“Stay strong. Everything is going to be fine.”
I turned to him again. “How did you end up here? Where’s your family?”
I felt sure he wouldn’t respond. Every time I had tried to ask him anything personal, he had clammed up faster than I could blink.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “Boston,” he replied.
“Ah, that is why the men at the gym were calling you Boston.”
He nodded. “I left my family and came to LA when I was nineteen.”
I was taken aback. “Haven’t you been back ever since?”
“No,” he replied.
I stared at him curiously. “Don’t you miss them?”
He turned to me then and stared into my eyes.
The attention felt way too intense for me to hold onto for long. I averted his gaze and pretended I needed another sip from my drink.
“I do,” he said. “But I couldn’t stay.”
I was filled with curiosity, but I didn’t want to push it. He would tell me what he felt comfortable revealing.
Then surprisingly, he kept speaking. “I had to or I would have been sucked into a life not of my choosing.”
I stilled—exactly my situation. He had left, but I couldn’t.
“I wanted to follow a different path from the one they envisioned for me,” he went on. “I wanted to be a champion boxer, they wanted me to take over the family’s business. It was not an easy decision, but it was my life. I don’t tell anybody what to do and I don’t want anybody telling me what to do either. Unfortunately, my father is a bit like yours. It was always his way or the highway.” His smile was sad. “I had two options. Get back on the path, or cut off all contact and get the hell out. I chose the latter.”
I stared at him, astounded. “I can’t believe it. Your story is the same as mine. We’re both being pressured by our families to conform. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I never talk about them, Sienna. To anybody,” he stated softly.
My heart began to swell as I regarded the man in front of me. It felt almost like I was truly seeing him, for the very first time. Before I could stop myself, my hand lifted and cradled the side of his face.
He immediately reached up to grab my wrist, intending to stop me, but then he couldn’t pull it away. I stared into his eyes, and before I could talk myself out of it, I leaned forward and kissed him. This melding of our lips together was heart wrenching. I savored his taste as it seeped into me, sweet and heated, and just like that I became completely lost. I forgot we were in the hospital, and my father’s wellbeing was at stake. I forgot that at any point we could be discovered and that would bring even more troubles to both of us.
Suddenly, there was a thud and in the dull silence of the waiting room it felt too loud. We both jerked apart and looked down to see the can I had completely forgotten I’d been holding had fallen from my grasp and spilled out across the floor. A gasp left my throat as we hastily moved our legs away. I lifted my gaze to Angelo’s to see him staring at me with his eyes hooded and glittering.
“I’ll get it cleaned up,” he said, rising to his feet. Then he froze.
A sick feeling rose in my stomach, as my head whirled around, and my gaze rushed to see what he was staring at.
We had an audience … my grandmother and Charlotte.
I instantly shot to my feet. Time seemed to slow down as a strange fear washed through me. Not for me, but for Angelo. My father was incapacitated now, but what would happen when he again became the lion he was before?
In the deadly silence, Nonna gazed at me, then at Angelo, then she continued on without a word towards my father’s room.
Charlotte made a face at me. “Don’t worry, she saw nothing.”
I sagged with relief. Then I turned to Angelo. “It’s okay. She didn’t see anything.”
Chapter 43
Sienna
That weekend, my family was hosting another banquet to commemorate the winery’s twentieth anniversary. My father insisted he was well enough to attend and the celebration must go on.
The event was held in the barrel room, with its high curved ceiling, the aromas of wine barrels stacked up. Glass doors opened up to the panoramic view of the vineyard and mountains beyond.
There were people I knew and many I didn’t. They treated me differently. It was as if they knew after my father’s health scare that I would soon be the new boss. I didn’t like it one bit. I didn’t want to be the new capo del capo. I wanted my own little artisan business making exquisite shoes. I’d retreated to the food bar and stared at the vast display of food.