Page 44 of The Deal

“Prove it.”

I blow out a long breath, weighing my options. When Carmella walks in, carrying a tray with two coffees and a fruit platter, I’m relieved for the distraction.

We sit in silence as she sets the food and drinks down in front of us. It buys me a little more time. She’s been asking me the same question daily, and I can’t keep giving her the same redundant response.

Maybe if I give her a solid update on her father, she’ll stop busting my balls every chance she gets.

I sit up straighter in my seat. This could work in my favour. “Eat,” I say, gesturing to the food. “Then we’ll talk.”

She has a healthy appetite, and for some reason, I get pleasure from watching her eat.

After we finish the second course—a variety of freshly baked pastries—I stand and round the table, pulling out her seat. “Let’s go for a walk,” I say.

Chloe gives me a sceptical look. “Are you stalling?”

“No.”

“You said we could talk about my father after we ate.”

“We can walk and talk.”

I’d much rather have this conversation in private. It took Carmella a few days to warm up to me again after Chloe blurted out the whole truth about how she came to be living in my home. I don’t want to risk ending up in her bad books again.

When I offer Chloe my elbow, she gives me a side-eye, but to my surprise, she takes it, slipping her arm through mine. I can’t help but grin down at her—that’s a huge step forward in my eyes. At times, she acts somewhat repulsed by my touch.

We’ve been taking walks long enough to fall into a familiar rhythm, following the same path each time.

As we walk past the gazebo beyond the pool area, I make a detour and guide her inside. “Sit,” I say, nodding toward the long bench at the back. “Give me a moment.”

“Where are you going?”

“To make a quick call,” I reply, pulling my phone from my pocket.

I’m unsure if this will work, but I’m willing to try. The morning after she came to stay with me, Antonio and I returned to Chloe’s house to escort Theodore to his temporary home for the following sixteen weeks. We were told he wouldn’t be allowed outside contact for the first month of his stay.

I hadn’t planned on revealing her father’s whereabouts this early, but if I can prove I’m not a complete monster, maybe she’ll start lowering the walls she’s built to keep me at arm’s length. And if she doesn’t have to keep wondering what happened to him after she left, maybe she’ll finally be able to relax.

I can only hope that sharing this will move things forward, not set us back.

Chapter 16

Chloe

My leg bounces involuntarily, and my fingers knot nervously in my lap. What’s he up to? Who is he talking to?

My eyes follow him as he paces back and forth, his hands gesturing animatedly while he talks on the phone. Is it my father on the other end? Or is he just playing games with me and dragging this out for as long as he can? Either way, I’ll get to the truth. I won’t rest until I know where he is—or, God forbid, what really happened to him.

Five minutes pass. Then ten. Fifteen. The longer he stays on the call, the louder his voice gets, though I can’t distinguish a single word from here.

I reach the stage where I’m ready to go over there, but as I stand, he abruptly ends the call, turns toward me, and starts heading in my direction.

“Well,” I say when he’s close enough to hear me.

“Well, what?”

“Don’t act coy with me, Mancini. Who were you on the phone with, and where is my father?”

He taps the tip of my nose with his finger, and I swearto God, I’m seconds away from snapping that digit right off his hand. “Patience is a virtue,bella,” he grins.

---