Somehow, I managed to keep my mouth shut while the two of them shook hands and promised to keep in touch.Clayton Manning.Tall, dark, painfully handsome, with eyes so piercingly blue I could almost forget he was the sort of man who would consider marrying a stranger if it meant expanding his portfolio of properties.The sight of him left a sour taste in my mouth that only intensified in the brief moment when our eyes met.They were the color of the Mediterranean waters I used to swim in during our trips to what Papa referred to as The Old Country, the place of his birth.
The man hadn’t lived there in more than fifty years, yet he acted like we were back there now, bartering with chickens and goats and shit like that.
Clay inclined his head slightly but didn’t say a word, tucking Papa’s folder under his arm before he strode from the room in his bespoke navy suit.He was a stranger to me on a personal level, but there wasn’t a person in the hospitality industry who didn’t know his name.The man supposedly owned balls of steel when it came to negotiating and was notorious for his high, rigid standards when it came to what he expected from his employees.
None of that mattered as much as getting through to the man now seated behind his desk, finishing his vino and wearing a victorious smile.
Once the door was closed, I turned to my father.“How dare you?”I muttered through clenched teeth.I was staring at a familiar-looking stranger, somebody who would betray me without so much as apologizing.I thought he respected me, the work I did.
My illusions were nothing but ashes around my feet by the time I stepped up to the opposite edge of the desk and placed my hands on its surface.My sweaty palms almost slipped on the polished wood.“Am I hallucinating?You did not sit in front of me and give me away to a stranger.That can’t possibly be what happened.”
“Mirabella,” he said with a sigh.“This is not the time to let imagination run away with us.I know what I did, and it is not as barbaric as you want to make it sound.”
“You can’t be serious,” I hissed, trembling, almost deafened by the roaring in my ears.“If anything, I’m understating it!It’s worse than barbaric!How could you?”How was I supposed to get through to him?Clearly, I hadn’t managed it.Yet, he sat there blank-faced, absorbing every word but offering no reaction.He was that damn sure of himself.
“I did what needed to be done to protect the brand… and you,” he added.
“Am I supposed to thank you?”I barked out a bitter, disbelieving laugh.“This is the twenty-first century.We don’t give our daughters away in marriage anymore.Not here, not now.”I pushed away from the desk, shaking my head.“I won’t do it.I’m a grown woman.You have no right to make this decision for me.”
“It’s what we need to do,” he insisted.
“We?Since when is the word ‘we’part of this?”Normally, I would’ve fought to keep my voice down, but this was not a normal situation.Let everybody on this floor of our corporate office hear what I had to say.“You don’t have to do anything!I would be the one making all the sacrifices!I won’t!”
His weary sigh began a transformation.When Clayton was here, Papa was the image of the energetic, boisterous man I had always known.
Now, he was a tired old man who didn’t have to put on an act anymore.He almost seemed to shrink a little, and his jowls sagged as he rubbed his temples.“Mira,bambina, I do not have the energy for this argument.You know how I feel about these things, and before you can ask…” he added, “… I do believe your late mama would have agreed this is the best move.”
He loved bringing her into arguments he was determined to win.I had no way of countering since she had lived only hours after my birth.Normally, I’d be irritated, but his mention of her made everything around me go red this time.
“There is a hell of a lot of difference between old-fashioned values and treating me like I’m disposable!Do you understand what an insult this is to me?Is this really all you think of your own daughter?”My voice caught before I forced out something I wouldn’t have admitted to anyone unless under threat of death, which this felt like.“I’m so embarrassed, Papa.”
His eyes softened.“Do not make this into more than it is,” he urged but gently this time.
It didn’t matter.“More than it is?I’ll tell you exactly what it is.”I folded my arms, glaring down at him.It took everything I had not to scream at the top of my lungs.This was my father.A man I had looked up to, respected, adored my entire life.I had worked my fingers to the bone for him, for this company, to build something that would last.
All so I could step aside and hand it to a stranger.A stranger whose wedding ring I would have to wear.
Absolutely not.
The entire idea nauseated me.Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck even as a fire blazed in my gut.“I have lived and breathed the Rinaldi brand since I was a teenager,” I whispered since I didn’t trust my voice not to break again.This time, I might not be able to keep from breaking down.“But there’s more to it than that.Don’t you care about what I want?What I’ve dreamed of?Or do you think my only dream was to marry a stranger just to make you happy?You couldn’t even be bothered to tell me about any of this beforehand.”
“To be fair, I was planning on calling you in after my meeting ended to explain things to you one-on-one.”Lifting one shoulder, he added, “How could I have known you would walk in during the middle of our meeting?”
“No,” I grunted out, shaking my head.“You are not going to do that.You will not turn this around on me.The fact is, I should have been informed of this prior to you ever meeting with Clayton or anyone else so I could turn you down flat.”Which was exactly why he hadn’t told me.It was all so painfully obvious.
“Exactly what would that have changed?Nothing,” he replied to his own question.
He couldn’t mean this.He could not be looking at me straight-faced, totally deadpan.
“Don’t you care that I have a life of my own?”I whispered, and now my breathing was as shaky as my body.I gripped the desk again to hold myself upright when my knees wanted to give out.“Plans of my own?How could you treat me like I don’t matter?That’s what I don’t understand.Why do I not matter to you?”
He shook his head, and my heart broke.“You’re being overly emotional, drawing wild conclusions, and putting words in my mouth.“
“Dammit, no.”Do not cry.You’re stronger than this.I sank into the chair behind me, clasping my hands between my knees to hold myself steady.“Am I being emotional?Maybe because my life matters.My work matters.Why is that not enough for you?”
“Mira.”He sounded so weary.I hated to hear him like that, but I couldn’t let those feelings close my mouth.Wouldn’t want to be overly emotional or anything.
“Papa,” I countered.“I know you love me, and I love you, but that does not excuse this.I deserve a heads-up, at the very least.The sort of respect you would give the average employee in one of your hotels.It’s nice that you included a bit about protecting them,” I observed.“Were there any caveats about how he would treat me?”
