Page 66 of Savage Proposal

“But she’s not here of her own volition.”

I shrugged, unsure of how to answer that. Of course, she hadn’t come here on her own in the beginning, but if I opened the door and told her that she was free, would she leave? I didn’t think so, not while she was pregnant with my child. “I’m taking care of her,” I said instead of responding.

“For the time being?”

I nodded. “After the baby comes—” My throat closed up, and I coughed as I tried to pull air into my lungs. “She’ll be free,” I forced out. “Once the baby comes, she’ll go back to her life.”

Even as I said it, I didn’t believe it, and from the looks on Cristian and Father David’s faces, they didn’t either. “Do you have feelings for this woman?” he asked.

“No.” My answer was immediate, but my voice was hollow. “You know me better than that, Father.”

He nodded. “I do,” he said, “and I think you need to really examine your feelings.”

I didn’t need to do that because I did not have feelings for Isabella. I never would. I wasn’t capable of that anymore, and I didn’t want it anyway. Whatever was between us was temporary. It would all disappear the second she was free.

But Father David wasn’t going to leave it alone unless I agreed. That was just the kind of man that he was. “I’ll consider it,” I said.

He nodded. “Do that,” he said, and his tone was absolute.

Someone clapped their hands together, getting our attention. Amalia was standing in the doorway. “Dinner’s ready,” she announced.

CHAPTER 40

Isabella

Ilaid out plates at each chair and helped Amalia put out the silverware. We were using the formal china and good silver and actual fabric napkins. “Tell me about Father David,” I said, looking at Damian, who was already set up at the table. He was looking better today, not nearly as pale, and he didn’t have to wear his shoulder sling anymore.

He glared at me a little, still not entirely happy that I wouldn’t clear him for work one hundred percent. “He was Lorenzo’s father’s confessor,” he said.

“So, he used to visit a lot more.”

Damian nodded. “Every other week or so,” he said. “I didn’t live here then, but I knew because I came with my uncle for dinners, and Don Gallo would complain that Father David gave the former Don Vitali more consideration when scheduling confessions.”

“Do the Vitalis have that much sway on the Catholic Church?”

“As far as I know, no,” Damian said. “None of the Vitali businesses interfere with the Church.”

“My uncle Carmine tithed more than the average person,” Elio said. His eyes were glued to the phone in his hands. He had been scrolling through some file or other since he sat down. “But he wasn’t bribing the Church or anything. He would have spit nails before he did that.”

“Why haven’t I met this Father David before?” I asked. “He sounds like he was such a big part of the family.”

“Sienna,” Elio said, looking up from his phone, and that was all the answer I needed. Lorenzo had withdrawn from the Church after her death; it made sense that he would put distance between himself and the man that embodied the Church.

We heard footsteps, and then Amalia was leading Lorenzo, Cristian, and an older man into the dining room. Father David was well into his sixties with a head of thick, salt-and-pepper hair and warm, dark eyes. He was smiling when he walked in, but when his eyes landed on me, the friendliness leeched out his expression.

“Father,” Lorenzo said, motioning me to come to him. I did, still wary of the look on the man’s face. “This is Isabella Rossi, my surrogate.”

Oh. So, he told Father David about our arrangement. Or, at least, enough of it. I held out my hand, but he didn’t reach out to me. I let my arm hang in the air for a moment before awkwardly lowering it back to my side. “It’s nice to meet you,” I said. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

His smile was brittle. “I wish I could say the same, but Lorenzo likes to keep things close to his chest.”

I chuckled and winced when it sounded so forced. “That he does,” I said.

Amalia, sensing the tension, shooed the men to the table. “Isabella, come help me get the food?”

“Absolutely.”

I followed her to the kitchen. The pasta, eggplant parmesan, and everything that she had made were already in white serving dishes, ready to be taken to the table. It smelled heavenly, and I said a silent thanks to the universe that I didn’t have another bout of nausea. Salmon had been off the menu since our attempted date. Most fish, to be quite honest. Amalia, sweetheart that she was, had simply stopped making it, and Lorenzo must have impressed upon Elio not to complain about the change. “Have you met Father David before?” she asked as we picked up the dishes.

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