Before she could say anything else, he silenced her with a kiss and said, “Let’s talk about it while we eat.” What they’d shared hadn’t been one-sided. Callie couldn’t be anywhere near ready to leave him either.
Clearly discomfited, she let him help her down from the desk… her legs didn’t appear any stronger than his own currently felt. In silence, she removed a pair of black panties from her bag and put them on.
When they’d finished refastening and straightening their clothes, he held a hand out to her. Her chest rose as she looked at it without reaching for it. “There’s nothing to talk about, Dante,” she said sadly. “I can’t stay. You must know that. I need to go home. Georgia needs me.”
His stomach plummeted, and he came within a whisker of saying,I need you, with no idea where the thought had come from. Instead, he spoke evenly, watching her reaction closely. “Are you sure about that? I’ve checked in on her a couple of times –”
She blinked. “Have you?”
“She is alone and pregnant, and I am not a monster,” he said with a lightness he had to force. Asking Callie to stay had been spontaneous, but spontaneous or not, flat rejection had been the last thing he’d expected. “Itold you, she knows you are here. She is well. There is nothing to stop you from staying here... unless you don’t want to stay.”
She closed her eyes before he could read the answer to that. “The father of her baby’s marrying another woman tomorrow. Of course she needs me.”
“Georgia’s stronger than you give her credit for.”
“You don’t know her.”
“No, but I know you.” He took a deep breath to smother the strange palpitations in his chest before adding, “And reading between the lines of all you have told me, it seems to me that Georgia is trying to forge a life for herself that doesn’t always include you.”
Her shocked gaze shot back to him. “That’s crap. Georgia’s emotions have been all over the place in recent months because your friend broke her heart and left her pregnant, and I was the one left to pick up the pieces. That doesn’t mean what you’re implying.”
“Doesn’t it? She didn’t want your help, did she,” he pointed out. “Whether Niccolo was the catalyst or not, I don’t know, but she’s been pulling away from you, and instead of listening to her, you’ve clung even tighter and refused to let her go.”
She recoiled. “Howdareyou. You know nothing about us.”
“I know that Georgia’s going to be a mother, which means you can’t be the most important person in her life anymore,” he stated.
“You think I don’t know that? Of course I know it; it’s how thingsshouldbe, and I will be there for her every step of the way just as I always have been.”
“Have you even asked if she wants that from you?”
Hurt flashed in the large eyes. Her mouth opened and then closed.
“Carina, you have spent your life trying to protect Georgiafrom the impact of your parents’ emotional neglect,” he said in a softer tone. “In effect, you stepped into the role of her mother, but you’re not her mother, you’re her sister, and you should never have been put in the position of believing your sister’s emotional wellbeing was your responsibility – it isn’t. Georgia’s responsible for her own well-being. More than that, shewantsto take responsibility for it. Every bird needs to leave its nest at some time.”
Face now drained of colour, she whispered, “Says the man who still lives with his parents.”
“I left the nest for a long while, and now we live in a nest that’s big enough for us all to spread our wings and walk our own paths, but Georgia isn’t me and your family is not mine. She is an adult with free will, just like you, and is perfectly capable of making her own choices and living with the consequences of them. Whatever her future holds with Niccolo, she is ready to spread her wings; you must see that.”
She was shaking her head.
“Yes,carina, she is ready to fly, and if you find the courage, you will see that you are ready to fly too. Maybe she will fly back to you or maybe she will be like Tullia and come and go but prefer living in her own nest. The important thing is that Georgia wants the freedom to decide how far she spreads her wings, and unless you want to become even more estranged, you need to start seeing her as the grown woman she is and respect her choices.”
“Idorespect her choices.”
“Your reason for being in my country proves that’s not true.”
“A choice I made that led to you kidnapping me.” She gave a disbelieving shake of her head. “Do you forget that I’m only here because of that? Because I don’t remember being given a choice – the exact opposite, in fact.”
“No, I never forget that, but it’s a choice I would make again because the consequences could have been disastrous.”
“So you’re allowed to make choices on someone else’s behalf but I’m not?” Her voice strengthened as colour returned to her cheeks. “You talk about me needing to respect Georgia’s choices and letting her live with the consequences of them but have wilfully prevented me from telling Niccolo the truth so he can makehisown choice – you’ve taken that choice away from him. Hypocritical much?”
“What the hell is hypocritical about me not wanting the man who’s like a brother to me to put himself in serious danger?”
“Because you never let me try to save the woman who actuallyismy sister from herself! I don’t care what you think you know about us or what she’s told you about her state of mind, you don’t knowher. Georgia’s carrying Niccolo’s child, and it doesn’t matter that she’s shut me out – I can see… I canfeel… how much it’s costing her to let him marry someone else while his child grows inside her. His child.Theirbaby. So yes, it’s completely hypocritical and stinks of yourDante knows bestarrogance.”
God give him strength. If she wasn’t the most stubborn creature on the planet. “Have you not listened to a word I’ve said about the Espositos?”
