Needless to say, if my father finds out, he’ll be furious, not only because Dante is his enemy but also because my betrothal to Mr. Stein has been made public since his poor wife passed away a few months ago.
Yet it’s too late for that. My wedding to the repulsive Joni Stein will never happen and that’s not only because Dante promised he wouldn’t allow it.
Standing in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom, I cup a hand over my flat stomach where our baby is growing. I haven’t told Dante. I want to do it tonight. But this baby changes everything. This baby gives me hope. This baby means my father will have to see reason. I don’t know what caused the rift between him and Dante, but given the situation, surely my father can put that behind him. He won’t have a choice but to make an effort for the father of his grandchild.
Dante keeps on telling me he’ll make this right, but how can he do that if he can’t even come near my father? I don’t know what he’s planning because he won’t share that with me. Whenever I bring up the subject, Dante just says I have to trust him.
I do. I trust him with my life, but we’re running out of time. I’m three months along. I’ll start showing soon. I have to convince my father to annul the contract with Joni Stein before it’s too late. It will be so much worse for my parents if I do nothing and let the situation escalate into a scandal.
We can break the contract now and pay the damages that are due. By the time I marry Dante, the gossip will be forgotten. And if not, I don’t care. I just want to be with the man I love, the father of my baby. I tried, but my father wouldn’t be swayed. This is the only argument that can win him over.
As soon as my mind is made up, I smooth out my dress and take a deep breath. Walking into the hallway, I listen for sounds. Emily, our housekeeper, left a good hour ago. Instead of keeping her here until five each day, my mom lets her go as soon as her work is done.
From the classical music coming through the closed door of my mother’s room, I gather she’s relaxing in a bath. It’s a daily ritual. We have dinner at six sharp, and my father likes her to look her best, even on the evenings he doesn’t eat with us. She takes the better part of an hour to do her make-up and hair.
Leander is holed up in the entertainment room, drinking whisky and watching porn with his headphones on to hide the loud sex moans from my father. As usual, my father is in his study where he works all hours of the day and night.
Scavenging every morsel of courage I possess, I lift my chin and carry on to his study. My mom taught me if I focus on positive outcomes, I have a better chance of achieving them, so I envision how I’ll tell Dante later tonight when he holds me in his arms that my father has given us his permission if not his blessing to marry.
My heart pounds in my chest when I knock.
My father’s gruff voice reaches me from the other side of the door. “Come in.”
I go inside and close the door behind me.
My father sits in front of his laptop with an empty glass at his elbow. The half-empty bottle of vodka isn’t a good sign, but I take another deep breath and walk to his desk.
He studies me from under his eyebrows. “What do you want?” He checks his watch before adjusting the cuff of his sleeve. “I’m leaving soon.”
“I know.” I wring my hands. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you now.”
“If you need more money, the answer is no.”
That cuts a little, seeing that I’ve never asked him for anything, not for a dress or a pair of shoes. Not that I lack clothes, make-up, or jewelry. “I don’t need money.”
“Then tell your mother. It’s her job to get you what you need.”
I almost chicken out, but I have to be brave. I have to show my father that I won’t back down and that I’m not scared to stand up for myself. He can’t force me to do what I don’t want to.
“I want to talk to you about the marriage contract.”
“This again?” He rubs his brow. “I’m not wasting my breath by giving you the same answer. My patience is wearing thin, Tatiana, and you don’t want to test it.”
Squaring my shoulders, I say, “I can’t marry Joni Stein.”
My father goes still. Not a muscle moves in his face. The only sound in the room is the ticking of the grandfather clock and finally, the creaking of his leather chair as he leans forward and pins me with a look. “What did you say to me?”
My father is scary when he’s angry, but I don’t waver under his glowering stare. “I’m pregnant. I can’t marry Mr. Stein.”
There, I’ve dropped the bomb. It’s done.
I heave a sigh of relief as a weight lifts off my shoulders.
If the silence of earlier was uncomfortable, now it’s stifling. My father rises from his chair, straightening until he towers like a giant over me. I expected his ire, so I stay put when he rounds his desk. I stand my ground even though he looks at me as if he wants to crush me like a bug under his shoe, as if I’m a filthy disease he wants to wipe away.
“You little whore.” Nostrils flaring, he reaches out and grabs me by the long strands of my hair. “You dirty fucking slut.”
This, I didn’t expect. He’s never laid a finger on me.
