The Vatican - M.E. Clayton Page 0,11
my smile plastered on my face. “Would you like some pizza?”
Dad ignored me and turned his hazel gaze on Geno. Dad was imposing all on his own but knowing who he was added to the legendry that was The Holy Trinity. “And who might you be?”
“Dad-” He shot me a look lethal enough to shut me up. I knew it wasn’t that I had a guy over, per se. It was that I had a guy over who he’s never been introduced or hasn’t been vetted by Uncle Sal. Bringing Geno to my apartment was a big deal.
“I wasn’t asking you, Luca.” I winced. I knew he kept calling me Luca to prove a point.
To his credit, Geno didn’t back down. He walked over to Dad with his hand stretched out. “I’m Geno Rivera,” he answered. “I’m a friend of Ria’s.”
Dad took his hand, shook the hell out of it, and stepped back. “A friend?”
“Dad, we met a couple of months ago at The Emerald, and-”
“A couple of months ago?” he asked, interrupting me, and it took everything I had not to whither underneath his scrutiny. Two months was nowhere near enough time to know someone enough to invite them over. I knew this.
“Dad-”
He turned back towards Geno. “Look, I’m sure you’re a great guy,” he said flippantly. “But I need to have a talk with my daughter.”
Geno threw his hands up in surrender. “Say no more,” he replied. “I understand.”
Dad pulled out his phone, and ten seconds later, Mica was walking through the door and escorting Geno out of my apartment. Geno said he’d call me later, but it sounded uncomfortable and strained.
As soon as the door shut, I turned on my dad. “Seriously?!”
His brows shot up. “Are you kidding me, right now?” he snapped back. “Who is this guy, Ria? Why would you invite someone you barely know to your goddamn apartment?”
“I like him, Dad,” I told him. “He’s really nice, and…and he seems like he’d be okay with this life.”
Dad’s head reared back, and, for a split-second, he looked panicked. “You like him?”
“Why’s that so shocking?” I asked. “You’re acting like I’ve never like a guy before.”
“Ria, you’re young and you’re beautiful,” he said. “I’ve never had an issue with you dating because I knew you would one day. But dating and inviting a guy here are two different things.”
My shoulders fell, and all the tension left my body. My dad might be…a bit much, but I knew he loved me and wanted me happy. “Dad, sooner or later, someone’s going to have to make the cut,” I told him. “I want a husband and children, eventually. I can’t get that with just casual dating.”
His head dropped back, and he looked like he was praying to my ceiling.
“Dad...” He looked back down at me. His eyes were serious and full of something I couldn’t name. It worried me a bit.
Finally, he said, “Ria, do me a favor.” He didn’t wait for me to agree. He knew I would. If my dad asked something of me, it was always for a good reason. And, at least, he wasn’t call me Luca anymore. “Don’t invite that boy over here again.”
“But Dad-”
“Here me out,” he said. “I just…he can’t come back here, Ria. Not right now.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. “Why? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I’m just reminding you that you know better, Ria,” he replied. “You know better.”
I knew there was more than what he was saying, but he was also right. I did know better. “What if Uncle Sal does a full background?”
He smirked, his arrogance showing. “He’s already doing that.”
I rolled my eyes. “And if it comes back clean?”
“We’ll discuss it then,” he said, and I knew that was the end of it. My father might dote on me, but he didn’t play around with my safety. And that was the only thing that was going to save whichever lobby guard snitched on me.
Chapter 6
Francisco~
Nothing was working.
I’ve been pushing myself in my home gym for two hours, and I was still feeling ill-at-ease. I felt like my insides were trying to rip through my skin, and I’ve never felt this way before. However, I knew the cause of my unrest.
Saveria.
Since I was twelve-years-old and I got my first stiff dick, I’ve known that she was meant for me. When I started becoming interested in girls, Dad had pulled me aside and told me I had permission to pursue females and find pleasure