to my career, or me.”
Valerio took her hand where it gripped the scrolled chair arm. “Jule. This is Ben talking. Not Rom’s lawyer, but a man who would like to do some good where only wrong has been done.” He paused and Jule waited, touched by his honesty. The man seemed to breathe truth and justice. She could see it in his eyes and his smile, the way his body language spoke reassuring confidence.
“I’ll tell you where to find Rom, if that’s what you want. I’ll even put you on a plane to Verona if that’s what it takes to end this thing right. He didn’t ask me to tell you this. I’m telling you this for his sake. He needs to be reminded what life’s all about. Living.
“Unless you protest, I’m ready to petition the court to strike the contract your father and Mascaro have filed and can leak to the media everything I have on Mascaro’s illegal business. By the time this whole thing is over, Mascaro won’t be considering wedding plans or property, he’ll be considering what book to read while he lounges in federal prison.”
Jule fought the tears and stared at Ben through a blurry haze.
“Now just tell me what you want to do,” Ben said.
…
Jule pushed back against the hard wooden ribs of the restaurant chair until she felt each turn of the wood in painful detail.
She’d tracked her parents down at Vespa’s, the neighborhood trattoria owned by one of her mother’s sisters, Stephanie.
“I don’t understand why you did this,” she told her father, completely undone by his admission of “trying to do the right thing.”
“Don’t you? Think about it, Jule. You’re twenty-five and divorced. You’re nearly penniless. Living with your mother and I,” her father said.
“Jule, sweetheart,” her mother tried to interrupt, but Jule silenced her with a glare.
“Don’t be mad at your mother. She didn’t know anything about this. It was my decision.”
“That’s my point, Pop. It’s not your decision. Marriage. Children. Those things are up to me. Selling me off to Pio to alleviate your debts is unforgivable no matter how you package it as being in my best interest.”
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed heads turning in her direction and caught the worried look of her mother. The one that said, “please be reasonable.”
Causing a scene was the least of her worries. And her mother would get over it. Jule didn’t know if she ever would.
“You’re wrong about Pio. He truly cares for you. Independent of me, the man loves you and always has.” His eyes warmed in the lamplight and Jule refused the lure of forgive and forget. It was her life they were talking about here.
“I put him off as long as I could hoping you would find your own way, but now I think it’s time you settled down and Pio will do right by you. You won’t have to associate with men like Rom Montgomery. Plus, you’ll be financially secure and you’ll be moving in the circles you were accustomed to once upon a time.”
“I don’t care about money or social standing. All the years we had money, it never meant anything to me. Didn’t you get that when I went away to a state school?”
Her Aunt Stephanie showed up on Jule’s right, bending until she was on level with the trio around the table. “Do you guys want to take it in the back lounge where it’s more private? People are starting to stare.”
“No. We’re done here.” Jule pushed her chair back, but her father’s hand clamped down on her wrist.
“Don’t see Montgomery again.”
“Give us another minute, Steph. We promise to be quiet,” her mother said, filling the silent gap to placate Stephanie while her father kept her from leaving.
“You can’t forbid me to see people, Pop. I’m not a child.”
“You’re not. True. It’s just that we love you and do desire only the best for our oldest daughter.” He patted her arm in apology as he let go of her wrist.
Her mother nodded in agreement.
And like that, most of Jule’s
Valerio took her hand where it gripped the scrolled chair arm. “Jule. This is Ben talking. Not Rom’s lawyer, but a man who would like to do some good where only wrong has been done.” He paused and Jule waited, touched by his honesty. The man seemed to breathe truth and justice. She could see it in his eyes and his smile, the way his body language spoke reassuring confidence.
“I’ll tell you where to find Rom, if that’s what you want. I’ll even put you on a plane to Verona if that’s what it takes to end this thing right. He didn’t ask me to tell you this. I’m telling you this for his sake. He needs to be reminded what life’s all about. Living.
“Unless you protest, I’m ready to petition the court to strike the contract your father and Mascaro have filed and can leak to the media everything I have on Mascaro’s illegal business. By the time this whole thing is over, Mascaro won’t be considering wedding plans or property, he’ll be considering what book to read while he lounges in federal prison.”
Jule fought the tears and stared at Ben through a blurry haze.
“Now just tell me what you want to do,” Ben said.
…
Jule pushed back against the hard wooden ribs of the restaurant chair until she felt each turn of the wood in painful detail.
She’d tracked her parents down at Vespa’s, the neighborhood trattoria owned by one of her mother’s sisters, Stephanie.
“I don’t understand why you did this,” she told her father, completely undone by his admission of “trying to do the right thing.”
“Don’t you? Think about it, Jule. You’re twenty-five and divorced. You’re nearly penniless. Living with your mother and I,” her father said.
“Jule, sweetheart,” her mother tried to interrupt, but Jule silenced her with a glare.
“Don’t be mad at your mother. She didn’t know anything about this. It was my decision.”
“That’s my point, Pop. It’s not your decision. Marriage. Children. Those things are up to me. Selling me off to Pio to alleviate your debts is unforgivable no matter how you package it as being in my best interest.”
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed heads turning in her direction and caught the worried look of her mother. The one that said, “please be reasonable.”
Causing a scene was the least of her worries. And her mother would get over it. Jule didn’t know if she ever would.
“You’re wrong about Pio. He truly cares for you. Independent of me, the man loves you and always has.” His eyes warmed in the lamplight and Jule refused the lure of forgive and forget. It was her life they were talking about here.
“I put him off as long as I could hoping you would find your own way, but now I think it’s time you settled down and Pio will do right by you. You won’t have to associate with men like Rom Montgomery. Plus, you’ll be financially secure and you’ll be moving in the circles you were accustomed to once upon a time.”
“I don’t care about money or social standing. All the years we had money, it never meant anything to me. Didn’t you get that when I went away to a state school?”
Her Aunt Stephanie showed up on Jule’s right, bending until she was on level with the trio around the table. “Do you guys want to take it in the back lounge where it’s more private? People are starting to stare.”
“No. We’re done here.” Jule pushed her chair back, but her father’s hand clamped down on her wrist.
“Don’t see Montgomery again.”
“Give us another minute, Steph. We promise to be quiet,” her mother said, filling the silent gap to placate Stephanie while her father kept her from leaving.
“You can’t forbid me to see people, Pop. I’m not a child.”
“You’re not. True. It’s just that we love you and do desire only the best for our oldest daughter.” He patted her arm in apology as he let go of her wrist.
Her mother nodded in agreement.
And like that, most of Jule’s
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