“Your daughter-in-law is a bad influence on her,” I grumble as I sit down.
Dahlia sticks her tongue out at me, scraping some butter on a croissant and enough strawberry jam to cause cavities.
Marcella pins me with a knowing look. “My daughter-in-law is exactly the woman this family needed. Calla knows what she wants and is not afraid to go after that, consequences be damned. I admire that about her.”
Fuck me, did she call me a coward?
Yes, let’s start a fucking war.What a great idea! Wish I had thought about that sooner, and then all my problems would have vanished.
Going blindly after what you want is plain stupid. I refuse to be an impulsive asshole who doesn’t care about the consequences. In our case, the repercussions could be deadly. At least my sister can take care of herself.
I can love Dahlia from a distance and make sure she’s safe. I might regret everything else, but never that she is safe.
With my appetite gone, I munch the omelet when Dahlia clears her throat.
“I want a car.”
The fuck did she say? I almost blurt out, but remember we’re not alone.
Getting out of her gilded cage is one thing I’ve wanted for so long, I thought it would never happen, but now that it is unfolding, I am terrified I might lose her. That something might happen and she’ll slip away, lost to me forever.
The contradiction between knowing it’s best for her to gain more independence and worrying about potential threats rips me apart. The thought that she won’t need me anymore splits the frail sanity holding me together.
“Wait until Enzo is back,” I offer, fisting the napkin at my side. It crumbles under the pressure, just like my control.
She pins me with a hard gaze. “I don’t need my brother’s permission,” she mumbles, finishing up her breakfast.
Oh, when the brat comes out.
I inhale a deep breath, trying to gather my composure. “I’m in charge until he comes back.”
Standing up, she hooks her hands on her waist, raising a perfectly elegant brow at me. “Are you saying no to me?”
It’s the hurt in her voice she tries to mask that breaks me, and I give in. “I’ll choose it.”
“Really?” Her face radiates with a beam that blinds my common sense, obliterating any reason.
She sprints to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Even though I didn’t need your permission.”
But she still craves it. Fuck if that thought doesn’t derail my thoughts into forbidden territory. Nothing new.
The knowing glance, accompanied by a smug smile, only intensifies my belief that she knows it too.
Fuck me. Scrubbing a hand down my face, I place my palm on her back, and we walk outside to my car.
Why delay the inevitable?
As soon as she buckles herself in, she asks, “Can I have one like this?”
“No.”
She slumps in on herself, mumbling. “Fine. Ugh.”
“We’ll find a reliable, comfortable one,” I say, giving up on searching for any trace of sanity left.
She rolls her eyes at me. “You mean one that isn’t fun at all.”
I chuckle. “Take it or leave it, baby girl.”
