Page 39 of Possessive Mafia Vows

No. I’m not encroaching on my studio space.

I miss Victoria. Swallowing another mouthful of bubbles, I message her:

Hey, how are you doing? How’s my beautiful goddaughter?

Then I add:Are you awake?

Within moments, Victoria is video calling me.

“Of course I’m awake.” She angles the phone so that I can see the baby suckling on her nipple. “I’ve forgotten what sleep feels like.”

She looks tired, dark bruise-colored smudges under her eyes, and her hair scrunched up into a messy bun on top of her head. But her happiness oozes down the phone.

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

“When are you coming over, Si? I miss you, and honestly, Holly is already changing. She’s so alert. Her eyes follow her daddy around, and she settles the instant he holds her in his arms.”

I smile. “She’s going to be a daddy’s girl.”

“I’m gushing, sorry.” Victoria scrunches up her face in apology, but the grin isn’t going anywhere. She’s smitten. “What have you been up to? How are things with the gallery?” She glances at the wall, and adds, “Why are you calling me so late?”

“You called me, remember.”

“Did I? Wow, my brain is even foggier than I thought it was.”

“The gallery is great.”

Her eyes narrow, and she lowers her voice. “What’s wrong, Si?” She knows me too well.

Where do I start?

“My father is back from the dead.”

She blinks back at me. “What does he want? I hope you told him to get lost.”

“He wants to put things right.” I twist my mouth into a lopsided smile.

“I repeat, I hope you told him to get lost.” Victoria holds the phone closer to her face. “You didn’t, did you? Please don’t tell me that you’ve spoken to him in person.”

“I had to, V. I wanted to hear him out.”

“And?”

“And now…” I tilt my head back and sigh heavily. “He turned up at the gallery yesterday.”

“Sienna.” Victoria’s voice is firm. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, you know. I’ll speak to Caleb about it in the morning.”

“No, please don’t. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Do you want him in your life?”

I thought the answer would be simple. A straightforward no. But it turns out only people like my father find it easy to walk out on family. I know I don’t owe him anything. I know I don’t need him in my life, so why is it so difficult to say it out loud?

“Promise me that you’ll stay away from him, Si,” Victoria says. “Men like that never change.”

“I know.”

We’re both quiet, both watching the sleeping baby in Victoria’s arms.

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