“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to try. I will work hard to earn back your trust.”
"What's your plan, Santino? To win my daughter back. Assuming that's what you want."
"I..." I stop, realizing I don't have a good answer. "I don't have one yet. Not a detailed plan."
"Then I suggest you develop one." Dominic's voice fills with unmistakable pride. "Because Liana Costa is not an easy woman to win. She's brilliant. Stubborn. Knows exactly what she wants. And right now, she thinks she doesn't want you. You'll have to change her mind."
"How?" I ask, genuinely at a loss. “Any ideas?”
Dominic laughs, actually laughs. "You're asking me how to court my own daughter?"
"You know her better than anyone in the world."
"That's true." He considers for a moment. "But if I tell you exactly what to do, you'll just be following instructions again. Following a plan someone else made. That's not what she needs."
"Then what does she need?"
"She needs you to figure that out yourself." Dominic stands and walks over, putting a hand on my shoulder. "She needs the real Santino Marcello. Not the one who follows contracts and traditions blindly. The one who destroyed an entire crime family in less than a week because he couldn't stand the thought of her being in danger. Liana doesn't want a man who needs instructions on how to love her. She wants a man who figures it out on his own."
He walks back to his desk.
"Is that it?" I ask. "I just try and hope for the best?"
"You do better than that." Dominic looks at me seriously. "You be honest. You be vulnerable. You show her who you really are. Not the Don. Not the heir to the Marcello family. Just you. Santino. The man who cares about her enough to destroy his enemies but smart enough to know that's not enough to win her heart."
I nod slowly, absorbing this.
"One more thing," Dominic says. "This conversation we just had? About you wanting to pursue her? That was the easy part."
"What's the hard part?"
"Talking to her." He picks up his phone. "Which you'll need to do yourself. I'm not arranging anything. I'm not forcing her to see you. If you want to talk to Liana, you ask her yourself. Not me. It’s all up to you now."
"Will she even see me?"
"I don't know." He picks up a file. “Don’t waste this chance if she does.”
"I won't."
"Good." He gestures toward the door. "Now get out of my office. I have work to do."
I turn to leave, my mind already racing.
"Santino."
I stop and look back.
"If you hurt my daughter again," Dominic says quietly, his voice carrying absolute certainty, "eliminating the Benedettis will look like child's play compared to what I'll do to you. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
I leave the study, walk through the hallways, past the guards, out to the gates. Get in my car and just sit there for a moment. Processing everything.
The alliance marriage is over. Done. No contracts. No guarantees. No certainty.
But I might still have a chance with her. If I can figure out how to talk to her. How to show her I've changed. How to prove I'm worth a second chance.
I pull out my phone. I could text her right now. Call her. Show up at her office tomorrow.
