Accept My Baby

“This party Rafael, it is exactly the kind of situation your mother and I have been talking about. The kind of distractions you don’t really need,” Paolo pointed out and Rafael sighed loudly. This was it. That was the last straw.

“Papa, Mama…I came for dinner as you asked because I respect you. But I did not come here for advice on my business or love life,” he said.

“But you don’t even have a love life,” Susanna pointed out.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked and Susanna and Paolo exchanged a knowing look.

“Is there something you want to tell us?” she asked and he shook his head.

“You know, your mother and I have been thinking, the Benassi girl would be a perfect addition to the Imperioli family,” Paolo said and Rafael laughed, rubbing his temples.

“And there it is,” he muttered under his breath. “You always have a woman in mind for me.”

“That’s because the women we see you with are usually…” Susanna started before her voice trailed off.

Rafael raised an eyebrow over the other wondering what she was about to say. He could almost read his mother’s mind. It could have very well been the same thing he had been hearing for the last five years of his life. The girls he chose were not good enough. The girls he chose were a little loose. He knew that the dreaded words were coming. Any second now.

“I know you feel like there is a lot of pressure on you but Alberto and Penelope are very happy together and even he didn’t think it was a good idea for his parents to fix him up but hey, we came through,” Paolo said, smiling.

“Well, I am not Alberto,” Rafael said matter of factly.

“We know that but you are the elder brother, Rafael.” Susanna leaned forward. “Are you really going to let your brother take your place in everything. Even the business?”

Rafael took another deep breath.

“Mama, I already said it more than once. I love what I do and it is more profitable than I ever thought it would be.” He took one last sip of his wine. “And it is a critical moment in my company right now. I will not walk away when it needs me the most.”

“We are not asking you to walk away from the company, we are just asking you to take a front seat in protecting the family fortune,” Susanna said.

“By setting me up with Isabella Benassi?” Rafael asked. “I mean, she is nice and everything but she is definitely not my type.”

“Rafael, no one ever ends up with their type,” Paolo said and Rafael smiled when he saw the way his mother looked at him. “But they eventually grow on you.”

“I am not willing to settle for someone I don’t love, Mama. Papa.” He shrugged. “And why are you talking as if I am the next king of the Imperioli Dynasty?”

“Because the Imperioli Dynasty as you put it is a four hundred billion dollar estate. We need to know that we can trust you with it,” Paolo said.

“Papa, I turned fifty million dollars into a one hundred and eighty billion dollar business. And if you still have a problem with the way I choose to live my life, then that’s on you because I am beginning to think that this is about a business deal between the Imperioli and the Benassi businesses than getting me to settle down.” He looked at his mother and then his father. “Protecting the family fortune is something that I will do but everything right now, is exactly as it should be.”

“Exactly as it should be? With those wild parties you throw?” his mother asked shaking her head. She turned her attention to her husband. “I told you getting him an American education was not a good idea.”

“Mama, I am sitting right here,” Rafael said matter of factly. “Plus, Alberto got the same western education.”

“He still knows what is important. Family first, Rafael,” his mother said and he pushed his chair back and his mother opened her mouth to speak but she never said anything. Rafael walked to where she was and kissed her cheek before he looked at Paolo. “Don’t worry too much. Life is too short.”

“Are you leaving?” Susanna asked and Rafael smiled.

“Like you said, I have a party to plan,” he said as he made his way out.      

He could hear his parents talking behind his back as he made his way to the door but he was not willing to wait and listen to whatever it was that they had to say. At that point, he didn’t think that they had anything to say that was worth his time. He loosened his tie as he walked towards his car.

“Where to, Mr. Imperioli?” his driver asked as he held the door open for him.

“Home,” he said, almost snapped. His heart seemed to be racing by the time he got into the car. He was breathing hard and fast. He actually surprised himself every time he managed to get through a meal with his parents.

First it was cutting him out because they thought if they denied him access to his trust then he would have no choice but to go back to the family business but that was the last thing he wanted to do. Nothing meant more to him than simply pursuing his own dream of building an empire that didn’t count on his surname. Fortunately for him, he was quite the financially responsible brother unlike Alberto.

Ever since he got access to his trust, even though he seemed to be partying hard to the public, he had been putting away chunks of his trust in a private account. A nest egg, he thought. But as soon as he heard of a large chunk of land in the Black Elk reservation being sold off in Texas, he knew there was more to it than met the eye. And soon enough, he knew exactly what was underneath the whole idea of selling the reservation. Oil.

And that was what he did. Pour almost every cent he had into the Texan oil fields and it had paid off. But that was not enough for his parents. And he was beginning to think that there wasn’t anything that could ever be enough.

“Dante, have the caterer meet me at my place in twenty minutes,” he said to his driver as he leaned back.

“Of course, Mr. Imperioli,” Dante said.

*****

It had been four days in Turin and Amanda was already beginning to feel at home. She had actually taken the time to walk around the city and take a number of photos. She had even sampled a couple of restaurants. As it turned out, the best five star rated spots were actually not as good as the street food. She could not wait to try out all the authentic Italian restaurants but at the same time, she could not help but wonder what ‘fried pizza’ was like. And that was not it. As it turned out, street dumplings were so much more tastier than the dumplings she was used to having back in the States. She had just walked back into Emilia’s apartment when she heard the all too familiar sound of the washer.

“Hey,” she called out as she made her way into the kitchen. “You are not working today? Again?” she asked, looking at Emilia.