Chapter 43

"I want you to meet my father," Romano suddenly announced unexpectedly, and Eliza froze before turning her head slowly to meet Romano’s brooding eyes.

"What?"

"My father," Romano repeated, and Eliza bit her lip before clearing her throat uncertainly.

"I don't know if that's..." Eliza began, but Romano interrupted her before she could finish.

"His condition is deteriorating rapidly," Romano said abruptly. His voice broke slightly as he said the words and his jaw clenched.

"Oh, Romano, I'm so sorry," Eliza whispered, her eyes going wet with sympathy for her husband. 

"When's your flight?"

"I'm not leaving," Romano told her grimly, and Eliza’s eyes shadowed in confusion, before flaring as she realized why Romano refused to go and be with his father.

"Romano." Eliza’s voice was so low it barely carried to the man who sat inches away from her. "You can't stay because of me. You have to go and be with your family. Your place is with them right now."

"You're my family too, Eliza," he snapped, a maelstrom of frustration and pain welling up in his eyes. 

"And I refuse to leave you here alone."

"Hardly alone, Romano," Eliza dismissed. "The staff, Nadia and Ryan, are here for me. Go home to your family."

"This is where I have to be, this is where I'm staying. Stop arguing with me for God's sake!" Romano growled.

"You are not going to blame me for this too, Romano," Eliza fumed stubbornly. 

She recognized the stubborn tilt of her husband's jaw and the steely resolution in his eyes and knew that his mind was made up. He wouldn't budge on the issue unless something drastic happened to change his mind.

"The only reason you're here now is because of my father and his corrupt little blackmailing scheme! My father and I have messed up your life and your family enough; don't make it worse by staying here with me of all people, when the family you sacrificed your freedom for needs you the most."

"Don't you ever," Romano seethed, grabbing and gripping Eliza’s hand so tightly that he nearly cut off the circulation, "lump yourself into the same category as your father again, Eliza. None of this is your fault and right now you need me too."

"I do not need you," Eliza enunciated clearly. "I refuse to let you martyr yourself like this. Duty above all else. Is that right? Long-suffering Romano, who's always doing the right thing and always putting everybody else's needs before his own. Sacrificing his happiness at the altar of familial obligation. I am not going to be your obligation, Romano. I refuse to. Go and be with your family!"

"You are my family, damn it! You, you, you!" Romano shouted, and Eliza jumped in fright, her jaw going slack as Romano leaped from the sofa to loom over her furiously.

So rarely did Romano lose his cool that Eliza starred up into his frustrated, wretched face in shocked silence. 

All the air seemed to leave Romano’s sails and his shoulders sagged as he dropped to his knees in front of Eliza, bringing her eyes down to the same level as hers.

"I want to be here with you. Why is that so hard for you to understand?" Romano’s voice had dropped to a whisper. His eyes suddenly, shockingly, filled with tears, which he made no attempt to hide from her, and he muttered something in Italian, his voice thick with emotion. Eliza bit her lip and shook her head.

"I do not understand," Eliza whispered regretfully, and Romano reached out a hand to cup her cheek.

"My father is dying, cara," he repeated in English, his voice absolutely wracked with emotion.

"Please, I need you not to fight with me right now." Eliza nodded and reached out with both hands to stroke Romano’s hair back from his broad, proud forehead. 

The gesture seemed to undo Romano, and his face crumpled before he wrapped his strong arms around Eliza’s thickened waist and buried his face in the mound of omega's stomach while Eliza curled her upper body protectively over his head as she whispered soothing little snippets into alpha's hair.

"I'm sorry," Eliza said softly. "I didn't mean to make this more difficult; I just thought that you were staying out of some misguided sense of honor and obligation. I would hate that, Romano. I would hate for you to stay and then if the...if the worst happened, you would blame me because you couldn't be there at his side."

"I know," Romano murmured, lifting his head to look up at her, his face inscrutable, despite the roiling emotion Eliza could see in his eyes. "And I can see why you would think that. I have blamed you for way too much in the past and treated you terribly, but you have to believe me when I tell you that the last thing in the world I want to do is hurt you anymore, Tesoro."

Eliza said nothing, knowing that even though it would not be intentional, Romano would still hurt her when he eventually leaves. 

And then again when they divorced and Romano eventually married Luisa. All of those things were as inevitable as the sunset. They would happen and they would devastate Eliza.

"So what did you want to ask me?" Eliza asked, without acknowledging Romano’s fervent words. 

The omission did not go unnoticed and Romano flinched slightly before taking a deep breath and levering himself up off his knees to sit down on the sofa beside Eliza, angling his body so that he could face her.

"I want you to meet my father," Romano repeated.

"Okay." Eliza nodded slowly. "So when do you want to do it?"

"I was thinking tonight?" Romano asked, and Eliza’s stomach did a slow, nervous roll before she nodded again.

"Okay," Eliza said again, actually physically incapable of saying much else.

"They're going to love you," Romano reassured, squeezing her hand.

"They?" Eliza asked queasily, suddenly filled with doubts. "I thought it would be only your father."

"My mother and grandmother will probably be there and maybe a couple of my sisters too. With my father so sick, they're probably all there."

"Your father is at home?"

Romano nodded, his eyes darkening again.

"He refuses to be hospitalized. He says that if he's going to die, he wants to do it at home. He has the best medical care and facilities money has to offer to him at home."

"That's understandable." Eliza nodded sympathetically.

 "He's waited so long to go back home." There was a moment of awkward silence.

"I'm really glad you could get it back for him, Romano," Eliza blurted impulsively. "Even if it cost you more than it should have." Again the silence, before Romano nodded tautly, his grim face looking hewn from rock."

"So do they know I'll be...are they expecting to meet me?" Eliza broke the uncomfortable silence a few moments later and Romano cleared his throat.

"I've been making noises about wanting them to meet you for a while now," Romano informed. "So they won't be too surprised by it."

"Always thinking ahead aren't you?" Eliza said with a hint of resentment.

"If you mean that I'd anticipated having to introduce you to my dying father by these less than ideal means, then no, I wasn't really preparing for this eventuality!" Romano snapped irritably.

"I didn't mean it like that," Eliza whispered defensively.

"Of course you didn't," Romano agreed sarcastically. 

Stung, Eliza managed to level her bulky form up from the sofa, ignoring Romano when he jumped up lithely to offer assistance.

"I'm tired, I think I'll take a nap before dinner," Eliza said wearily. "I'll see you later." She left Romano behind without a single backward look, just plain sick and tired of the constant tension that they both had to live with.