“Staying at a hotel.”
“All right, now what?” I tossed my hands in the air.
“Elenora wants to meet with Sienna, alone.”
“No way.”He must be out of his mind. “Over my dead body.”
“Elio, I promise you she’ll be fine.”
“How?” I nearly shouted but stopped myself. “How do you even know her mother?”
He covered his mouth and let out a long sigh, and I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer.
“That’s a long story, and there are many layers to it.”
“Meaning?” I was getting tired of these cryptic conversations.
“Meaning this whole thing has roots that date back well beyond your years, that canandwill affect us all if not treated carefully. I can’t just come out with it. It’s as if Pandora’s Box is about to explode and reveal all its secrets at once. Secrets as important as these need to be revealed in a much more controlled setting. Elio, please, I beg you to be patient and trust me.”
I cursed and paced, unsure how to navigate something so obviously big without knowing what the hell it was all about. I was used to being in control, but I was out of my depth.
“So, what am I supposed to do? Let you take her there?”
“Yes.”
“No.” My jaw nearly hit the ground with what he was asking of me. “I won’t allow it.”
“There’s no other choice here. Elenora won’t step foot on Capri land!” he shouted. “You must let Sienna go to her, because once this unravels, Elio, you better hang on because it’s going to get messy.”
A sound sent both of us spinning around to find Sienna staring at us. Her face looked white, but her stance told me she was not going to back down.
“Which hotel?”
Dammit.
“No.” I shook my head.
She looked from me to Francesco. “What hotel?”
“Il Giglio.”
“Will you take me?” She tugged on the bag that hung from her shoulder.
“Yes.”
She gave a tight nod before addressing my fuming anger.
“Piero trusts Francesco, you trust him, and so do I.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but if going there alone is how I will get some answers on my past, then so be it.”
“Not without me, you’re not.”
She reached up and placed her hand on my chest but paused when the sound of clinking stones reached our ears. It was a very familiar sound to me, so I shook my head and waved at her to continue.
“Elio,” she went on, “I’ve faced a lot of things without you. I can handle this.” She waited a beat before she let her hand slip away then headed down the hallway.
When the door closed, I took a deep breath and felt him behind me.
“We’re not really letting her go there without us, right?” Vinni half laughed.