“You know the south side vines are different. No one has those. They’ve been trying to steal them for years. I can’t imagine they’d stop now.”

“Dad.”

“See him again, and you’re out.” His face hardened. “Don’t test me, Julia.”

He walked out of my tiny cottage and slammed the door behind him, making the pictures on my walls rattle. I sank into the cushions of my couch and put my head in my hands.

“Well, that was fun.” James’s voice scared the crap out of me, and I jumped, my nerves completely frayed. He peered out one of the tiny windows before turning the lock on the door. “You weren’t joking.” He sat down next to me on the couch before wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me against him. “The hate runs deep.”

“How much did you hear?”

“Pretty sure I heard every word.” He pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “I only enjoyed the parts where he talked about you having a crush on me. The rest was awful.”

I forced a smile before turning my body to face him. “I don’t have a crush on you,” I pretended to argue, but there was no use, especially after last night.

“Well, I sure as hell have one on you,” he said without an ounce of shame, and I wished I had his bravery. “So, how are we going to fix this?” he asked.

I gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?” There was nothing to fix.

“Julia”—he grabbed my hand and held it—“I want to be with you. Last night was incredible. Can you really walk away from what we’ve started?”

“You heard what my dad said.” My eyes began to water, and the last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of James.

“We’ll change his mind.” He sounded so confident, like what he suggested was the easiest solution in the world. “We’ll make him see how happy we are and that I’m not trying to con you out of anything.”

“We can’t,” I said, knowing that my dad would not listen to anything a Russo had to say.

“We can.”

“He won’t listen.”

My father was not a compassionate or understanding man.

“We haven’t even tried yet,” he said, his tone reasonable and logical—another two qualities my father lacked.

“It’s just—” I choked on my words, my thoughts, and my emotions as he stood up from the couch, looking like a knight in shining armor. “This is all happening too fast,” I lied.

“Too fast?” James’s eyes practically rolled out of his head. “I’ve been in love with you since I was a kid. There’s nothing slower than the story of us.”