She was the only exception.
He hated her. And when he looked at her it was like being thrown into a snowdrift.
Freezing.
But it was only one of the most damaging things about Romeo.
The other was that he was and forever, irrevocably her first experience with physical attraction.
And nothing, not the vitriol that existed between them, not the resentment that grew daily inside of her, not years or wisdom or maturity could do anything to dampen her response to him.
Hatred had a taste, a scent, a bone-deep feeling.
So, alas, did desire.
And for her the two things were intertwined in such a way that she didn’t know how to separate them. She was sick.
Thankfully, after his father died they would have no further connection to each other.
What a horrible thought. That her only route to freedom was losing Giuseppe.
Giuseppe had been the only father figure Heather had ever had. He was her father.
But he had grown so frail and gray in the years since his wife had died. He had never really recovered from it. He’d gotten a cancer diagnosis afterward and hadn’t seemed to have any fight in him at all. She hated to see him like this. She wanted him to be reunited with his wife. She had to believe that was what awaited him.
She wasn’t looking forward to losing him. It was just that…
Finally having that last tie severed to Romeo would be a gift.
“How is he?” Sometimes if they kept the conversation limited to his father, they could make it through without having a fight.
“That eager to collect your inheritance?”
Well. Apparently that would be the case today.
“Yes, Romeo, of course that’s why I’m asking about the well-being of my father.”
“He is my father, Heather, not yours.”
“He is my father in every way that matters. But thank you for taking this opportunity to stay in character. If we didn’t have a villain in the play then this horrendous walk along the road of grief would be unbearable.”
“I have never minded being the villain in your play, as you know.”
“Yes. I do. You didn’t answer my question.”
“He’s dying,” Romeo said. “And nothing has on that score.”
“I’ll go and see him in a moment.”
“What are you doing in here?”
“Sitting here counting my future riches,” she said, smiling blandly at him. In truth, she had been catching up on work. She was a freelance editor contracted with several publishers, and she had a backlog of manuscripts to read and copy to write. But she had stopped trying to convince him of her goodness a long time ago.
She could remember clearly when the straw had broken her back. That very last straw. He had been on the verge of graduation, and she had been in her second year of high school. Part of his senior prank had been to get everyone in the entire school to act like she was invisible. They spent the whole day looking through her, not speaking a single word to her. Bumping into her, spilling drinks on her shoes.
Only her friend Vera had spoken to her. Well, and a handful of teachers. But even a couple of teachers had engaged in the behavior. Thus was the power of Romeo Accardi. Who had managed to frame it all as a brilliant joke, while giving her a look that told her he knew it was astronomically cruel. That it would poke at all of the insecurities inside of her. The way that she feared she would never be accepted.
That was when she had stopped. The high road had no longer been an option. Smiling at him to try to prove that she was worthy of…of something. That had ended that day.
