Page 85 of Forbidden Arrangement

“No, seriously, I’m an idiot.”

“And like I said, ‘Tell me something I don’t know.’”

“That guy we saw Valentina with the other day.”

“The hedge fund broker guy?”

“Yeah.”

“What about him?”

“I got it wrong.”

“Okay.So he was or wasn’t that Conner you were talking about?”

“He wasn’t.”

“Well, please don’t advertise that.We are private investigators with our own detective agency.”

“Stefano, shut up.This is not funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

“Dude.”

“Sorry.Who was he?”

“He was some artist she hired to make me a painting of the four of us.”

“Oh wow.That’s incredibly sweet.”

“I know.I fucked up.”

“Well, that doesn’t surprise me.I mean, look who our dad is.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Haven’t you ever wondered why Mom left?”

“No, the fact that she left was enough.”

“But maybe there was a good reason,” he said softly.“Maybe…”

“What?Have you been speaking to Mom?”

“Maybe.We had a phone conversation last night.”

“Stefano, really?”

“I’m sorry.I wasn’t going to say anything, but …”

“But what?”

“But I’ve just been thinking about a lot of things.And I know because you’re the oldest, you feel like you’ve had to shield me and Sergio and Santino.And you’re even taking care of Dad and his issues.But maybe Dad is the problem.”

“Dad is not the problem.”

“Maybe you need to speak to Dad, Sam.”

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