My father possessed power tempered by reason. It was something I’d seen from him my whole life.

Men respected him.

They wanted to be him.

He was soft-spoken but firm. Harsh when he needed to be. Tender when he could. I had never feared him. Likely never would. I loved him because he had been good to me and my brother, Johnny. He’d doted on us, especially after our mother’s death when we were kids, and because he had, because we’d clung to each other through that horrible time, like everyone else who knew him, our father earned our respect.

He had a wide reach, even with his children. He had expectations for us. He had hopes for us. Dreams he wanted to come true.

They didn’t always match our own.

As a kid, my dreams were selfish. I’d wanted to be a prima ballerina. I’d studied. I’d trained for years, perfecting my form, getting into the right programs, exhibiting the precise amount of discipline. In the end, it wasn’t enough. I was offered a position with the ABT. There would have been travel, training, and opportunities no one else could give me. But my father had other ideas. My dreams were not his for my life.

So I packed away my ballet slippers along with my dreams and became the dutiful daughter my papa deserved. He needed me. So did my brother. It was the way of things. What choice did I have?

But sometimes, money, power, respect, and reputation aren’t enough to make you happy. Sometimes even my father’s expectations were too much. There were responsibilities I couldn’t get away from, given who I was. I’d rebelled.

Fell in love with that beautiful boy from Seattle.

Married him in secret.

I was happy.

But then Papa started telling me I needed to think of the future. I needed to consider my role with the museum he founded and my role within the family. I knew what he’d meant. Marriage, to someone like my brother and father. Someone very different from Kiel. If they’d found out the truth about us, God only knew what would happen to him.

At first, I fought with myself about lying to Kiel. I couldn’t bear hurting him. But then, out of nowhere, in some random conversation about my wild ways, my brother reminded me of what we had lost, all of us, and what we should always remember—no matter who we loved or what we wanted for ourselves, the family came first.

The family always came first.

Now, New York was a prison. There were no ballets for me. There was only my family and the museum. It was my responsibility to run it. It was my obligation to keep the Carelli name, at least publicly, legitimate.

Sometimes, that was hard to do.

“Cuore mio, here you are.” Papa looked tired. He was thinner, but his skin was still olive and his eyes were dark, lit with a fire I hoped never went out.

“Papa, did you eat?” I glanced at my brother, sitting next to my father in a leather recliner, and throwing a glare his way. Johnny shook his head, frown deepening when I tilted my head. The expression on my brother’s face told me all I needed to know about our father’s appetite. He hadn’t been interested in food, and no amount of coaxing from any of us could tempt him.

Still, I had to try.

A glance at the small table in the solarium and the empty mugs around it told me they’d already had their morning meeting. The cups were left stained by coffee and espresso. The small saucers with half-eaten muffins were scattered around the table, along with a small stack of clean dishes and flatware left by the maid next to a tray of orange juice and linens.

“I’m not hungry. Come.” Papa gestured to the chair on his other side, patting the seat. “Sit. Tell me about your night with Vinnie.”

I ignored the request and the low, snorting laughter Johnny released when I sat next to my father, pulling out a cannoli from my bag. The paper crinkled, and the crust flaked against the saucer when I took an empty one from the table.

“Here,” I told him, offering the pastry to him. “It’s from Angelo’s. It’s the cream cheese and ricotta ones you love so much. I got this special for you. First batch they made this morning.”

Papa turned up his nose but took the frown from his face when I sighed. I used the same pout that had always gotten me out of missed curfews and unauthorized shopping sprees. “Papa, for me?”

“Ah, mi passerotto. Fine…” He sat up then, taking a small bite from the cannoli before he flopped back against his chair, wiping the cream cheese from his mouth with the napkin I handed him. “Now, Vinnie,” he said, moving his head to rest back against the chair, his attention on me.

“Well…” I shot a glance at my brother, hoping Papa didn’t catch the hard look I gave him. Johnny thought it was a bad idea telling our father about Kiel before he’d agreed. We’d need him here before I explained to my father why I couldn’t marry Vinnie.

My brother cleared his throat, giving his head a shake before I could answer. I got the hint. No need for honesty. Not just yet. Papa’s hand felt weak. His grip faint when I pulled on his fingers and placed his hand palm up on my leg.

“I had to cancel on Vinnie.” My father curled his fingers, made like he was going to pull his hand away, but I held it tighter, smiling at him before he could complain. “I forgot I’d promised Father Russo I’d show him the new da Vinci exhibit on loan from the Vatican at the museum before the fund raiser. It’s for the homeless shelter, remember?” He nodded and circled his fingers around mine. “Anyway, Vinnie will be out in Philadelphia this weekend, I think he said, so we’ll get together next week if our schedules mesh.”

“Don’t keep putting him off, bella.” My father patted my hand but kept his expression stern, as though he wanted me to understand the importance of what he had to say. “He’s a patient man, but you shouldn’t keep your attention from him too much. He’ll think you’re not interested.”

Johnny caught my gaze again, rustling his paper as if to keep me from complaining to my father about the disgusting asshole he wanted me to marry. Papa had bad cataracts. His vision was horrible. But even a blind man could see Vinnie’s true colors.

Sadly, my father didn’t.

Maybe it made me petty and superficial to complain about Vinnie’s belly or his baldness, but I couldn’t help myself. There wasn’t anything about him I found remotely attractive. There was no way I could attach myself to him for life—something I knew my father would expect—if there was zero spark between us. I could get past the baldness, maybe even the paunch he carried. But his obnoxious bragging and the way he treated people was too much. He was an asshole, and I couldn’t stand him.

But my father had ideas.

He had plans.

He saw Vinnie as an asset. Someone to help Johnny run the business after he…well. In the future. Vinnie never showed his true self to my father. He wasn’t stupid, and because he wasn’t, I was going to have to marry him. Unless, of course, Kiel would agree to back me up.

God, I prayed he would.

“She knows, Papa,” Johnny said, standing when the maid entered the room. My brother leaned against my chair, nudging my shoulder as if he wanted me to agree with him. “Cara is smart. She knows what a catch Vinnie is.” He lifted his eyebrows, a silent request for me to agree.

“Of course I do.” I forced a smile, staring unblinking at my father as he watched us.

“Excuse me, Mr. Carelli,” Eliza, the housekeeper, interrupted. “Dr. Michaels is here for your appointment.”

Papa waved his hand, dismissing the woman. I stood anyway, bending down to kiss my father’s forehead. “Be nice to her,” I told him when he started to argue. “She’s a good woman.”

“So are you, cucciola,” my father told me, squeezing my hand before the short doctor in the tailored suit came through the door, Eliza trailing behind him.

“We’ll see you later, Pop.” Johnny nodded toward the door when Eliza and the doctor helped my father away from the table.

My brother had me by the arm, leading me down the long hallway toward the kitchen. The house was massive, at least six thousand square feet, with marble tile on every surface and fountains in the center of the colossal circular drive. We moved through ornate plaster archways and into the small alcove between the sunroom and the breakfast nook before Johnny uttered a sound.

“So?” he asked, as though that would be enough for me to get his meaning.

“What? Papa looks bad, and you need to make sure he eats whenever you’re with him.” I curled my arms tight, holding back the urge to smack Johnny on the back of the head. He knew better than to let our father beg off eating.

“He does look bad, and we’re handling it. I told Eliza this morning we’ll have to bring in a new dietician. I’ll talk to Michaels about what we can do to increase his appetite.” Johnny looked over his shoulder when Eliza moved down the hall, heading toward the pantry. My brother led me into the sunroom, shutting the glass door behind us. “Did you see your husband?”

The last word came out through gritted teeth. I shook my head, wondering if my brother would ever manage to grow up. I could have married Giorgio Armani, and the idiot would complain about my man being in the fashion industry. No one would ever measure up in Johnny’s eyes.

“I did. I made the offer.”

Johnny frowned, head tilting as though he expected more of an explanation.

“What?”

“Cazzo, Cara. What the hell did he say?”

“He kicked me out.” I didn’t bother mentioning I was in the middle of something when Kiel got rid of me. That was too humiliating to relive.

Johnny flared his nostrils, scratching his chin as he looked out the window. I understood his irritation. When I first confessed the truth about my marriage to Kiel, my brother had been livid. But then Papa announced he wanted me to marry Vinnie, and any real anger Johnny felt toward me were squashed. He’d seen Vinnie for who he was and wasn’t interested in letting the asshole in on our family business.

“Well,” Johnny grunted, nodding to himself like there was something he needed to work out on his own. “Be that way,” he said, pulling his cell out of his pocket, then ordering a quick, “Bring me my Caddy,” before he ended the call.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked him, hurrying to follow when he brushed me off. “Johnny, don’t you dare…”

“I’ll take care of it,” he promised, moving ahead of me. His stride was longer, his movements quicker with those long legs of his.

“You better not—”

“Miss Cara,” Eliza said, stepping next to me as Johnny continued down the long hallway. I shot a glance at the housekeeper but kept my attention on my brother’s retreating back. “Your father wants to see you about the fund raiser.”

“I’ll come back when—”

“I think Dr. Michaels would like a word with you and your brother before you both…” She stopped talking when Johnny left through the front door. “Well. You then,” she said, motioning me away from my brother and toward the entrance leading to the solarium. “He really was very insistent.”

“Oh…okay,” I told her, finally looking away from the closed door to follow behind Eliza.

My steps were quick, my heartbeat thudding, and I said the smallest prayer, hoping the day wouldn’t end with Johnny and Kiel trying to kill each other. I wasn’t so sure that prayer would get answered or who would come off worse when it was all over.