Page 52 of Victorious Vice

Apparently she’s not going to be any help at all. I let go of her hands and turn away from her. “Thank you for your candor, Daniela.”

“Wait.” She runs around me and plants herself in my path. “Just because I can’t help you with this doesn’t mean you’re not going to help me, does it?”

I shake my head. “Men like me don’t go back on their word, Daniela.”

“Oh, thank God.” She sighs in relief. “I really do want to leave. I just know there’s a much better chance of a good life for me in the United States.”

“I’ll see that you get that chance.” I look toward the horizon. “You’re not the first young woman I’ve come across who is intelligent and talented but is being placed in a box.”

She takes my hand. “Yes, the girl you’re betrothed to.”

“Not only her. My own mother.” I inhale deeply and let it out on a whoosh. “She could’ve made so much more out of her life.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Daniela pats my hands gently.

“Thank you. I appreciate that. At least I know my mother is at peace now.” I grit my teeth. “Meanwhile, my father’s rotting away in a prison cell.”

Technically not my father, but still the man who I think of as my true father.

“There’s nothing you can do for him?”

I sigh, shaking my head slightly. “Not at the moment, anyway.”

“Listen,” she says. “You’ve been so kind to me. Let me try to help you.” She looks up toward the roof of the house. “I have to admit I’ve always been curious about the attic myself. I’ll see what I can do.”

I lean forward and give her a kiss on the cheek. She really is a lovely girl. “Thank you. Please let me know what you find out.”

“I will. Do you want to go back to the house now?”

“Yes, I suppose that would be best.”

She places a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about these walks we have, the talks we have outside the house. When my father asked me about them, I told him you were courting me.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And he bought it?”

“Yes, but not in the way you think.” She looks down. “He knows you’re in love with another woman, Vinnie.”

I jerk backward. “Oh?”

“Yes. He told me so. He asked me if that mattered to me.”

“And what did you say?”

“I told him that it didn’t matter. That this was a business deal, an alliance, and nothing more.”

“Good. Thank you.”

She presses her lips together. “There is one thing you should know, though.”

“What’s that?”

She swallows. “Alliances are forged through marriage, but they’re maintained through children. My father will expect grandchildren, Vinnie.”

“You’re still very young.”

“That doesn’t matter to him.”

“I’ll get you back to the United States. After that, we’ll figure things out from there.”

---