Page 82 of Sins and Secrets

The rift that I've created between us is so big that I don’t know if it’s ever going to be fixed.

“I want you to listen to me as a friend. Not as your boss. I want you to know that I didn’t enter into a relationship lightly with Billie. I’ve spent more time thinking about this than I’ve spent thinking about most things in my life.”

“And you’re ready to risk our friendship over this?” Arturo asks, his voice tense. “She is nineteen years younger than you. Billie should be out living her life and having experiences that you’ve already had, not considering settling down with you.”

“I would risk everything for her. Hell, I would throw it all away for her. Everything. I would give up everything that my family has worked to build for generations for her.”

Arturo presses his lips together and looks away from me. He stares out the window for a few minutes, the tension stretching between us. When he looks back at me, I can’t get a read on what is going through his head.

“You think that Billie is worth giving up everything for?”

I cross one leg over the other, settling back in the chair. “I do. And I want to make sure that she has the chance to pursue her dreams too. I will do everything I can to help her.”

“And what you can do for her financially is supposed to make me feel better about this entire thing?” Arturo scoffs and shakes his head. “That isn’t the way this is going to work, Alessio. She is her own woman.”

“You think I don’t know that? She’s given me hell since day one. She is strong and capable. She doesn’t need or want my help, but I want to give it to her. I want to be around to support her in whatever dream she chooses to follow. I think about the future with her, Arturo. A lot. She challenges me. She pushes me to be a better man. I want to be that better man for her.”

Arturo gets up and paces from one side of the room to the other. He winces as his body protests, but he doesn’t stop.

“If she comes to me and tells me that she doesn’t want a life with me, then I’ll let her go. You know that, Arturo. It’s not my intention to hold Billie back. I want to grow with her. I want both of us to become better people because we are together.”

He stops and looks at me. His frown deepens and he shakes his head. “You’re nothing like your father.”

My eyebrows furrow. “I don’t think I know what that has to do with Billie.”

“You’ve always thought that you were going to become a replica of your father. Your father never would have sat there and told me that he was willing to give up everything for a woman. You’re a good man, Alessio, and Billie is free to make her own choices, but you have a habit of holding yourself back because of your fears surrounding your father.”

I can already see where this is going even though I don’t want to. He is worried about what will happen to Billie if I keep getting in my own way.

I don’t know how to convince him that it won’t be a problem.

Arturo sits back down, stretching his leg out in front of him and massaging his thigh. “Like I said, right now, I can’t be your friend about this. I can’t sit here and talk to you about the woman you met. Not when it’s Billie.”

“I’m going to continue seeing her for as long as she wants to be with me, even if you don’t approve of the situation. I want your support in this, but I don’t need it.”

“One day, you can have my support. Right now, I need to be upset about this. You’re a good man and I’m sure that you’ll make her happy and she’ll make you happy. But for now, I need space to wrap my head around this.”

“I’ll give you the space you need. I would like you to stay here for the time being, though. I don’t know what Paolo is planning and I don’t want to see you get hurt again. I will keep my relationship with Billie respectful in front of you, but I’m not going to hide my relationship in my own home.”

Arturo nods. “Billie would skin me alive if I even thought about leaving.”

I laugh and stand, heading for the door. “Yes, she would. And then she would come after me for letting you leave. I don’t want that to happen to either of us, so it looks like you’re going to have to stay here.”

“I’ll come around eventually,” Arturo says as I reach for the door. “I just need a little more time and a lot more liquor.”

I nod and shut the door, standing in the hallway for a minute while I collect myself. The conversation went better than I expected. When I went in there, I thought he was going to throw things at me. Maybe try to punch me.

He just needs time to get through how he feels about this. I’m not going to lose my best friend even though I fell for his daughter.

Billie walks into the casino bright and early the next morning with a tray of coffees in her hand. She smiles at several of the staff standing around before joining me by the elevators. I take the tray from her as she presses the button.

“Morning,” she says, running her hand through her hair. “I don’t know how you slept last night, but I was kept awake by this incessant banging.”

I chuckle and shake my head. “It’s your fault.”

The elevator doors open, and we step inside. She rolls her eyes but the corner of her mouth tips up with amusement.

“I’m pretty sure I’m not the problem.”

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