He ran a hand over his hair. “Rosetta is Italian.”

“Dad, I’m aware.”

What the fuck was he getting at?

“Do you plan to have kids with Rosetta? Carry on the Conti name.”

Oh, I’d carry on the Conti name all right with Melanie.

“No, I don’t.”

“If you wouldn’t have sought out this Melanie, you would be on board to start a family with Rosetta.”

“Maybe so. But I guess we’ll never know.” I stood.

“Any business I should know about?”

“The engagement party is December twentieth. Don’t bring your Gumar.”

“I won’t bring Melanie to my engagement party.”

I stalked out of dad’s office. He harped on the fact that Melanie wasn’t Italian. I hoped that wouldn’t be a problem if she became pregnant with our child. The old man didn’t want to witness the wrath from the beast he created.

Clutching my hands in front of me, I blinked twice. The view of the sea brought me back from my thoughts.

Rosetta sun bathed near the pool. She didn’t give a shit about Ryah. But she loved pretending she cared. The only time I kissed her lips was on our wedding day. Just because two people slept in the same room, some of the time didn’t mean they had sex. She kissed my cheek too many times to count. I’ve let it go. It was harmless.

I needed to reach out to Rocco. Gripping my disposable phone in my hand, I waited for him to answer.

“Hello?”

“Rocco, have you talked to Ryah?”

“No, she hasn’t called and her phone’s going straight to voicemail.”

“Ryah snuck across the property on her own. We saw her on the video feed. She was wearing a green shirt and denim shorts,” I sighed.

“Ryah also left a note. She said you had nothing to do with her leaving.”

“I told you!” he shouted.

“Calm down. Ryah said she’ll reach out to you. She wants to stay with you. My daughter even had the nerve to ask me to stand down and let her fight with you. I’ll stand down as long as I see fit. I have to call Mel and tell her our daughter ran away.”

“She’s going to lose her shit,” Rocco stated.

“I know, my woman. She sure will. Art is monitoring the neighborhood. Call and tell him where to meet you. He’s been ordered to stand down and not engage Ryah. She has her survival kit. I don’t want her hurting anyone.”

“Luciano, I understand. As soon as I have Ryah, I’ll call you. She fell in love with Heritage Beach. Ryah might be there. I’m headed there now.”

“All right, Rocco. Talk to you soon.”

I took a deep breath before I dialed Melanie’s number.

“Hello?”

I walked back into Ryah’s room, closed the door, and sat on her bed.

“Luciano, what time do you land?”