I walked inside the gallery and approached Vanessa from behind.

Her bodyguard watched me like a hawk.

“Vanessa.”

My cousin turned around at the stern tone in my voice. “Yes? Something wrong?” She’d just finished placing a new painting on the hook, another Barsetti masterpiece that would fetch hundreds of euros. She’d become so popular in the city that her prices were steadily rising. “Griffin told me your dinner last night didn’t go too well.”

“That sounds about right…since Griffin knows everything about my personal life.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

She grabbed both of my wrists and pinned them down to my sides. “Okay, enough with the attitude. What’s your problem?”

“My problem is that Griffin told my father about Bosco weeks ago, and neither one of you told me. After everything I did for you guys in the beginning, this is how you repay me? I felt like an idiot when my father said he already knew.”

Judging by the bewilderment in Vanessa’s gaze, she genuinely had no idea. “Griffin never told me he told your father. He kept that a secret from me too. I’m just finding out about this now.”

Vanessa would never lie about anything, so I believed her. “Oh…then I apologize.”

“Damn right. I would never betray you. You know that. That’s probably why Griffin never told me—because I would betray him quicker than I would betray you.”

When she said that, my shoulders relaxed, and I felt a smile emerge. “You’re right…I’m sorry.”

“So, if your father already knew, then that must mean the interrogation was a little easier. You know, since he wasn’t caught by surprise.”

“You would think…but, no. We went to dinner there last night, and my father turned into an asshole.”

She shook her head. “Just like my father…”

“I’m not seventeen. I’m twenty-five. My father needs to dial it down…but I don’t think he can.”

“It took six months for my father to come around. Just the fact that your father invited Bosco over for dinner is a drastic improvement to what I experienced. So that’s something to be thankful for.”

“I guess…”

“Our fathers are just overprotective. Nothing is ever gonna change that.”

“You’re right.”

She patted me on the shoulder. “At least Bosco is willing to put up with it. He could just find someone else if he didn’t love you so much. Watching a man fight for you like that is actually pretty sexy.”

Watching my father and Bosco rip out each other’s throats was not sexy. I just wanted them to get along. “I want what Griffin and your father have now. I want Bosco and my father to respect each other and like each other. Bosco and I aren’t getting married tomorrow, but I would like to know that possibility is in our future. I like the idea of living down the road from them with our four children.”

She rubbed her stomach. “I still can’t believe you want to have four of these. I’m not even finished with one, and I’m telling you, it’s no picnic. You’re hungry all the time, nauseous all the time, your clothes don’t fit anymore—”

“Your husband wants to have sex with you all the time, wait on you hand and food, and gets even more protective because he loves both of you? No, that sounds like exactly what I want.”

Her hand stilled on her stomach, and she smiled. “Yeah…that part is pretty great.”

I always knew I wanted to be a mom. It was more important to me than my shop and anything else I wanted to do with my life. Having a big house filled with kids sounded perfect to me. I had two cousins and one brother, and having four kids would make that tradition continue.

“Just keep holding on,” Vanessa said. “Something’s gotta give eventually. Your father will cave. You can’t fight love with hate. It’s just not possible.”

“I hope you’re right…because Bosco is the one.”

She gave me that soft smile she only showed once in a great while. It was reserved for the people she was closest to, an intimate look outsiders rarely got to see. “Then giving up isn’t an option, Carmen. You fight for him until you win.”