“Enzo is the oldest at thirty and then me and Lucca are twenty-eight and last is Gabe who is twenty-six.”
“Oh, that’s nice that you all are so close.” She didn’t want to think of Enzo and what had happened when he came to her place. She wasn’t sure if she should tell Dante, but she was worried he might not believe her, or worse it would cause a rift between the cousins, and she didn’t want that. Besides, she didn’t want anything else to ruin the fun they were having.
“Does everyone work as a family?” Madison knew he mentioned il Signore was a family business.
“Yeah, I guess you could say yes, but I want to branch out. Do things in a different way than what we have been doing.”
“Oh wow. Change is hard. Is everyone taking it ok?”
“There is a snag in that I need to fix with some of my clients and the people we pay money to.”
Madison figured he was trying to get out of the protection money racket.
“And I guess some are harder to let go of than others.”
“Yeah, you could say that. I’ve changed a lot of things up. I have close to a month and a half left to finish cleaning up, and then I hope to move onto something else. I have something lined up.”
“That will be nice I guess. Is that what you want?”
“Yeah. I’ve looked to move in another direction since I hit college. It’s just taken me a while to execute it.”
“So what was the other direction you wanted to take? Where did you think you would be by now?”
“To be honest, married and with a few kids and working for my own company. You?”
Wow, Madison didn’t think Dante would see himself being married. He seemed afraid of commitment so to think he could see himself married was not expected at all.
Any hope of them maybe continuing on as they were was dashed. Had there been someone special that he had wanted to settle down with? Was that why he wasn’t married? Madison’s stomach was queasy.
“I think I’m where I want to be. Now in a year or five years that’s different. I hope to have won the competition and be working at Anastazia Stewart’s house of fashion and moving my way up the ranks and in five years My big hairy goal is to open my own fashion house.”
“Big hairy goal?”
“Like that thing that seems impossible, but you want it. Kind of like your biggest dream that is just shy of achievement. You have to push yourself to get it.”
“I like that idea. Then my big hairy goal would be to leave the, uh, family and do something above board on my own. And in five years I will open my own brokerage firm.”
“Sounds like we are both entrepreneurs and have pretty similar goals.”
“Yeah, you didn’t mention marriage.” Dante’s face looked hopeful.
“I hadn’t planned on getting married or having kids. Because of what it did to my mom and dad and to me, and I wouldn’t want that. My dad lost himself to whatever my mom wants to the point that he spent less time with me to please her.”
“From what I know, I don’t think that would happen.” Regret showed on his face.
“Maybe not. But I guess you could say at this moment I am unsure when it comes to marriage.” She wanted something permanent with Dante. Something she hadn’t wanted before, but every minute that they spent together held more appeal. Did they have to get married? Couldn’t things continue on how they were?
“I didn’t think you wanted to get married?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, with our arrangement and everything, I didn’t think you would be interested in anything serious.”
“I would for the right person. You? Would you get married for the right person?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, is there even a right person? It’s not something I have focused on.” This whole conversation made Madison feel uncomfortable. Dante would settle down for the right person, which it was clear it wasn’t her. So even if there was a chance they continued as they were, there would always be the fear that he would meet someone else and end the arrangement.
She also didn’t believe Dante wouldn’t be able to handle it if they went full-on relationship. She knew it wasn’t what he wanted. At least not with her which made her heart squeeze.
