Stupid move.
Dangerous move.
But damn if it wasn't inevitable.
There are a million reasons I should let her go. For one, she has kids by someone else.
The thought should cool my blood, but instead, it ignites something primal.
Something possessive that's been there since the first time I saw her as more than a friend.
Before all the accusations. Before her father. Before Italy.
Elena Vitale has always been mine.
Even when she pushed me away.
Even when she believed I betrayed her family.
Even when an ocean separated us.
Even with three children who call another man father.
Mine.
The certainty settles in my chest.
I don't care about whoever fathered those kids. I don't care how much she tries to avoid me.
I'm done respecting space that shouldn't exist between us.
Realizing I’m supposed to be leaving, I propel myself out the door that Elena just exited from and down to my waiting car, wondering how I’ll convince her to give us another shot.
Sure, she kissed me back, proving she still feels something for me. But I think it unsettled her. And while she said she believed me, I’m not convinced.
Time for a new strategy.
I stare out the window as the car drives through New York streets taking me to my father’s downtown office.
For a time, I worked from his home office, but as his mind falters, it confuses him, agitates him to find me sitting at his desk.
Gabriella and I worked out a system in which she can keep tabs on him during the day at home, and I work at the office but confer with him in the evenings.
He’s still the Don, after all.
But I’m not thinking of work now.
I’m thinking of Elena hiding behind the tree. Elena’s stubbornness forcing me to beg for her belief in me.
“I believe you.”
But if she believes I'm innocent, why did she run off like she got caught with the enemy?
I have no doubt that she still intends to avoid me despite that kiss.
Is it that she still feels I played a role in her father’s arrest or is there something else?
What other reason could she have for treating me like I'm radioactive?
