just not this one. I have a new family now and it’s tearing me apart that I may not have a choice to return home, so I shake my head and says gruffly. “I will do the right thing.”
“For you, or for her?”
“Both.”
She leans a little closer and whispers, “Don’t let infatuation rule your heart, Lorenzo. You have known this girl five minutes and she is not your problem to solve. Lucian would make a good husband, but we both know there is more to it than that. When I fell in love with your grandfather, it was not immediate, you know that. I grew to love him and she could do the same.”
“Or he could destroy her like my father did my mother.”
“He could, there is always that option.”
Once again, I look at Sophia and my heart twists inside me. She looks so beautiful, but I can tell she’s afraid. She sits there like a cornered animal, her great beauty dazzling like a star trapped in a darkened room. She deserves better than this—better than me because I am weak and she doesn’t need that quality in her life right now. Maybe nonna is right and I should walk away for my own self-preservation. But that would also destroy me, so I know my decision before the main course is even served. I will marry Sophia to save us both and figure out the details at a later date.
My attention turns to Dante who is sitting beside me locked in his own little world.
“Tell me how it really is with you.”
“I told you, I’m fine.”
“Have you met anyone since…”
He laughs dully. “Yes brother, I have met many women since Ava, just none of them measure up. It doesn’t mean that I don’t use them to satisfy an ache inside me that never really goes away.”
“Are you sure you’ve left no stone left unturned?”
“Do you take me for a fool, Lorenzo?”
“Of course not.”
“Then don’t treat me like one. If Ava was anywhere, I would have found her by now, so I must face the fact she’s probably dead. I must move on and let go and try not to remember what love felt like.”
He pushes his plate away and growls, “Have you made your decision yet?”
“I have.”
He looks at me with interest. “Which is?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
He laughs and I see a little of the light that used to be part of him return as he smiles. “Then I will look forward to the fireworks.”
Romeo is now talking to Sophia and she looks as uncomfortable as fuck. God only knows what line he is spinning her, probably one to get her in his bed. It strikes me that I don’t trust a single one of my brothers that sit around this table and yet I have fifty more back at home who I would trust with my life. That’s a real family. One that chooses to be one, rather than the one fate thrusts upon you. Once again it makes my choice an extremely difficult one, but the woman who drives it deserves the best even at my own expense.
By the time the meal is over and we retire to the living room, my nerves are so ragged I almost can’t see straight. I need some time with Sophia on our own to lay out my plan and I pray to God she accepts my offer.
Sophia sits beside nonna and my brothers take the surrounding chairs. I prefer to stand by the window and the atmosphere is awkward as fuck. We are all skirting around the real issue here and I can tell Sophia is on edge, which is nothing to where I’m hanging right now, so after a while, I snap. “Sophia, can I have a minute?”
She looks up in surprise and I don’t miss the smile that passes across the face of my grandmother and the razor-sharp stare of Lucian as Sophia blushes prettily and excuses herself. Watching her walk toward me, reinforces my decision because I have never seen her looking so beautiful as the flush to her cheeks and the brightness of her eyes betrays her feelings.
I nod toward the open door and say nothing as she follows me outside. Once we reach the peaceful garden a cool breeze causes her to shiver and I place my jacket around her shoulders and say huskily, “Follow me.”
I don’t take her hand and I don’t speak until we are some way from the house obscured by trees. I