Page 78 of The Consequence of You
“Ti perdono, Papa. Ti perdono.” I move closer to him and loop my arms around his waist as he holds me in a way I haven’t been held since childhood. Luca comes and kneels in front of us, wrapping his arms around us both.
Eventually we break apart and Papa breaks the silence with a question I’m not expecting.
“Tell me about Asher.”
“He’s very possessive.” Luca states, and Papa whips his head around to look at my brother.
“What do you mean?”
“He looked like he wanted to stab me in the eye with my desert fork when he saw us eating together a few weeks ago.”
“Is that true?” Papa asks, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. I shrug, recalling the day.
“I guess.”
“I like that. He wants to protect my little girl. What else?”
“We’re not together, Papa. I told him we don’t have a future.”
“That was before. But now you know there is nothing standing in your way, that changes things, yes?”
My father looks at me expectantly. I was so caught up in the heart-to-heart with my father and Luca, I hadn’t had a second to think about what it means for Asher and me.
Fear grips me.
What if it’s too late?
What if I’ve pushed him away one too many times?
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
ASHER
It’s hours since I gave Don Messina and Luca a piece of my mind, and it’s been radio silence from them all since. They didn’t kill me outright, so that’s something, I guess. They didn’t actuallydomuch at all. They listened to everything I said, and then I left. I can’t lie. The twenty minutes I spent with those men might be the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but I’d do it all over again for even the slimmest chance of making Callie’s life better.
“She thinks you both blame her.”
“You need to tell her she’s wrong.”
They didn’t say much, but I could tell my words affected them. I just have to hope they’re man enough to make this right.
Callie believes we have no future; she told me about the arranged marriage that was expected of her, but thatshit doesn’t worry me. I would never let a little thing like that get in the way of my happiness.
When I imagine my future, she’s it. I see us visiting our friends abroad. Finishing university. Travelling the world. I see our wedding day, and I see Callie as the mother of my children. I see us growing old together, when previously I didn’t have any intention of growing old at all.
It doesn’t scare me. It doesn’t worry me; it just makes me feel hopeful in a way I’ve never felt before.
I pull my mask down. It’s the first race of the new year. I need to feel the speed and rush tonight. It’s not the same as the rush I get when I’m with my girl, of course, but it will have to do for now.
The starter raises her flag.
I’m racing against someone new. Someone I don’t recognise. We both rev our engines aggressively, and as the flag is lowered and the horn sounds, we shoot off together.
We’re neck and neck for the first mile, neither of us giving an inch. This guy is good. Maybe as good as me.
As we barrel around the first corner, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Adrenaline floods my veins with the thought that it could be Callie calling me.
We race along the straight, neither of us gaining any ground.
