“It’s nice to meet you. I have the room set up for you. Why don’t we get started, and a doctor will come by to see you after.”
I nodded, pulling Maura away from the entrance, and followed Nurse Jane. The best thing about her—she didn’t ask too many questions.
By the timeI managed to drop Maura off at her place and headed back home, it was dark.
I hesitated when the car pulled up, and I saw that one of Valentino’s cars was in the driveway.
I let out a small sigh and got out of the car. I barely noticed the driver taking off.
There was no avoiding this.
I walked through the door and was met with silence, though I doubted it was because no one was around.
Sure enough, when I walked into the living room, Dad and Valentino were sitting across from each other. Dad was glaring at Valentino, while my brother remained relaxed, gazing at something on his phone.
They had never been close.
Not even a little bit.
I thought it was because Dad always viewed Valentino as competition in a game he was losing, and Valentino didn’t much care for the way he tried to raise us.
Both men looked up at me when I entered.
“Were you going to tell me Maura needed abreak?”
He said “break” like it was a dirty word, and that Maura was just being lazy. I worked hard to control my expression.
“I didn’t want to bother you with these things,” I said.
“So you went to Valentino? He doesn’t even live here anymore.”
I opened my mouth to answer him, but I didn’t know what to say at that point.
“It’s done,” Valentino said, looking from me to Dad as if there was just something he couldn’t figure out.
Dad’s lips thinned from Valentino’s voice.
He stood up, and I resisted the urge to beg him to get me out of here. To not leave me alone with Dad when he was feeling like this. But he surprised me when he said, “Come on. I’m taking you out.” Valentino turned to Dad. “You don’t have any objection, do you?”
“You would do whatever you want, with or without my objection.”
Valentino shrugged, like he couldn’t care either way.
“I have already put in a request with Massimo. Letting you take over my position is one thing, but the family matter of marrying Isa off should be my decision. And you have put this off for far too long.”
Valentino’s face darkened from his words. He walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, leading me away. “You do what you have to do. We’ll see what Massimo says in the meeting, then.”
Valentino led me out of there before I could say anything. I didn’t dare look back at Dad. I could only imagine the look on his face then.
Finally, we got out of the house. It wasn’t until we were both in the car that Valentino turned to me. “Does Dad seem different to you?”
“Different?” I asked, feeling my heart start to speed up from his question.
He frowned. “Yes. Different. There’s something… off about him.”
I shook my head, not knowing what to say.
“Or maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I last saw him.”
