She looks out the window for a moment. "My father put me in the hospital," she says. "He beat me until I was unconscious. I was at lunch with my mom, and I went to the bathroom, and he was waiting for me." She turns back to me, and I can see the pain in her eyes. “Cesare received the call that I had been harmed and came to the hospital. He had the surveillance tapes from the restaurant and saw my father.”
I wait for her to finish. I can’t imagine how badly she must have been harmed. God, her Dad sounds worse than my own.
"He left my father paralyzed," she says. "He didn't ask me how I felt about it," she says. "He didn't make me decide. He just decided what needed to be done. He loved me, and someone had hurt me. He wouldn’t let that slide. Men in our world don’t take kindly to their women or family being harmed."
She watches me for a moment before she speaks again. "Your father pushed you into the mirror on your wedding day. Lorenzo found out and went to your parents and handled it."
"I know."
"Did it make you angry?"
I think about that honestly. "A little," I say. "At first, because I didn’t want them to be hurt, they’re my parents.”
She nods, understanding. "And then?"
I breathe. "And then I thought about how he did it. He never told me and had my brothers not, I don’t think he would have." I look at my hands. "He protected me in the only way he knows how."
"That's a Mariano," she says. "When they decide someone belongs to them, that's it. They'll protect you with their dying breath."
"He’s always doing sweet things, always making sure that I’m okay.” I’ve never had that before and it’s been hard to accept it, but I love that he’s protective.
"He's falling in love with you, too." Vittoria tells me with a grin.
"Vittoria..." I say, trying to gasp for air.
“He’d burn down the world for you, Quinn.”
My eyes fill with tears. “Please?” I plead, begging her to stop. I can’t deal with this. I can’t get my hopes up.
"I just thought you should know."
Valentina arrives and pouts as she stands in the doorway and takes us in. "What did I miss?" she asks.
"Focaccia," Vittoria says, as she gets to her feet. “They’re proofing at the moment.”
Val glances between us. "Why do I feel like I've missed something important?"
"Because you arrived late," Vittoria says softly.
Val crosses her arms over her chest and glares at Vittoria. "That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting," Vittoria grins. “Now, I need to clean up. Joe will be wanting to start lunch soon and you know how he gets when the kitchen’s messy.”
An hour later, I'm wandering through the gardens, needing some fresh air after lunch. My head's still full of everything Vittoria said. He's falling in love with you. The words have been playing on repeat ever since she said them.
I don't know whether to believe her, I don't know if I should.
"You're thinking awfully hard."
I spin around and see that Erin's walking toward me with a camera hanging around her neck.
"Am I?"
"You get a deep furrow in your brows when you're thinking too hard."
"No I don’t."
She laughs. "Oh, Quinny, you definitely have a look." She lifts the camera. "Don't move."
