Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“No, I only have the ones I stole from your kitchen. And besides, I’m a woman on a budget.”
She shakes her head and leaves as I touch up my mascara.
I’m unsure if I should go to his house late or early because I’m eager to see where he lives. He’s been to my place multiple times, and I haven’t once seen where he lives, and I’m curious.
I put my mascara away. It doesn’t take away the nerves of my father and mother coming to New York. I’ve only just started feeling like I’m establishing a new life, and I know they’ll try to convince me to return to Italy. And if Dawson comes around when my father is here, I’m outright terrified my father might shoot him.
The possibility of that is extremely high because he already dislikes Dawson and doesn’t even know what he does for a living. If he did, well, let’s just say I don’t think he would be too pleased. Then again, my father probably has intel on him and knows exactly who he is.
I love my father, and he was good to us girls and my mother, but that doesn’t take away the type of person he is. It wasn’t long after Rya left for New York that, at thirteen, I stumbled upon my father behind our shed with a gun in his hand, standing over a dead body. I realized how much Marco had protected me from seeing that side of him and the business up until that point. I knew about it, but seeing it is different.
That was my first glimpse of how dark my father is.
He is a killer.
I also had it in my head that if I ever did get a boyfriend or lose my virginity, I’d walk into the back shed and find another man in there, but this time, it would be someone I was seeing.
My front door opens. “Honey.” I hear Rya call my name as I slide on my heels. When I walk out, I find her standing there with my parents. “Look, Father decided to surprise us early. Aren’t you lucky,” she says and pulls me by my hand to her side.
My father looks me up and down and asks, “Are you going out?”
“We just went out. She was going to get undressed, but you showed up. We met in the elevator. How’s that for timing,” Rya babbles. She hugs our father, and I can tell she’s giving me a moment to adjust to the situation because I am shocked. My mother gives me a hug, and although Rya and I have different mothers, mine has always accepted Rya as her own.
“Honey, you look beautiful,” my mother says. “Glowing, really. Is this because of a lucky man?”
My smile is tight. Count on my mother to jump straight into it.
“Yeah, how about that, Honey?” Rya asks with a smile.
I smile again and give my father a tight hug. I can tell he doesn’t miss anything as he looks around the apartment. “Come in, are you hungry? I could make you something.”
“We are, but we wanted to go out with you both if we can,” my father says. And I can tell the small space of my apartment isn’t to his liking.
“Sure thing. Let me go up and tell Crue. We have a few hours before we leave,” Rya says, kissing my father on the cheek and then abandoning me.
“This is a nice place,” my father comments, and I know it’s a lie, but he’s trying. I just nod, unsure of what to say. I need to message Dawson because there’s no way I can go over there now.
“I’ll be back. I’ll just touch up my makeup if we’re going back out,” I tell them.
Walking back to my room, I grab my phone and bring up his name.
Me: Can’t make it. Change of plans. Rain check?
He replies almost instantly.
Dawson: I prepared my favorite dessert.
And then he sends a picture of a bottle of honey. I cover my mouth as the laugh escapes. I don’t bother replying to that.
I don’t plan to ditch my family when they have just arrived. However, a part of me is trying to figure out how I still can.
CHAPTER 41
Honey
They have been grilling me all evening, and I get it. They want to know what I’ve been up to. The last time I spoke to them, I had a job, and now they want to know why I quit, and I’m doing, in their words, “Some pointless online job.”
I told them I decided it was not the path for me, and I’m still figuring things out.
And that also has me worried.
Shouldn’t I know what I want to do at my age?
Shouldn’t my life be all figured out by now?
I feel like it should be.
My sister knew all along what she wanted to do and how she wanted to live her life.