though, right?” she replied.
“Well, I’m going to listen, but it’s hard for me, you know?
I just don’t understand how a man could give up his child and then pretend to be her older brother when he’s actually her father. Maybe I’ll never understand. I just want to try and get past this. It’s not like I can continue to pretend I don’t know anymore.”
For the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, I busied myself with the mundane things at work. The accounts needed to be updated to make sure we weren’t going over budget on any of our projects. It was a daunting task, which Violet refused to handle unless it was absolutely necessary.
As the clock inched more toward two o’clock, my nerves took over. I wanted to call and reschedule, but there was the possibility that Benito’s threat was real, and I definitely didn’t want to move in with him.
“It’s almost two. Are you still going?” Violet asked as she peeked her headed into my office. I guess she had been paying attention too.
“Yeah, I’m just really dreading it,” I replied.
“Everything will be okay. It’s just lunch—an hour tops,” she replied. “And if you need a way to get out of it, then just text me and I’ll call with some client emergency, okay?”
“Okay,” I said as I stood up as confidently as I could.
I said goodbye to Elle on my way out, and headed down the street. The restaurant was only a couple of blocks away, so I decided to just walk.
I arrived at the restaurant a little after two. I was usually late to everything, so I was hoping Benito wouldn’t think differently about it. As I walked in the front door, the place was packed and already bustling.
“Liliana, right?” the hostess asked as I approached the podium.
“Yes, that’s me…,” I replied a little unsure.
“Follow me please. Mr. Dapprima is waiting for you.”
It felt very odd that someone called Benito, ‘Mr. Dapprima.’ I wondered how long he had been waiting here.
She led me to the back of the restaurant and through a set of double doors. They closed briskly behind me and led into a small open space with a few tables. Most of the tables had been pushed off to the side, with the exception of the one Benito was currently sitting at. His back was to me as I approached the table. I took a deep breath and sat down across from him. I slung my purse over the back of the chair and turned to face him.
