"You think they have a bad marriage?" he asked, sounding shocked.
"I didn't say that. You're the one that used the term bad. I would say difficult. Joyce and Fantino stopped communicating during her depression and now they have to find their way back to each other and being able to freely share their hearts and ideas once again."
"We are open with each other." Carlo took over the stroller as they started up a muddy, steep track. Annette had slid backwards on this before and he wouldn't risk her falling.
She walked beside him. "Yes, we are, but we weren't always."
"That is true," he admitted, his tone grudging. "We didn't need a psychologist to get us to open up this time though."
"Speak for yourself. I was in therapy for three years after I moved to Portland."
He didn't reply. She cast him a sidelong glance and found him looking back, his expression questioning. "It helped?"
"It helped."
"I am glad."
She was too, but that wasn't what she wanted to talk about. They'd set a wedding date, one week from today, after which, they planned to go on the long-delayed honeymoon. They'd agreed on who should be invited to the wedding.
Annette had thought long and hard and finally decided against inviting anyone in her family except Joyce. It was her wedding day and while she wasn't marrying her Knight in Shining Armor who loved her to pieces like she'd always dreamed, it was still special.
Annette loved Carlo. Deeply and forever.
She wanted nothing but goodwill on her wedding day and she was certain that if she invited her older sister and her parents, that would not be her experience.
One thing she'd definitely gotten out of therapy was that she was not responsible for the actions of others. If her parents were toxic to her, even if they were good to their other children, Annette did not have to give them room inherlife's special moments.
Whether she would give them space in her child's life was something she would decide based on their behavior.
She'd told Carlo as much and he had agreed, but hadn't been happy. He wanted to cut off all ties with her parents for their past treatment of her, but Annette wasn't willing to go that far. For one thing, she knew it would strain her relationship with Joyce and that bond was too important to Annette to harm unless she had no other choice.
None of that was what was on her mind uppermost today though. "Carlo, we haven't signed the prenuptial agreement yet. You know I have a clause or two I want to put in."
"I told you, there will be no prenuptial agreement."
"But why not? I signed one last time."
"And you walked away. This time we are doing things differently."
"But you're a billionaire. You can't just marry me without a prenup." She'd been raised by Floyd Hudson, if not with affection, with all the same strictures her sisters had been taught.
And one of those was to always have a prenuptial agreement to protect their assets. Annette had no assets to speak of, but Carlo had a business empire.
When Carlo remained silent, she asked, "What does your father think about it?"
"He has asked me to sign over my shares in the company to him to protect Messina Shipping and Exports."
"What? No. You've nearly doubled the size of the company since you took it over." The workaholic that he was. "That's not fair."
"I would still draw a more than adequate salary. And I have my own firm."
The venture capital firm he'd created as a young man in business school was now one of the world's leading ones.
"No, I won't let you do it. You tell your father we're signing a contract."
"Fine, if you want one, you work with the lawyers and my father and draw it up, but I warn you that if you try to shortchange yourself somehow, I won't be signing it."
"Why? What is this really about?"