"Thank you for acknowledging it."
"Don't thank me yet. The alliance marriage contract is over. Done. Finished. It will never be reinstated."
"I understand," I manage.
"Do you?" He turns to face me, his expression serious. "Because I want to be very clear about this. No man will ever take my daughter's birthright away. Not you. Not anyone. Liana will run the Costa family. That's decided. It’s non-negotiable."
"I wouldn't want to take that from her."
"You say that now. But the old contract—the one we drafted together—it gave you control of everything. The businesses. The assets. The operations. All in your name."
"I didn't write that contract or draw it up."
"But you signed it." Dominic's voice hardens with accusation. "You agreed to those terms. You were willing to take everything she'd worked for her entire life."
The accusation stings precisely because it's completely true.
"You're right," I admit, forcing myself not to look away. "I was willing. Because I didn't know better. I didn't know her. I didn't understand what I was taking from her. I was doing what was expected of me."
"And now?"
"I know exactly what I was taking. And I know I don't deserve it." I set down my glass on the edge of his desk. "I don't want to take over the Costa operations, Don Dominic. I never should have agreed to that arrangement."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want Liana to be happy," I say honestly. "I want her to run her family's business the way she's been trained to, to be safe, to have everything she's worked for."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yes, it does." I meet his eyes. "Because if she has all that—if she's happy and safe and fulfilled—then I want to be part of her life. Not as her boss. Not as someone who controls her or makes decisions for her. As her partner. Her equal."
Dominic studies me. "You're saying you still want to marry her."
"Yes, eventually. If she'll have me. On her terms, not mine. Not because of a contract. Not because of an alliance." I take a breath. "Because she wants to. Because she chooses me."
"That's a very different proposal from the one we discussed before."
"I'm a different person from who I was."
"My daughter will marry when and if she chooses," he says firmly. "It will be her decision. Her timeline. Not mine. Not yours. Not anyone's."
"I understand and respect that."
"And it will be for love. Not business. Not power. Not to secure an alliance." His voice softens slightly. "She deserves that. After everything I put her through with this arrangement."
"She does deserve that."
"If you want to pursue her, you'll do it like a normal person." He leans forward. "You'll court her. You'll date her. You'll earn her trust back slowly and carefully. And you'll do it with no guarantees. No contracts. No certainty that she'll ever forgive you."
The words should terrify me, should make me reconsider this entire plan. Instead, they fill me with something like hope.
"I can do that," I say.
"Can you?" Dominic raises an eyebrow skeptically. "Because the Santino Marcello I met two months ago couldn't. He wanted guarantees. Contracts. Everything laid out clearly with no room for uncertainty."
"Well, he was an idiot who didn't know what he was losing."
A smile tugs at Dominic's mouth, just barely visible. "Perhaps."
