43

And there it was. Exactly what I had been expecting.

Still, it hurt to hear.

I lowered her to the ground as Ophelia reached us. "Hey," she said, her voice low.

"Hey."

She must have registered the look on my face, the lack of surprise. Running her hand through Cecilia's hair, she pointed at the bar in the back. "Why don't you go get a glass of water?"

Cecilia rolled her eyes. "So you can talk about things behind my back?"

Ophelia sighed. "Cecilia."

"Fine," Cecilia said, storming off toward the bar.

I watched Cecilia's stride turn into a strut when she reached the cameras. "She's getting spunkier every day."

"Tell me about it," Ophelia said, looking at her and avoiding my gaze.

I slid my hands in my pocket. "So, I'm taking it that you don't want to do the press conference."

She ran her hands through her hair. "Lorenzo, I'm sorry. There's a thousand things I want to say to you, but I don't feel like any of it will do you any justice. Other than...I'm sorry. This life...it's not for me. For us. I just want Cecilia to have a normal life."

I searched her eyes for some semblance of a lie and found none. But then again, that might have been because I was blind to blatant misdirection. From an outside perspective, her words would have sounded sudden, harsh even. But I'd already prepared myself for this.

"I understand."

My words took her aback. She'd expected me to push back, to fight, to argue, but there was no place for that within me. Not when I'd set her up for this. When I'd paved the path for her to take.

But just because I'd expected it didn't mean it hurt any less.

"You're not angry?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I always knew there was a chance this might be too much for you. So no, anger is definitely the last thing I'm feeling."

Her brow furrowed. "Then what are you feeling?"

What was I feeling? Loss? Betrayal? Possibly. But there was something deeper. "I'm feeling grateful. Grateful that you gave me the opportunity to get to know my daughter. Grateful that I got the opportunity to fall in love with you again."

Her eyes widened. "Lorenzo, I don't know what to say to that. There's something I have to tell you," she whispered.

I shook my head. "You don't have to tell me anything, Ophelia."

"I know that. And I wasn't going to. But I feel like I owe you an explanation."

Reaching out, I squeezed her hand. "You don't owe me anything, Ophelia. Just promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"That wherever you end up, you'll let me know that you both are okay." Emotion choked in my throat. "And that you'll let Cecilia know how much I love her. And that maybe some day, you'll let me visit her."

Her hand slowly recoiled from mine, and she cocked her head. "Hold on. How do you know I'm going somewhere?"

I smiled at her. "There are things I have to tell you too, Ophelia."

Before she could say another word, Jonathan appeared between us. "Are we ready to do this thing or what?" He rubbed his hands together. "Ophelia, my stylist is bringing you a dress right now."

We both turned to look at Jonathan, and the tension in our silence was answer enough. His eyes darted between mine and Ophelia's, and the excitement in his eyes started to die, switching to confusion and then anger.

Keeping his smile twisted on his face, Jonathan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me. You have both fucked me up the ass enough times. I'm done." He looked at Lorenzo. "Are you still in this? At this point, I'll just introduce you as fucking single. Hell, we'll get the single women’s votes. Might be better than the single mother’s votes."

Ophelia glared at him. "Nice."

"Oh, drop the act, Ophelia," Jonathan snapped. "Any woman would kill to be in your position. If you walk away now, you're going to regret this."

"I highly doubt that," Ophelia smiled.

Ignoring her, Jonathan turned to me. "Lorenzo, you in?"

Ophelia's body stiffened, her expression tightening. I looked at Jonathan. "Yeah, buddy, I'm in."

Jonathan's easy smile returned. "Great." He didn't give Ophelia a second glance before spinning on his heel and approaching the podium.

I shook my head and sighed. Oh, how I couldn't wait to see that smile disappear from his face.

Ophelia suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist. "Lorenzo, there's something I really need to tell you."

Her expression hardened, and she glanced around, lowering her voice. "Don't do this," she whispered. "I know you want this, and I understand. I really do, but Jonathan...he's dangerous. Maybe not dangerous...but he's a criminal. And he'll just end up dragging you down with him."

I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was trying to warn me about things I already knew. Maybe she didn't love me, not in the way I loved her, but it was clear that she cared about me.

And that meant something. It had to.

Before I could stop myself, I leaned forward, my hand gliding up her cheek and scooping into her hair, pulling her face to meet mine. My lips pressed against hers, and although she hesitated, they eventually parted, and my tongue met hers.

Leaning back, I broke the kiss and sighed. "Please don't leave."

She blinked, licking her lips and shaking her head. Tears pooled in her eyes. "I can't depend on you, Lorenzo. I need to start my own life with Cecilia, separate from this. But I promise, I won't keep her away from you. I just need to find some stable ground first.”

I smiled, shaking my head. "No, Ophelia, I know you have to leave, to find what you need to find, and I'm not going to stop you from pursuing that. I just meant...right now. Don't leave just yet."

"What do you mean?"

No one knew that I'd already been here earlier in the day, that I'd already set the last piece of my plan rolling. As Jonathan approached the podium to begin his speech, I grabbed Ophelia's hand.

"There's something I need you to see."