Sienna’s hand curled around my arm.
Now it was time for me to talk, but before I could say a word, the door to his study was pushed open.
Everyone turned around in surprise and wonder at who would have the audacity to come in without knocking or waiting for permission to be granted first.
Only one person in the entire household could do that.
Her grandmother walked in. Her face completely expressionless. Her dark, intelligent eyes scanned the room quickly. The first person she focused on wasn’t any of us, but on the bastard on the floor groaning from the severity of his pain. She gave him a look of distaste, and then turned to Sienna’s father. “Is this who you want to give your only child to?”
Her father scowled and didn’t respond.
“Everyone else except you two.” She pointed to Sienna and me. “Leave! And take that piece of human trash with you.”
Her father nodded slightly and everyone moved to obey her command.
In seconds, the room emptied out and it was just the four of us.
She turned to look at me and Sienna. “You two are quite the spectacle, aren’t you?” she commented, then turned her complete attention to her son.
Chapter 51
Sienna
The last person I had expected to join in on this argument was Nonna.
Throughout all the years I had known her, she had steered clear of interfering in any of the family’s major matters unless my father explicitly requested her guidance.
But here she was, and the importance of her presence was not lost to me. She was the only one who could change my father’s mind, or give a contradictory response to any instructions he had given out. She had indeed made me a little promise that she would help me and I whispered a small prayer that she was here to help us win.
“Nonna,” I began.
She held up her hand for me to be quiet as she addressed my father. “I’ve told you from the very beginning not to force this proposal on Sienna. When you found out that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with that man, you should have listened to her and respected her will.”
My dad frowned. It was obvious he didn’t appreciate being scolded and especially not in front of me and Angelo. “I’m going to handle things my own way,” he said stubbornly. “Please wait outside.”
Totally ignoring him, she moved closer to us. “Young man, what’s your name?” she asked.
At first, it seemed like a trick question because I knew she already knew what his name was. Nonna was astute and well informed, although she usually kept what she knew to herself until it was absolutely necessary to reveal it.
Angelo respond politely. “Angelo Barone.”
A slight impatience flashed in her eyes.
Under more normal circumstances, I would have been amused to see I was right about her. She wasn’t asking because she didn’t know, but because she wanted to confirm something.
“Yes, Barone.” Her eyes narrowed at him. “It means free man, but before you changed it. What was your name then?”
I turned to look up at Angelo. Although to most people he would seem to be expressionless and unmoved, I could tell Nonna had hit a nerve he wasn’t particularly pleased about.
“Messana,” he replied. “Angelo Messana.”
“Ah, Messana. A name that harks back to the old city of Sicily.” She turned to my father. “That doesn’t strike a bell for you?”
My father’s eyes changed from being irritated and filled with suspicion, to realization, then widened with shock. His gaze left Nonna and darted to Angelo. “Messana? Messana from Boston?” my father muttered hoarsely.
The few seconds of silence that followed his question infuriated my father. He shot to his feet. “Answer me!” he roared.
Angelo met my father’s angry, confused eyes head on. “Yes, sir. That’s right.”
Then I watched in wonder as Angelo’s spine straightened. He appeared to grow in stature, as if he had purposely made himself small at this time. It was like watching an angel unfurl its wings.
“How did you find out?” my father asked Nonna. He kept watching Angelo with part disbelief and part horror.
Involuntarily I moved even closer to Angelo, partially standing in front of him to protect him from whatever was about to unravel. I felt so confused. I turned to Nonna. “What’s going on?”
“Your lover here is no ordinary man,” she replied. Then she turned to my father. “I became curious about him after I saw the little one falling in love with him, so I requested his background check. One far more thorough than the one conducted by your men.”
My father shook his head. “When he first came to work for this family and before I put him on to the role protecting Sienna, I did a very thorough check or I would never have put him in charge of protecting Sienna. This connection did not come up. He was clean.”