Page 74 of Forbidden Surrogate

He gives CC an icy, disapproving stare while her face offers me gratitude I’ve barely seen during her stay here. Young people. They don’t appreciate their blessings until it’s too late.

“Good to hear,” my father responds icily, clearly doubtful. I don’t blame him, but I’ve always had a unique ability to reach my sister.

“Did you just come here to check on us?”

My father is easy to read in the sense that he never fully relaxes until he discusses business. He spent his entire life as Leandro Taviani’s right hand man, which pretty much meant he never got to relax until the boss was satisfied. He doesn’t envy Leandro’s position in the slightest, but there has always been a competitive edge between them about other things aside from their positions in the family.

Golf swings. Children. Money.

“No. I’ve been thinking about an heir.”

“An arranged marriage for Cosima?”

He chuckles. “How did that work for Angela Taviani? I thought it might be wiser to leave producing an heir up to you.”

Me? I haven’t had a woman in my bed for years. After the first year, I stopped missing their presence. Sex is just one of many emotional releases available and you can get a similar high elsewhere. I can’t stand the demanding emotions of most women and how wholly incompatible untethered emotions are to our family situation.

Marrying a cold-hearted Italian woman only after my money doesn’t feel like the right answer either. Why the hell should I pay for boob jobs and lip fillers that I don’t even want?

An heir requires a wife. Unless I do it the way my cousin did. Dad seems to read my mind.

“I’m going to be direct with you, Mikey. Because we are different from Leandro and his family. Similar, but different.”

“Of course.”

“When our people came to America, we did everything to make our lives easier. Even with you kids, I gave you alltraditionalnames so you wouldn’t have to get called greaseball or guido at school.”

He should have tried giving me a differentnoseto avoid that fate…

“Yes, dad. You’ve told me many times about the sacrifices you’ve made for us. Have I done something that I need to atone for?”

“Not yet,” he says ominously.

Even CC pays attention, glancing up from her phone with the guilty expression of someone live posting her family drama to the internet.

“Get it out, because you’re starting to make me think you’re terminally ill.”

“No black women. Knock some chick up, get the baby out of her, but I do not want you bringing a mixed race child into this world under any circumstances.”

CC drops her fork and goes full liberal on his ass.

“Are you fucking kidding me, dad?”

“I’m not going to apologize,” Pino Corsini says, perfectly absent from remorse. “I need to be straightforward with you. A black child will have a difficult life in this world.”

“Isn’t that because of white people?” CC says as my father continues to ignore her contributions to the conversation. I look over at her, wondering why she insists on constantly starting battles with my father.

“Leandro Taviani has a black grandchild and the world hasn’t ended.”

“Yet,” he says ominously. “We aredifferent.We have more connections to the old world and I will not have our blood… I will not accept it. I willneveraccept it.”

“This is why I hate you,” CC says. “Racist pig.”

She grabs her food and stomps off to eat it in her bedroom. Dad glares at me menacingly, as if I said a word to either of them about the argument unfolding before me. Obviously, I would much prefer not to get involved.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Delphine

---