Page 17 of Say It Isn't So

“Then you’re fired, and happy hunting because the job I’m referring to is not being posted online. That’s not how these things work. The sooner you understand the way of this world, the better off you’ll be.”

I had to take a stand. “We’re friends,” I reminded him, unsure what else to say.

“You may be friends now, but you two have been getting closer and I know how these things go. Men like you are all the same. You think you can worm your way into her bed and then into everything my family has built. I won’t have that. I’ve done enough for you.” He raised his hand and slapped it on the desk, a stern look in his eyes. “Capisce?”

Dumbfounded. I was dumbfounded. Could the man be this jaded? Could he actually believe his words?

“Looks like you’re a little perplexed, so let me spell it out for you: you’re a user. Have been since the moment you and that girlfriend of yours stepped foot into my house. You saw an opportunity and took it when my wife and daughter all but handed it over on a silver platter, no questions asked. And I’ve seen your kind—it won’t end there. You came from nothing, and you don’t want to go back there, so you’ll want more and more until my daughter is nothing but collateral damage.”

I swallowed hard. It felt like I’d just been gut-punched. Angelo was so far off base, it was crazy. But he had hit the nail on the head as far as my biggest fear was concerned—ending up right back where I started. Barely rubbing two pennies together to make ends meet. Like my parents.

I didn’t think I could do that again.

But did I really have it in me to cause the kind of damage that Angelo was suggesting?

I genuinely didn’t believe I could do that to Bianca.

But I supposed, on some level, he was right. I never saw it that way, never saw it from his perspective.

Maybe I couldn’t be trusted.

Not with Bianca.

Maybe the right thing to dowasleave, never look back. That way I could guarantee she’d be okay—remain unhurt by me.

Then he rose from his chair and pointed a finger in my face, obviously not finished yet. “If you don’t agree to this, then your career will be over before it even starts. I will make sure the experience you gained here was for naught.”

I closed my eyes and quickly said the two words that I knew I’d forever question: “All right.” I hated myself almost as soonas the words left my lips. “When do you want my resignation?”

Chapter Five

Bianca

present day

As it turnedout, no one’s life was perfect.

Mine included.

It might’ve looked perfect, but it wasn’t.

Death came knocking and gave us all the stark reminder we needed—that life was indeed not perfect, regardless of appearances.

I bet Death (yes, I was personifying death, just go with it) got his jollies out of our suffering, too. The way I saw it, Death wore a grimacing grin that would terrify all ages.

Death was cruel.

Death was quiet and liked to show up unannounced. Like the worst kind of visitor—even worse than your great aunt CiCi twice removed.

Before you run away from me, you should know why I’m going on about the-thing-that-shall-not-be-named-but-I-will-name-one-more-time.Death swooped in and took my mom.

For no apparent reason, either, except to take someone from our family, her friends, and so many others who loved her.

Time helped—everyone who offered my family that platitude was technically right—but moving on just felt so. . . final. It felt like no matter how many steps I took forward, I was getting farther from our memories. That was why I chose to keep her memory alive; to hold her closer to my heart than ever before.

And she was still teaching me. Take this experience, for example: Mom taught me that we all grieved in our own ways. My father and three sisters did not grieve like I did, but even I could admit that her death affected me in ways I couldn’t fully understand.

What I did know was that I would protect myself from any more loss at all costs.

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