The door closes behind her, and I sit in stunned silence. She says I’ve won, so why do I feel like I just lost? Because I don’t want to win with her, and definitely not like this. Seeing her so broken feels like a shard of ice slicing through my heart.
I could throttle my sister for telling Kat about my father’s ridiculous ultimatum. Joey causes way too much drama around here. I need to find her something to do to keep her occupied before she drives my wife-to-be, and by default me, completely crazy.
Joey is in the den when I find her a few minutes later.
“Hey,” she says with a grin when I walk into the room, completely oblivious to the carnage she has caused in my life today.
I take a seat on the armchair. “Why are you so cruel to her, Joey?”
She blinks at me. “Cruel to who?”
“Mother fucking Teresa,” I snap. “Kat, obviously. Who the hell do you think I mean?”
“I’m not cruel to her. I’m a goddamn ray of sunshine,” she snaps back at me.
“So why the hell did you tell her about Pop? About what he said about marrying her?”
“Oh,” she winces as she screws the lid onto her nail polish bottle. “I didn’t do that on purpose actually. It just kind of slipped out.”
“Well, she’s fucking furious with me about it, and she’s…” I sigh.
“She’s what?”
I swallow as emotion balls in my throat. “She’s really upset. I really fucked up this time.”
“You fuck up all the time where she’s concerned. You two fight and make up. It’s kind of your thing.”
I run a hand through my hair and lean back against the soft armchair. “I don’t think I can fix this one so easily, Joey.”
“Why? What did she say?”
“She thinks I’m only marrying her because I have no choice. She mentioned Nicole. She asked me if Pop had given me the same ultimatum when I agreed to marry her.”
“Ouch.”
“Then she asked if Nicole was pregnant too.”
Joey winces. “Double ouch.”
“Exactly.” I run my hands through my hair and sigh.
“So, did you tell her the truth?” she asks, as though it would be that simple.
“You know I can’t. Not yet.”
“You don’t trust her?”
When my sister isn’t being a bitch, she’s kind of good to talk to. “I don’t know. She’s not from our world, Joey. If she knew everything…”
“I get it. But the alternative is she hates you for what she thinks you did.”
“Better than her hating me for what I actually did.”
“Maybe. But I figure if she doesn’t hate you already, there’s nothing much could change that.”
“But she does hate me, Joey.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. Of course she doesn’t. But there is an easy fix to your current problem.”
“There is?”
“Yes,” she says with a roll of her eyes.
“Then enlighten me, little sister.”
“Forget about the Nicole situation for now. Kat thinks what she thinks and she loves you anyway. So this is about her thinking that you don’t really want to marry her. So prove that you do, Dante.”
“How? She said she doesn’t believe a word that comes out of my mouth anymore.”
“So don’t speak, jackass.”
I groan and drop my head in my hands. “Stop talking in riddles, Joey.”
“You still have great Grandma’s old ring, right?”
“Yes.”
“You know that thing is magical?”
“Apparently so,” I say, feeling a flicker of hope, despite never believing such fairy stories.
“I happen to know what Kat’s favorite food is. It’s salted caramel cheesecake from Mona’s Bakery.”
I look at my watch and sigh. “They’ll be closing in an hour and I have to deal with something.”
As if on cue, Maximo walks into the room to remind me that I need to leave.
“Then I’ll go,” Joey says excitedly. “Seeing as I’m partly responsible for this mess, let me help fix it?”
“I can’t spare enough men to take you and guard the house right now.”
“Max can take me,” she says, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. “You can do your thing without him, right?”
I look at Maximo who is staring at me in bewilderment.
“This is for Kat, Dante,” Joey reminds me.
“You think you could even get there in time?” I ask her.
“If we leave now,” she says, jumping up from the sofa.
“Where the hell are we going?” Maximo interrupts us.
“A bakery,” Joey replies. “But it closes in less than an hour.”
“We’d have to take the bike,” Maximo adds, and Joey’s eyes light up like a Christmas tree.
I look at the man I trust more than anyone else in the world. “You’ll take care of her?”
“I always do, D,” he says with a frown.
“Fine. Go get me a cheesecake and I’ll ask Sophia to make the best lasagna of her life.”
“Is something big happening?” Maximo asks with a frown.
“Dante is going to propose to Kat with Grandma’s ring,” Joey says with a flutter of her eyelashes.
Maximo grins. “About time, compagno.”
