Page 124 of 7+Us Makes Nine

My father’s eyes widened at the sight of me. “Arianna?” he said. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

I swallowed, not realizing until then that it was already past noon.

“Ari.” A note of sternness crept into Daddy’s voice, knowing something was wrong. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get away with lying and claiming everything was fine. “Giovanni just called not too long ago,” he informed. “He said that he’s been trying to call you all morning, but you haven’t been answering your phone.”

It took everything within me to not spit at the sound of his name. “I don’t want to talk to Giovanni,” I said through gritted teeth.

My father’s eyes widened again, startled. A wrinkle appeared on his forehead. “You want to tell me why?”

When I didn’t respond, he placed a hand on my shoulder and steered me into my room. He sat at the edge of my bed, his eyes never leaving mine. “All right, kiddo. Tell me what’s going on. Did something happen between the two of you that I should know about?”

What hadn’t happened between us was probably an easier question to answer. How could I tell my father about all the ups and downs tha

t had already occurred in the short time Giovanni had entered my life? Yet, with the way he stared at me, I knew I had to tell him something. I had to tell him because I knew now that Giovanni Romano wasn’t going to change just because he was supposed to marry me; he was far too set in his ways, and nothing or no one would ever change that. You can’t teach an old player new tricks—and you certainly can’t get them to give up their old tricks either…

When I looked into my father’s eyes, a whole life of unhappiness suddenly flashed before my own. I and Giovanni would not have the kind of marriage that my parents enjoyed, so there was only one thing for me to do.

I sat down beside my father and took a deep breath. “Daddy, I can’t do it.” I stared into my lap. A long silence stretched between us.

“Honey, what are you talking about?” he asked after a moment.

“I’m talking about the arranged marriage. I can’t go through with it. I can’t…”

“But why not?” he asked after another pause. “I thought you and Gio were getting along well? The two of you looked so happy together just the other day. Things can’t have gone wrong so quickly.”

“But they have.”

“How?”

“Last night…I…I went out with Angela.”

“Yes…” Daddy said, waiting for me to continue.

I took another deep breath. “We went out just for drinks and to go dancing. But…I saw Giovanni there. The day before, he had told me that he would be busy working with his father…”

“Yes, I remember him saying that.”

“Well, I don’t know how true that was.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He was at the club.”

“But it was late by then, dear. Perhaps he was finished and just looking for a way to unwind. There’s no harm in that.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too, initially. But then I saw that he was there to meet up with another woman.”

Again, another long pause stretched between us.

“Are you sure that’s what you saw?”

I nodded. “Yes. I know what I saw.”

“Did he see that you were there?” Daddy asked, a note of anger creeping into his voice now.

“No.”

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

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