Apologize To Him

Diana stood outside her father's restaurant. 

She knew walking in there was going to be a disaster. What sort of talk would he want with her after kicking her out just a day before? 

Her stomach churned, but she swallowed hard and forced herself inside. The door shut behind her and her eyes swept across the space. 

At the very center sat two men. Her father and Stefanos Rassi. 

She drew a deep breath and approached the table. 

"Good morning, Dad," she greeted. 

Giancarlo Sorin didn't respond to his daughter. He wasn't even willing to hold her gaze as though she infuriated him. 

Stefanos on the other hand looked worse than she last recalled that night. His face was bruised and slightly swollen, his lips split. He looked like someone had dragged him through a bar fight. 

The man didn't say a word to her, hell he didn't even look at her. But Diana didn't care, not right now.

"So," her father spoke, voice sharp, "Where did you sleep last night?" 

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. 

He couldn't have known she spent the night at Ian Basti's house…could he? Ian Basti was their business rival and honestly, she didn't even understand how she ended up so tangled with him. 

"I figured things out myself," she said calmly. "You have nothing to worry about." 

"I wasn't worrying," Mr. Giancarlo remarked coldly. "Never have." 

Stefanos gave a slow glance toward the both of them, then snapped, "Are we going to get to the point? I don't have all day, Mr. Giancarlo." 

Giancarlo offered him an apologetic smile and turned to his daughter. 

"Since I've gotten to the bottom of this," he said, straightening. "Stefanos here deserves an apology from you." 

Diana's stomach flipped. 

"What?" 

"I took your company, credit card, and house away because of your misbehavior, so if you apologize sincerely to Stefanos here, I'll let it slide and give them back to you." 

Her eyes ping-ponged between both men. 

Apologize to Stefanos Rassi? 

She almost wanted to laugh, because this seemed amusing. Surely her father was jesting…right? 

"No," she refused. 

"What?" 

"I said no. I am not apologizing to anyone." Her eyes narrowed at Stefanos. "And certainly not to you. I'd rather eat a dead rat." 

Mr. Giancarlo's face darkened with anger. He was out of his chair in seconds, snatching her by the collar of her shirt and towering above her.

"Repeat those words again." 

Diana clutched his wrists, unwilling to back down. "I said I'm not doing it. Over my dead body will I apologize to him. You don't know what he did to me!" 

"DIANA—" 

"I don't get it!" she shouted. "You're my father, you're supposed to protect me, not treat me like this and turn your back on me. For two years, I've been enduring this misery and you've never once asked how I was doing. You would see me walk in with the most pitiful look on my face but you would pretend like I didn't exist!" 

Her body quivered as she yelled at him. 

"He didn't just humiliate me like I was nothing, but I lost my baby because of him. I had a miscarriage. I was in the hospital and that's why you couldn't reach me when you called. But when I came home, what did you do? You didn't ask me where I've been. You didn't want to hear my full side of the story. No, instead you…" 

She cut herself off sharply, swallowing the pain. 

"I'm not doing it. If you want to hit me again, kick me around, go ahead. But I will never apologize to him."

Giancarlo stared at her. He was conflicted, it could be seen in his eyes, but when he looked over to Stefanos, everything changed. 

Who knows what Stefanos will say to his father, Adolpho Rassi? Who knows what they will do to him? 

He looked at his daughter. "So what if you had a miscarriage?" 

Diana froze.

"What…?" she whispered.

"It's gone," he said. "Get over it and apologize to your husband."

She stared at him, stunned. 

Her father couldn't be that inhumane, could he? Or had she never seen it because she was too busy working her ass off, biting at every opportunity to prove herself to him? To show him that she was worthy of his love even if it was just a scrap of it. 

What had she done wrong? 

She was his daughter…

A sob almost choked out of her throat, but she swallowed it back and stood on her words. 

"I said, I'm not doing it. I'm not going to do it!" 

"Is that so?" This time, it was Stefanos who spoke, voice casual, amused. 

She turned her gaze towards him as he rose from his seat, hands buried inside the pocket of his slack. His bruised face twisted into a mocking grin. 

"Step back, Mr. Giancarlo. This is between me and my wife," he ordered. 

Her father hesitated, but let go of her shirt. 

Diana smoothed her suit and faced Stefanos squarely, a pure look of hatred evident on her features. 

Stefanos smirked. "You really don't want to apologize?" 

"Were you deaf?"

He chuckled. "But you hurt me. Look at my head, Diana. You hurt me. And when you hurt someone, what do you do? You apologize and be forgiven." 

"Is that so?" What a joke. "Fine then, apologize to me." 

"What?" 

"Apologize to me, Stefan. After all, you hurt me first. I'll apologize to you after." 

Stefan didn't say a word for straight thirty seconds and instead held eye contact with her. "But I didn't hurt you," he shrugged. "I was bored and I had fun. I even invited you to join, but you refused. That was not my fault, but yours." 

He stepped closer to her. 

"And this baby you claim you lost because of me." His voice dropped, condescending. "Not my fault either. Did I touch you?" 

Diana didn't move an inch from his intimidating presence.

"Did I?" he pressed. "Answer me, Diana."