Tessa crouched in front of him and smiled. “Imagine. You’re four now. Practically all grown up. You’ll be driving soon.”

That made Danny smile. “I can’t drive. I’m a little boy.”

“You don’t seem too little today,” Grammy M said. “You seem very big. I’m not sure I can carry you upstairs myself anymore. ’Tis a shame, because I liked that part of my day. Tessa, I’ll be needing your help.”

Tessa straightened and shook her head. “No, he’s too big for the both of us. We’ll need a crane. One of those large construction types. We’ll put it right there in the hallway and it can lift Danny up to the second floor.”

“I like that,” Grammy M said.

Danny giggled. “You don’t need a crane.”

“I’m thinking we do,” Grammy M said as she led him toward the stairs. “They’re yellow, which means it won’t go at all with the decorations. We’ll have to paint it. Maybe pink with flowers.”

Tessa moved closer to Mia and lowered her voice. “We’ll put him to bed tonight. He’s tired. Don’t take it personally.”

Mia appreciated the support but wasn’t sure she could take the advice. Danny had bonded with his father so quickly-how was she supposed to keep them apart now? She couldn’t trust Rafael, yet didn’t Danny deserve time with his father?

She waited until the trio was in Danny’s bedroom, then made her way to her own. She closed the door and crossed to the window.

The night was clear and cool. She could see stars, and when she opened the windows the scent of the ripening grapes filled her room like a strong perfume.

She wanted to turn back time. She wanted to have things like they were before Rafael had shown up, because his arrival had changed everything. In a matter of a few short weeks, he’d altered her world and nothing could make it as it was.

She knelt on the floor and rested her arms on the windowsill. Anger filled her. So much anger, and with it the uncomfortable realization that she was still in love with him.

Oh, she hated him and didn’t trust him, but none of that meant she didn’t love him. Even knowing he was a snake, her heart continued to beat out a rhythm designed to be heard only by him.

She supposed that’s what happened after being in love with the same man for over five years. She was going to need some time to get over him. Having to deal with him would make the process harder.

Danny would want to see his father. She’d made the mistake of talking about him to the boy long before Rafael had ever shown up. She’d said he was brave and strong and a wonderful man. There was no way she could now tell him the truth.

She felt trapped by circumstances. Trapped and alone and clueless about her next step. At least her family would help, she thought. The Marcellis would always be there for her.

She stood and crossed to her dresser. She pulled out the small box and looked at the silver ring Diego had bought her so long ago.

Purposefully, she went downstairs and into the kitchen. There she rummaged through the junk drawer until she found a hammer; then she walked out to the porch, put the ring on the railing, and crushed it with a single blow.

After returning the hammer to the drawer, she dropped the crushed piece of metal in the trash, but as she walked back to her room, she found she didn’t feel the least bit better.

The next night Brenna showed up with a box of chocolates and a bottle of Four Sisters cabernet sauvignon.

“You don’t get a vote,” she told Mia as she pulled her from the family room and herded her upstairs. “We’re going to curl up on your bed, get drunk, eat too much chocolate, and call everyone who’s ever pissed us off really bad names. You get extra points for creativity.”

Mia smiled as she plopped on her bed. “I’m in.”

“Good.” Brenna set the wine on the nightstand. “It was a great year. Just perfect weather and the sugar in the grapes couldn’t have been more right. I remember-”

“Uh, Brenna?” Mia interrupted. “Don’t really care about the process. Just the results.”

Brenna pulled a corkscrew from her jeans back pocket. “All my sisters are completely worthless about the magic of winemaking. How is that possible? How can I be the only one who cares?”

“A mystery you’ll have to take up with the Almighty.”

“I guess.” She expertly pulled out the cork, then poured them each a glass of wine.

Mia took a sip. “Not bad,” she said, reaching for the chocolates.

Brenna winced. “Not bad? Do you know how many medals this wine has won? Do you know how those brilliant people at Wine Spectator scored my wine?”

“No, and hey, don’t really care. But kudos to you.” She held out the now-open box of chocolates. “Want one?”

“Please.”

Brenna grabbed a truffle, her wine, and sank onto the bed. “I’m the only one with a soul. That’s all there is to it.”

“Then speaking for the soul-free contingent, thanks for stopping by.”

Brenna leaned toward her. “How do you feel?”

“Like crap. It still hurts to breathe. Most of the time I can’t believe how much I hurt and how hard it is to do anything. Danny is furious. He wants his father around. It was such a mistake to have Rafael live here. Now Danny has expectations and I can’t meet them.”

“Rafael was only here a few weeks. Danny will get over it.”

“He hasn’t yet.”

“He knows something is up.”

Mia shuddered as she thought of her son’s pain. “I never wanted him to be hurt.”

“Of course you didn’t. But you didn’t make Rafael an ass. He did that all on his own.”

Mia nodded. “I can’t believe what’s happened. How could I have been such an idiot?”

“We were all fooled. Like Katie said before, he had the prince thing going for him. Why would we think he was a liar?”

Mia nodded, knowing it was true and wishing it could make her feel better. “I’m going to have to deal with him, I just don’t know how to get past the anger.” She sipped her wine. “Nic betrayed you, Brenna. How did you recover?”

A few years ago Nic and Brenna had secretly started a relationship. She’d thought it was true love while he’d been planning to buy Marcelli Wines out from under her.

Her sister grabbed another chocolate. “It wasn’t easy. I was so in love with him and I thought he cared about me and the whole time he planned to screw my family. Wow-I guess it isn’t that different. I felt like you do, honey. I felt broken and stupid and empty. The difference was, we didn’t have a child together. I could tell myself I never wanted to see him again.”

“At least Nic came crawling back,” Mia muttered, remembering how her now brother-in-law had begged for forgiveness. “Rafael doesn’t even think he’s done anything wrong. I can’t believe the weasel apology he gave me at Danny’s birthday. ‘I’m sorry you were distressed. I’m sorry I got caught,’” she mocked, her voice low. “He should have started with ‘I’m sorry I’m a lying worm bastard and here’s a knife so you can run me through.’ Now that would have been an apology.”

Brenna reached over and patted her arm. “I wish I had magic words.”

“Me too. I wish I didn’t love him.” She sipped her wine. “I was going to marry him. Can you believe it? We were going to run off to Las Vegas the day after Danny’s birthday. What if I had? What if I’d gone to Calandria with him? I would have lost Danny.”

“But you didn’t. You discovered the truth in time.”

Mia hung on to that slim thought. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to protect him from his father. Obviously I can’t keep Danny from Rafael and I can’t let him go to Calandria.”

“Deep breaths,” Brenna told her. “There’s no need to panic right now.”

“Because I can always panic later?”

“Exactly.” Her sister smiled. “Come on. We have this under control. Or we’re getting there. Isn’t the lawyer in Zach’s office looking into this for you?”

Mia nodded. “Her name is Sandy and she’s amazing. We’ve already talked a couple of times. She has some excellent ideas and ways we can use the law. Darcy’s been talking to the attorney general, and how many people can say that in casual conversation? Joe is looking into some interesting security measures. When I next have to face Rafael, I’ll be ready.”

Brenna shook her head. “No you won’t.”

Mia swallowed. “No, I won’t. I’ll have plenty of armor, but I won’t be ready for the war. How can I still love him? How can I have feelings for him? I hate him, Brenna. I loathe and despise him and I still miss him.”

“You can’t just turn your feelings off because he’s a jerk. You’re doing everything you can to protect your son. That’s the most important thing. But you’ve loved him for years. Why would that go away overnight?”

“But he’s a bastard,” Mia said. “Shouldn’t that change my feelings?”

“Wasn’t Diego a bit of a ruthless guy? He was a villain and you fell for him. Has Rafael really acted so out of character?”

Mia shuddered. “Yuck. What does that say about me and my taste in men? I was right to give them up. I should think about becoming a lesbian.”

Brenna laughed. “Oh, right. That’s going to happen. You could never do it.”

“I guess not. Once Danny’s grown up, I’ll become a nun or something. Use my life for good works. If I’m never having sex again, I’ll have plenty of energy to spare.”

“You’ll have sex again.”

“I don’t think so,” Mia said. “I don’t really see a romantic happy ending for me, do you?”

“Not with Rafael.”

Mia wasn’t sure there was another man for her. Which really sucked the big one.

“I wish I-”

The bedroom door opened and Joe stuck his head in. “Sorry to break up the girlfest, but we have a problem downstairs.”

Mia sprang to her feet. “Danny?”

“No. He’s fine. The Grands put him to bed. I just checked and he’s sound asleep. It’s Kelly.”