I shook my head, hands still on my face. “No, I promise. I’ll do as you ask.”
“Good.” He walked over to me, set his hand on my head, and gave me a little massage. “I’m sorry for that, Nora. Sometimes my anger gets the best of me.”
I wiped my face and lowered my hands, unable to look him in the eye.
“Give me the things and come to the kitchen so you can get something to eat,” he said.
I picked up my bag from the floor and handed him the ledger and USB drive.
“Good.” He gave a nod. “Let’s go.”
I followed. If he brought Adriano and a priest here, I’d marry him on the spot. That was how shaken up I felt. He pointed for me to sit, and I sat down on my usual barstool as he opened the fridge, brought out a container of leftover Pasta alla Norma, my favorite, and set out some fruit, water, and juice. I wasn’t hungry, but I was afraid to turn it down once he’d heated the pasta, so I started to take small bites.
“There are many things about me that you wouldn’t understand.” My father stood across from me and set his elbows on the counter, plucking a green grape and popping it into his mouth. “I’ve done a lot of things that I wish I could take back. I may go about things the wrong way, but I only do what’s best for you, Nora.”
“I know,” I whispered, eyes on the pasta again.
“I didn’t even tell your mother, you know,” he said. “With her mother dying and all, I didn’t want to worry her.”
I bit my lip and looked at him, tears in my eyes again. “Please don’t tell her.”
“Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t.” He ate another grape. “We’ll see.”
I wiped my face and started playing with my food. I couldn’t eat anymore. I glanced away from him and saw a folder within reach of me. On top of it, there were pictures of Aanya.
“What is that?” I jutted my chin out at the pictures.
“Oh.” He walked over and picked up the papers. “We got some beautiful pictures of her.” He laid them out in front of me. I felt myself smile. “It’s too bad we had to get rid of her.”
“What?” I dropped my fork, looking from the photos to my father. My stomach clenched so hard I had to cover my mouth in case I vomited. Still covering my mouth, I asked, “You killed her?”
“Killed her?” He laughed, throwing his head back. “Of course not. I know how much you love that horse. I would never kill her.” He looked at me like I was crazy. I hadn’t even fully relaxed when he said, “I sold her.”
“T-t-to who?”
“Some stable that needed another horse. She’ll be fine there.” He picked up the fruit and turned around to put it away.
I looked at the pictures of Aanya again until tears covered my vision. He’d sold my Aanya, my comfort. I’d been closer to her than I was to him. Aanya knew all of my secrets. She’d witnessed all my laughter and tears. I set my hand over her face like I always did, and a sob raked through me before I could stop it.
“Why?” I wailed. “Why?”
“Because, Lenora, you need to be taught a lesson.” He crossed his arms.
I wiped my tears, but a new wave of them came. “I said I was sorry.”
“You did, and I believe you. I also believe that you didn’t snoop through my USB drive, and I appreciate you being honest about it,” he said. “You can’t take Aanya with you to Italy. She’s happy in her new home. You should be happy too.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe, but I made myself go through the motions anyway — I stood up, threw away what was left on my plate, cleaned the plate and fork, and grabbed the water.
“I’m going to sleep,” I said, keeping my back to him. My voice was hoarse, and I wasn’t sure he could hear me, but I didn’t care. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Principessa.”
I flinched. He had no right to call me that anymore, but I couldn’t tell him that, so I pulled my bag into my room, set it down, and locked the door behind me. I cried until I fell asleep.
34
ROCCO
