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“It was your weekend. I didn’t want to ruin it,” I tell them.
“This was something serious. We could have fixed it,” Gio says.
“Yeah, by punching the fuck out of him,” Luca adds.
“And get sued, yeah, that sounds like a good plan,” Lilly grumbles.
“I thought I could handle it,” I tell them.
“And how’s that working out for you?” Gio snaps.
I glare at my older brother, ignoring his judgment. “That’s when he told me that he wouldn’t give me an annulment unless I got the two of you to drop the Emerald deal.”
“The motherfucker,” Gio curses.
“He knew he had you over a barrel. Fucking Contis, wait till I …” Luca adds.
“And then you came back to us and put on a brave face when this was going on behind the scenes,” Paige says, giving me a worried look.
“I couldn’t ruin your weekend. I was going to sort it out,” I tell her.
“Doesn’t look like you sorted anything out because tomorrow it’s going to be tabloid fodder. You shouldn’t have let it get this far. He probably thought you were a pushover.” Gio huffs.
“He wouldn’t have said that if we were there,” Luca adds.
“Hey, come on, that’s not fair,” Allegra says, warning our brothers.
“I’m not stupid. You think he was going to change his mind on the annulment if you two had asked? He saw his chance and took it.”
“So fucking stupid,” Gio says, shaking his head.
“I didn’t plan this. It just happened, okay?” I yell at him.
“It’s going to be okay,” Paige says, trying to reassure me.
“I don’t think it is,” I answer quietly as I swipe away tears.
“You two are being assholes,” Allegra says, standing up, coming around the table, and hugging me. As she stands behind me, I can feel her support.
“How are we the bad guys? She’s literally fucked the company over, and we are going to lose millions on a deal we have been working hard on for months,” Gio questions back at Allegra.
“He fucking took advantage of her,” Allegra retorts. I know she is trying to defend me, but she’s making me sound like a naïve little girl.
“He saw an easy opportunity and took it,” Luca adds.
“Fuck you,” I say, pointing at my brother. “You’re trying to make me out to be an idiot. That’s not fair.”
“You are saying what you did wasn’t idiotic?” Luca bites back.
“Hey, that’s enough. You’re being mean,” Lilly warns her husband.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Gio asks.
“Of course, I do. Why do you think I’ve been trying to fix it? I went to his office the other day hoping that maybe he grew a conscience between now and then and that we could put this whole unfortunate thing behind us, but instead, he’s just doubled down on his request.”
“He’s a Conti, what did you expect?” Gio adds.
“I don’t know. But what I do know is I love my family and I’ll do anything for them. I’ve called him on his bluff. I’ve spoken to Francesca, and I’ve decided that he doesn’t get to dictate the narrative about that night anymore. I do. I will not let them take something my father has dreamed about for years.”
