“Same as it always was. He’s not happy with me—from my career choice to my refusal to marry Torrie. But his opinion doesn’t matter to me at this stage in my life. He can’t change my decisions. And more than that, I don’t allow him power over my thoughts anymore. That’s been the biggest change. But Dad’s been good to Jonah. I have to give him that. Otherwise, he’s the same miserable prick he’s always been, concerned more with his public reputation than anything else.”
Our conversation was interrupted when Frankie’s phone chimed. She looked down at it.
“Is that Victor?”
“Yeah. He just wants to make sure I’m okay.”
“Does he think I’m gonna hurt you or something?”
That wouldn’t have been off base, considering I’d definitely already hurt her enough for one lifetime.
“No. He’s just doing what any boyfriend would do in this scenario.”
“I know. I don’t blame him one bit.”
She began to shiver, and I fought the urge to wrap my arms around her. As much as I wanted to do that, it wasn’t my place.
Her eyes glowed in the moonlight. “It is getting late. I should get back.”
“Let’s get you home, then.”
The ride back to her neighborhood went by way too quickly. My time with her was always limited; I hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface of everything I needed to say.
When we pulled up around the corner from her house, I asked, “When can I see you again?”
“Victor is going to England in a couple of weeks to consult on a new anthropology program at Oxford.”
“For how long?”
“For a week.”
One week.
Despite all of the evil planning in my brain, I attempted to sound casual. “Dinner, then?”
“We’ll talk,” she said in a non-committal way.
My heart beat faster. I knew this was my one chance to really spend time with her, to have my Frankie back—even if just for a week.
Victor zipped his suitcase. He was being unusually quiet this morning as he prepared to leave for his trip. Seemingly lost in thought, at one point he paused then placed his hand on my forearm, pulling me into him.
Hugging me tightly, he whispered in my ear, “I wish you were coming with me.”
I breathed in the scent of his signature Givenchy cologne and said, “Me too, but you didn’t ask me. I didn’t know that was even an option.”
“I think we need this week apart. You need to figure some things out. I’m giving you the space to do that for a week. I won’t question anything that happens while I’m gone. I don’t want to know.” He pulled back to look at me. “But, Francesca, I can’t live like this forever. At some point, I’m going to need to know your heart is mine. I may come across as a very strong person, but lately, I’m realizing more and more that I may not be as strong as I thought I was. I love you so much. But I can’t bear to be with you if your heart isn’t in this with me.”
His words were sobering. I stayed silent as he continued.
“These two years with you have been the best of my life. I never doubted that we would be together forever—until recently. And when I found out the reason why you’ve been acting strange, it was proof that my worries were warranted.”
“I’m so sorry to have put this kind of stress on us.”
“Don’t be sorry. You were honest with me. I appreciate that more than you know. But I’m not going to lie. After seeing that the guy you’re hung up on looked like a Calvin Klein model on top of everything, well, that didn’t help.”
I laughed slightly only because I didn’t know how else to react or what to even say. Mack did look like a freaking model, but that had nothing to do with why we were in this predicament. “I’m not a superficial person. You know that. My connection with him was more than skin deep, just as my connection to you is.”
“I know you think with your heart and mind. So, if at any point you decide that your heart isn’t in this, I would prefer that you rip the Band-Aid off. That’s all I ask. I don’t want to be strung along.”
“I promise never to do that to you, Vic. And I promise to work this out so that we can move on with our lives.”
He looked down at his watch. “I’m going to be late, but one more thing before I go.” He placed both of his hands around my face. “If you do determine that I’m the one, I’ve decided that I want to go all in. Because there is no halfway with how I feel about you, my love. And I’m not sure I realized it until losing you became a very real threat. I want to marry you. I want to have babies with you. I want to love you for the rest of my life and do nothing but make you happy. You just need to decide which road you want to take. If the journey is with me, I promise, you won’t regret it.”