Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 404(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 404(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
But because Maria was pregnant, Giuseppe called off the engagement with her, and she was forced to marry my father. A year later, Giuseppe’s dad arranged a marriage between him and Lorenzo’s mom, Tanya.
“I know my parents loved each other,” Lorenzo says. “But my father … he always loved Maria. I caught him talking to her once, and he played it off, but I don’t think he ever got over her.”
“I get it,” I tell him. “My dad never loved Maria, only stuck it out with her because of Anthony. He was in love with my mom, but he put the business first.”
Lorenzo shakes his head. “I don’t want that … to be married because of a baby. I know I sound like a little bitch for saying this, but I want to marry for love.”
I think about my views on marriage before I met Brielle. Business has always come first, which is why I never planned to marry, not wanting to put a woman in the same position my mom had been in. My dad might’ve loved her, but she was always second to his business.
“Brielle deserves better.”
Theo’s words swirl around in my head.
She does deserve better—she deserves everything. And I’m going to make sure she has it. I was close with my father, but I’m smart enough to learn from his mistakes.
“Why are you pushing this whole thing with Bri?” Lorenzo asks.
For a second, I wonder if I spoke my thoughts out loud.
“You’re a smart businessman. Some of the deals you’ve made …” He whistles lowly. “The TechCorp deal? Fucking genius. And Avalon …”
“You stalking me, Russo?” I smirk.
He chuckles. “Any good businessman knows who he’s getting into bed with. But honestly, I knew who you were before you showed up here. Your father might’ve run the business into the ground—”
“No,” I correct, my blood boiling at the false accusation. “He didn’t run the business into the ground. Your father and Andrey pushed him out. They threatened investors to pull out, cut him out of deals he should’ve been a part of. He had millions invested, and they took his money and then threw him to the wolves, leading to his downfall.”
“I get that,” he concedes, “but you revived the company and brought it back to life better than your dad had ever run it. You don’t need us or Bri. You’ve created a reputation for yourself that stands on its own.”
“Thanks,” I say, trying to play off the compliment like it’s not a big deal when the truth is, that’s all I wanted. To make my father’s company successful. It’s all he wanted, and he died, trying to do so. “But that doesn’t change the fact that my father lived and breathed for that company and put your fathers on a pedestal. He gave them everything until his last breath, so I owe it to him to right the wrongs, which includes a Rothschild marrying an Antonov.”
I might’ve changed my last name from Rothschild to Morgan—my mom’s last name—to ensure I’d stay under the radar, but at the end of the day, I’m still my father’s son.
“Shit.” Lorenzo looks down at his phone. “Results are in.”
He taps on the screen and stares at it for several seconds while I drag the bottle back over.
“So … are we toasting or drinking the rest of the bottle?”
“No fucking clue,” he says, “but the baby is mine.” He swallows thickly. “I’m a father.”
“Cheers,” I say, pouring us each two fingers of whiskey. “To fatherhood.”
We clink glasses, and as I drink mine, I picture what Brielle would look like, carrying my baby. Lorenzo might be devastated that he’s stuck with Hillary as the mother of his child, but I want nothing more than for Brielle to have my babies … sooner rather than later.
16
Brielle
I saunter into the house, pretending like I don’t have a care in the world, even though, deep down, I kind of feel guilty for buying Nicole a new car with Kane’s credit card.
The idea popped into my head when we left to go shopping and Nicole mentioned that her father had taken her car back, stating that her choosing not to fall in line with his expectations meant she needed to do it all on her own.
I commend her for doing what she wants, regardless of the consequences. I wish I were as strong as she is. She knows what she wants, and she’s going after it—hence her following her dream of opening a coffee shop and bookstore.
In Harbor Point, you need a vehicle. We don’t have public transportation, like the big cities do, and getting a rideshare is ridiculous. So, rather than go to the boutiques to buy more clothes neither of us needed, I asked her what car she loved and then took her to the dealership to buy it for her. She argued, but I was persistent, and when the dealership said they had to get approval, I figured Kane would refuse, but when he approved the purchase, I told Nicole even Kane wanted her to have the new car.