His thumb brushes absently along the edge of the table.
“As parents, we do everything for our kids. For some reason, all your dreams, all your goals… they start circling around them.” A faint breath leaves him, almost a laugh, but not quite. “They give you a reason to hold onto things you might’ve let go of otherwise.”
He glances down for a second, then back up.
“My wife, she was always my rock. Held everything together. But my girls…” His jaw tightens just slightly before easing again. “Everything I’ve ever done. Everything … we’ve ever done has been for them.”
There’s no performance in it, just truth.
“Valentina was born while we were on the run,” he continues, a faint smile pulling at his mouth now. “We were moving constantly, place to place. I used to fill her head with stories just to keep things light for her.”
A quiet chuckle slips out of him.
“But she had more follow-up questions than most adults.” He shakes his head slightly. “Made it difficult.”
Of course she did.
“She’s not someone you can push around. If you want a truly submissive woman, you may want to consider your options.”
“There are no options,” I reply evenly. “There’s only Valentina. And she will be my wife.”
“The wedding is in three days,” I continue.
Marco’s gaze lifts again.
“I want you there.”
He smiles. “I always thought about the day I’d walk my girls down the aisle,” he says quietly. “Valentina used to talk about this blue wedding. Doves. Flowers everywhere. The kindof dream that doesn’t belong in a world like yours.” Then he rephrases, “a world like ours.”
A faint smile flickers, then fades.
“When she turned twenty-one, her mother found one of her scrapbooks. Nothing had changed.”
I watch him carefully. Because she never gave me that part of herself.
“She was dating some kid back then,” he continues, his jaw tightening briefly. “Deadbeat. I knew he’d never give her that life.” His eyes lift to mine. “So I did what I know best.”
A pause.
“Numbers.”
His fingers still against the table. “I made sure she’d have everything she ever wanted.”
“I know.”
Silence settles again.
Then…
“Do you love her?”
His eyes stay locked on mine, searching.
This isn’t a test.
It’s a verdict.
“Yes.”
