Maddie grins over the rim of her wine glass. “Well, what a coincidence. I like you almost as much as I like him, too.” She eyes me playfully.
“Ouch!” I chuckle, resting my hand over my heart. “Cut me a little slack. I don’t have the advantage of being a seriously adorable first grader.”
“True. He isreallyadorable. You do have some other advantages going for you though…”
“Yeah?”
“Irresistible charm, annoyingly handsome. You came to my rescue when I was being attacked by the spider...“
“Attackedis a strong word. It was totally harmless.”
Maddie shrugs. “We can agree to disagree on that one.”
The server takes our order, and the food comes out quickly.
“So, how did you get into the wine business?” Maddie asks.
“This place has been in my family for years. My grandmother started it and passed it down to my mother, who eventually passed it down to me and my brother. Emmett isn’t as interested in it as I am. He’s more of a Wall Street guy, so he signed everything over to me a few years ago.”
When I say everything, I mean absolutelyeverythingto do with our family business. The winery, the shipping company, and even the house that my dad bought for him. Despite being the younger brother, it all belongs to me now.
“Do you get to see him very often?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Not as often as I’d like. He’s just a year older than me and we’ve always been close. He’s really busy, though. I said he was a Wall Street guy, but that’s being modest. He’s one of the most successful stockbrokers in the world. He travels quite a bit and splits his time between London and New York.”
“He was never interested in what you do?”
“No. My dad was pretty tough on us growing up, and Emmett took the brunt of it. Probably because Dad was grooming him to take over. It should have been him in my spot since he’s older, but Emmett sort of wiped his hands clean of the whole thing as soon as he could, as a way to stick it to my dad.”
Maddie doesn’t say anything, and to fill the silence, I continue.
“I guess I was kind of the fallback plan.” I chuckle awkwardly, taking a drink of my wine. In the last thirty seconds, I’ve shared more about myself with Madison than I ever have with anyone else. She’s so easy to talk to that it almost feels natural.
“Well, it seems like you’ve certainly proved yourself. I don’t know much about the other side of things, but this place is incredible. Have you ever thought about making it more than just a side project? Getting away from the…other stuff like your brother did?”
Maddie is careful about how she asks, avoiding the Mafia label entirely.
“There really is nogetting away from it.” I swallow, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “Emmett only did because I stepped in. This is the kind of thing you’re in for life, and like I told you before, I like it.”
“What you said before is that you were good at it. And there’s a difference between being good at something and liking it.”
“Damn, you’ve got a good memory.” There isn’t much that gets past her, and it’s refreshing that she cares enough to ask. Most people assume this is all I ever wanted to do and I’m having the time of my life in the position. “I guess what I was trying to say is that it doesn’t really matter how I feel about it. It’s not something I can walk away from. And if things between us…you need to know what you’re getting into here. I don’t want you to have any illusion that you can change me or get me to quit or ‘fix’ me. This is who I am, and it always will be, for better or worse.”
“Lucky for you, I happen to like who you are.” She reaches across the table, setting her hand on mine. “I didn’t ask because I want to change you or what you do, Roman. I just want to understand.”
The discussion puts a bit of a damper on my mood. I wanted to keep things light tonight, but we’ve already gone for a deep dive.
“I want you to understand, too,” I say, grazing the back of her hand with my thumb. “Because I’m falling for you, and it would wreck me if you walked away later because I tried to sugarcoat this and you didn’t fully know what you were getting into. I’ve seen it happen before.”
Her brows cinch together.
“Talia thought she could handle it, too. We spent the last years of her life constantly at each other’s throats about trying to get out, and she knew this life better than anyone.” Dark memories swarm through me as I think about the fights we had. Knock down, drag-out fights that always ended with her in tears and me avoiding the house for a few days. I wish I could have given her what she wanted, but it was impossible, and that was something she’d never understand.
“Look, I don’t know how I’m going to feel in a few months about all of this, but I don’t think you do either. The only thing I can promise is that I’m never going to try to change you. I mean, Jesus Roman, you put a gun to my head and threw me into the back seat of your car within five minutes of meeting, and I’m still sitting here.”
I burst out laughing. “Yeah, I think that says more about you than it does about me. Maybe you should explore that a little. Do you have a good therapist?”
“Very funny.” Maddie rolls those beautiful eyes at me. “I’m just saying I know who you are. I know what you’re capable of. And that’s the person I agreed to date. Trust me, I’m not into projects. I don’t have the time to ‘fix’ somebody. I don’t want any other version of you, because I like this one plenty. However broody or arrogant or unstable you are.”
