Page 18 of Boundless Love
It was damn near miraculous, the sense of peace and satisfaction that settled over me as our meals were served.We had pulled out all the stops in the kitchen, from a lavish antipasto to the pasta course, which boasted black truffle shavings topping a rich alfredo sauce, to mouthwatering wagyu beef and blackened salmon, depending on our guests’ preferences.
“I need to stop eating this,” Eleanor fretted even as she cut another bite from her steak.I couldn’t blame her.The beef was like butter, melting on my tongue.“If I’m not careful, I won’t fit into my dress tomorrow.Then what will I do?”
I was fairly sure Mira did a full-body cringe at the idea.I squeezed her knee under the table, and we looked at each other, giving our heads the tiniest shake.“And you were worried about me jinxing us?”she whispered.
Dante laughed indulgently.“It’s only a little extra steak.I’m sure it won’t make a?—”
His voice cut off suddenly enough that we all noticed, looking toward the head of the table.I had known him for years by then after first investing in his club in LA.He was the first of my friends to learn of my sudden engagement, in fact.I’d never seen him looking the way he did now, like a ghost had walked into the room.
It wasn’t a ghost.It was a man, probably in his sixties, wearing a button-down shirt and drab gray slacks.His face was heavily lined like that of a longtime smoker, and there was a distinct nervous energy about him.He stopped dead in his tracks, pinned in place by Dante’s disbelieving stare.I was only vaguely aware of Mrs.West’s soft gasp.
Dante rose, his eyes never leaving the man who had caught all of our attention.“Who is it?”Eleanor stood beside him, taking Dante’s hand, looking up at him with concern written across her face.“Sweetheart, who is it?”
He looked completely stunned.Gobsmacked.There was a second when he might have forgotten how to speak.His throat worked, his lips twitched, but nothing came out until he managed to utter two words.“My father.”
His father who had not been invited.“I don’t even know where I’d find him,” Dante had assured me weeks ago.“And I wouldn’t be interested in seeing him anyway.He made it clear when he walked out on us that I never mattered as much as his gambling addiction.He would only ruin the day.”
Yet somehow, the man stood in front of us now.
I looked toward Mira, whose worried gaze met mine.
Cursed.
The entire fucking weekend was cursed.
9
DANTE
This wasn’t happening.
I refused to accept what I saw in front of me because it couldn’t be real.I hadn’t seen the man in more than twenty years, yet I would’ve known him anywhere.It was the eyes.We had the same piercing eyes.Thankfully, that was one of the few traits we shared.
“I don’t understand.”Lenny squeezed my hand, trying to bring me back to reality, where she struggled to catch up.She had never met him.He’d walked out of my life before I knew Lenny existed when we were little kids.I didn’t possess a single photo of him.This was her first time setting eyes on the man who had shaped my understanding of so many things, not by his example but by his absence and lack of any redeeming qualities I might want to emulate one day.
A soft whimper at my left broke me out of my shock.I looked down at Mom, whose face had gone an alarming shade of gray.The way her chin trembled as she stared told me my instinctive response was wrong.She had nothing to do with this.
“Please, don’t hold it against me,” he murmured.My God, his voice.I forgot what his voice sounded like.How could it be?Twenty years softened and erased a lot of memories.
They had certainly aged him as well.He ran a hand over his thinning black hair now streaked with white.“I didn’t think you’d want your old man around at a time like this, but I… I wanted to see you.I wanted to tell you…”
I wasn’t particularly interested in what he wanted to tell me.There was a bigger problem at hand.I was surrounded by friends and family, but that didn’t mean I wanted any of them to witness this.Truth be told, I didn’t want to witness it myself.I wanted nothing to do with him.
Still, I couldn’t have him thrown out.Mom was upset enough.She shot me a panicked look that focused me.“We should have this talk somewhere else,” I decided, speaking through gritted teeth.“Somewhere more private.”
“You can use my office,” Clay offered as Mira hurried from the room.It was clear she was irritated.I would be, too, if a stranger off the street was welcomed into a private event by my staff without first being cleared by anyone.
“It’ll be fine,” I told Mom, then offered Lenny what I hoped was a reassuring nod.The last thing I wanted was to worry her.Fuck, we were so close to everything going off without a hitch.Why did he have to come out of nowhere to shake everything up?
Clay led the way out of the room, and I followed without giving the stranger beside me a glance.How could he do this?How did he know?I would ask him those questions when we were alone.Then, I would put him on his way.He had no business being here.He had forfeited any right a long time ago.
“I saw something in the newspaper about your wedding.”His voice was low, almost apologetic.The way it should’ve been.“I understand you’re part owner in this hotel as well.I’m not so good with that internet stuff, but I looked you up.This is impressive.”
That answered one question anyway.Thinking back, I vaguely remembered approving a press release mentioning the wedding and how it would be the first such event since Manning-Rinaldi took over.At the time, I was feeling petty, hoping Lenny’s ex would see and know the better man had won out in the end.That the woman he could never possibly hope to make happy had come back to me.
Hadn’t I learned by now the dangers of pride?It was almost laughable.My pettiness was coming back to bite me in the ass, forcing me away from what should have been a celebration.
Clay ushered us into the room off the lobby, but he held me in place with a hand on my arm.“This is unacceptable.I am so sorry.We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
