Page 58 of Secret Mafia Daddy

“Fine, just a little hungover,” I say with a smile, and she snorts.

“Too many strippers?”

“What about you?” I ask, looking down at her intently, and she bites her lip, her gray eyes sparkling.

“You’ll never know.”

I want to groan out loud and take her into a broom closet to show her who she belongs to, but my mother and father are getting way too friendly at the cake table, and I head that way, Catarina on my arm.

My mother pulls Catarina into a hug.

Catarina hugs her back and then she clears her throat, looking at my father.

“This is Andrea,” I say flatly, and Catarina hugs him, too, and I swear he lingers so long I have to pull her away.

“She's beautiful,” he says.

“I know,” I say, and Catarina nudges me.

“Be nice,” she whispers in my ear, and I roll my shoulders, trying to relax.

“I am being nice,” I mumble. I don’t want my father getting any ideas that he can wiggle his way back into my life just because he forced me to invite him to the wedding.

I take in a deep breath and take Catarina’s hand. “Let’s go see Chelsea for a bit before we leave for the honeymoon,” I say in a low voice, and I watch as my father frowns.

I shouldn’t feel bad, but I do. He doesn’t deserve to know my daughter, but the look on his face makes my heart sink nonetheless.

I guess, no matter what, you can’t help but still feel love for a parent, despite what they did to you.

I shake it off, and Catarina smiles and drops my hand, going off to grab Chelsea. I walk away from my father, ushering Catarina and Chelsea elsewhere.

I’m just not ready for him to meet her. Nothing’s changed. He’s not a part of my life, and he won’t be a part of my daughter’s.

24

CATARINA

The wedding had gone better than I expected. It’s really everything I always dreamed of when I was a little girl.

The huge church, the priest, my family...

Tears spring to the backs of my eyes when I see my mother and father, standing over by the cake.

We cut it and Angelo feeds me a piece more sweetly than I would have expected from him. Angelo’s been...weird this whole time.

I guess it’s not exactly weird, but it doesn’t seem like him. I’m sure he’s putting on a show for everyone, but I hadn’t expected him to be such a good actor.

The way he looked so deeply into my eyes, the passionate way he’d kissed me?

My heart is racing just looking at him now, and I keep having to tell myself this is all an act.

I never believed in love at first sight until I met Angelo, and I’d tried to put those passionate feelings I’d had away. Especially now that he’s back in my life.

I can’t risk my heart. Not to a man like Angelo.

We speak to my parents and Angelo is laughing and talking with my father, kissing my mother’s hand when she turns to go and mingle. He’s so attentive to me, putting his hand on my lower back, pressing his thigh against mine when we sit. He’s been looking at me in this way he never has before.

The man deserves an Oscar for this performance.

---