Vittorio
He was in the middle of fucking nowhere.
Vittorio swallowed as Sharon led him over to a middle-aged couple standing near the entrance to the airport, thinking how he would rather be doing anything than meeting her parents right now. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but he knew what they would see when they first laid eyes on him and what their perception was going to be.
More than that, he didn’t want to upset Sharon. She truly believed that her parents were just going to accept him as he was, but Vittorio knew that was wishful thinking. In the world of cornfields and county fairs, he stood out like a sore thumb.
“Mom! Dad!” Sharon yelled as they grew closer, waving her hand wildly so they could see them through the crowd.
Vittorio watched as the petite woman broke out into a smile and met her daughter halfway, Vittorio letting go of Sharon’s hand, so she could hug her mom.
“Oh, my baby!” she exclaimed. “I am so glad you are here!”
Her father eyed Vittorio as he approached his family, hugging his daughter next.
“Welcome home sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Sharon said, a glimmer of tears in her eyes as she turned back to Vittorio.
He saw the love there and was glad when she reached back to grab his hand. Nothing had changed between them. She still fucking loved him, which was all he needed in life. It was funny how his world, his very existence, revolved around this woman.
“Mom, Dad, this is Vittorio.”
Vittorio forced an easy smile, though he felt like puking, as her mom turned toward him, giving him a once over. There was no disappointment in her eyes, only mild curiosity as she held out her hand.
“Nice to meet you. My daughter has told us a great deal about you. I’m Margaret.”
“Nice to meet you,” he stated, shaking her hand firmly.
Margaret gave him a smile as she turned to her husband, Sharon’s father.
“This is Bill.”
Vittorio held out his hand and the older man shook it, his grip firmer than his wife’s had been.
“Welcome to Kansas.”
“Thank you,” Vittorio said, seeing the distrust in Bill’s eyes. He couldn’t blame him. There would come a day when he would have to deal with the same shit, some wet-behind-the-ears boy attempting to date his daughter. He would put him through the ringer too.
“Well,” Margaret said a moment later. “Shall we go? We brought the car.”
Sharon tucked her arm into Vittorio’s as they walked to gather their baggage, then followed her parents out to the car.
“You’re doing fine,” she whispered, giving him a squeeze.
He looked down, his heart squeezing as it did every time he looked at her. He was a lucky mother fucker to have her in his life, and if she wanted this to work… well, he was going to make it work.
They piled into one of those four door compact cars, Bill in the driver seat, and pulled out onto a flat highway with nothing but fields on either side of it.
“So,” Margaret started, turning in her seat to see them both. “Is this your first trip to Kansas, Vittorio?”
“Yes ma’am,” he said, remembering to watch his words. “I’ve lived in the big city all my life, so this is a new adventure for me.”
Sharon squeezed his hand lightly, encouraging him as he spoke.
“Vittorio is an entrepreneur, daddy. Just like you.”
That was fucking stretching it.
“Nothing like you. sir, I assure you, but I do enjoy owning my own businesses.”
“Uh-uh,” Bill said, his eyes meeting Vittorio’s in the rearview mirror briefly. “Do you do well enough to support my daughter?”
“Bill!” Margaret admonished, lightly hitting her husband on the shoulder. “Did you not see her engagement ring? I think Vittorio must do alright.”
“It could be fake.”
Vittorio snorted with laughter, unable to help it. At least the man was honest.
“Yes sir. Sharon will never want for anything as long as I breathe. I will provide and protect her.”
Bill nodded, and Vittorio let out a breath. Every father just wanted to hear that his little girl was gonna be taken care of.
“What about her schooling? We didn’t send her there to drop out.”
Sharon squeezed Vittorio’s hand tighter and he returned the squeeze, urging her not to worry. Fuck he had stared down a room full of goons wanting to kill him. He could do this.
“I don’t want Sharon to stop her college classes. She came to get a degree and she will get her degree.”
Bill met Vittorio’s eyes once more, surprised.
“You want her to finish?”
Vittorio nodded.
“Of course. Sharon does what Sharon wants. I’m just along for the ride and damn happy she is letting me be in the car.”
Sharon gasped, but Vittorio didn’t dare look in her direction. He was laying out his plan to his future in-laws, attempting to explain how much he cared about their daughter.
The silence, however, was fucking killing him.
Bill drove a-ways, until they came to a four-way stop before he looked back at Vittorio in the rearview mirror.
“Good.”