The Italian's proposal

Timothy Giannatto

Timothy looked at the woman lying across from him. She was beautiful in a different way. She had a sparkle in her gaze that had coaxed him ever since he saw her in the coffee shop that morning, her hair such a dark shade just made him conjure up a thousand sexual positions where her black hair fell over them, surrounded, sweaty, wet, it was so exciting to think about, he didn’t want to think about what it would be like to make it happen. The girl was practically a mystery to him, he didn’t know her at all, and his bruised male ego screamed at him that he didn’t want to know her either.

That happened when someone broke our personal and sentimental barriers. There was no longer a single moment in his life where he did not think about the mess he had gotten into with Gia, he had trusted her blindly, for him she was a woman who represented him, who could share his problems and dreams. He had fallen into the net of a crone, one who did not even regret what she had done.

He looked back at Melody, the most innocent and spontaneous young woman he had ever met in his life. He was used to people around him doing and saying what he wanted, but that woman, with her gray eyes and murderous mouth, had shown him that not everyone was a sheep in his world. There were people like her who wouldn’t stop at what he wanted, strong people who wouldn’t let themselves get wrapped up in his world of money and falsehood.

When she passed out a few hours ago his first instinct was to hold her immediately, the girl was absolutely nothing compared to what she lifted at the gym, or the other women he had been intimate with.

She was different in every way.

But that particularly bothered him. She had to be healthy if she wanted to give birth to a healthy child. It was obvious that Melody had no idea how to be a mother, and this gave Timothy a twinge.

At first when they were in the coffee shop and she called Doyle to report that she had to go check on the baby, Timothy thought it was all a sham, because he couldn’t see anything, not an ounce extra, not a shadow on her belly, she was as flat as an ironing board.

His sensor immediately went on and he considered that she was just one of those women who looked for pity in the eyes of others, and that she only wanted, in some way that he did not understand, to get money out of him.

But he had been incredibly surprised by this explosive little woman.

She was self-sufficient and didn’t care about his money, at least that he had noticed. She hadn’t asked for his help at any time since they had left the coffee shop, instead, she had preferred to stay alone with Troy.

His phone rang at that moment and he left the room and took the call in the hallway.

“Timothy, where are you?” it was his mother.

“Hi mom” he greeted her startled by the call. His mother didn’t usually call him unless it was an emergency. He went every Sunday to lunch with them at their mansion away from the noise of the city.

“Son, why didn’t you go to the meeting today? You know it was of extreme importance. You kept everyone waiting.”

“Who... How...?” Timothy couldn’t believe his mother already knew about it.

Contrary to what he had led Melody to believe about the meeting, it was quite important that he attend that meeting, he had even had specific guidelines for over a week not to miss it.

There was a lot at stake in his family, his father had told him so. That morning was the prelude to a million-dollar deal.

And there was the embezzlement.

When his mother found out she was going to have a heart attack. She didn’t know how that damn man had gotten into her company and stolen three million dollars!!!!

Not that his finances were severely affected by this, the magnitude of money his parents had collected over the years was quite large, but that didn’t mean that three million wasn’t a pretty hefty amount, more so when he had worked so hard to be a worthy son to his parents, and a businessman capable of detecting any embezzlement or illicit transactions.

He clenched his fists tightly, almost forgetting he had his cell phone in his hand.

“Just because your father and I aren’t there, doesn’t mean we don’t know how our company is doing. Our company Timothy, do you understand well? It’s ours. What your father and I have fought for over two decades. You must put your life in order and repair whatever is damaged right now.”

Timothy knew that was true, but he also had his pride in having been an important piece in the development over the past few years of each of the companies his family and his cousin Hamlet’s family ran.

He wasn’t going to let anyone, including his mother, minimize his sleepless nights and his devotion to the Giannato family’s well-being.

“Don’t let it slip your mind that I have also been part of that progress and development mom,” he told her annoyed. “Ci sacrifichiamo tutti per avere la compagnia dove si trova attualmente.” They had all sacrificed to place the company where they had it.

“Non stai aiutando Timothy. Non hai aiutato da quando quella ragazza ha concluso la sua relazione con te,” his mother replied, speaking in Italian as well, that his view had changed since he had ended his relationship with Gia.

he growled, “you have no idea how

tone,” his mother didn’t raise her voice, she was always calm, but even in that tone, she could prove to him that she was capable of hiding his body in case she murdered him. “I don’t know anything because you haven’t come home for months, you haven’t talked to me and told me what’s going on. If you don’t tell me what happened, how do you expect me to know. You’ve made sure that the

called a beautiful, the one she had opened the doors of her home to, that she had had lunch with her and tea, that woman had been unfaithful to him, if her

had married his father when they were in their early twenties and full of dreams, soon after they had him, but this was not a stop for his parents, together they did their best and created an empire, both in cars and marketing. Timothy

noise and turned for the door he had left open on his way out of the

he told her watching as the woman got up disoriented in bed, she was so thin she almost disappeared into the white canopy sheets of his bed.

up on me

sort out. I’ll call

hour and you call me. There’s a lot to talk about,” she was quiet for

something gave

hour and we’ll arrange a lunch this week.”

mamma, ti amo.”

cell phone into his right pants pocket. A few minutes ago, he had changed his coffee-stained shirt, he threw it immediately into the trash, he had no need to try to get the stains

“You woke up.”

am I?” she asked

“In my apartment.”

watched as she opened her eyes and mouth simultaneously. She looked like a cartoon.

didn’t finish it, and Timothy could appreciate how she was remembering. Her eyes, other than the gray ones they were, looked like

Troy, he said it was normal in

herself getting out of bed.

put her first foot on the floor, Timothy watched in slow motion as she lost control of her body, so he rushed over and stopped a

feed,” he

“Let go of me.

apparently have no one to force you to eat, so, first, have some breakfast with me, then

don’t know anything about me Timothy. Thank you for the offer, but I must decline. It won’t be a then I’m leaving, it will be a I’m leaving now,” she pulled away from his arms and his grip, and for a few seconds they stood staring at each other, him feeling the chill

god!” she shrieked.

in fright at the raised tone of her

he reached out again with his arms outstretched to grab her in case she

tears in her eyes, she looked so tiny and helpless to him and he felt that woman was going to stay engraved in his

wrong,” he almost begged her, “Don’t go crying. I’m not going to kidnap or anything. I brought you here because I don’t know

apologize, for her to understand that he had had no

more selfless in his

with a fainting woman in his arms. Clark helped him get her out of the car without

no money, it was only fair that he provide as much as possible. It didn’t seem right to leave her in the lurch when he could

the young woman had

didn’t even want his

without

head and hurriedly walked past

need to get out of here,” she said as she walked out of the room. Timothy watched her looking both ways down

it was a stride from him. He nervously ran his hand through his hair and scratched his beard, he wondered what the hell had happened that she had become

understood at the clinic. That led him to wonder how someone had let such a beautiful, selfless, independent, and sincere woman pass him by, a woman who could not hide her feelings, even if she wanted to, at least that’s what he had seen up to that moment. The girl had no health insurance, being three months pregnant, had no family to turn to and worked in a coffee shop, even though she said she

an unassembled

as she found herself facing the granite table in the center of the

wrong, you apologize to

at him, which struck him as odd, as all day she had been looking straight at him.

something from him.

to have

must go,”