“What?” Dante sounds furious. “Why does he get a ten?”
I wave my finger lazily. “For the date. Plan your own.”
And then I pass out.
23 – Caterina
Alessia is quiet this morning, no smiles as I carefully pick her up. Frowning, I walk over to the bed and settle on the edge. Behind me, the shower is running; the empty, mussed bedsheets telling me that Dante is already up.
My daughter looks up at me, her green eyes serious.
“Good morning,” I whisper, running my hand over her curls and watching them bounce back into place. “What’s the matter?”
I get no babbling conversation either. Instead, she slides her thumb into her mouth. “Ba.”
As I study her tense expression, I wonder if she knows.
Today is the day we leave.
And in a rush, regret slams over me. I bend my head over hers, my lips pressed against her head as I breathe in the slight soapy scent that still lingers from the bath I clumsily gave her yesterday afternoon.
Behind me, a door opens and closes.
“You were right,” I say quietly, not turning around.
We only regret the moments we don’t have. And it tightens my throat, the thought of that time I spent when we first arrived keeping my distance.
I didn’t want to hurt her. Hurt myself. But now, with our departure suddenly looming, I despise myself for it. Because what we have had isn’t enough.
There’s a rustling behind me. Dante appears, a shirt hastily thrown on as he looks between us. He offers me a smile that fades when I don’t return it. “I usually am. About what now?”
“The time I lost us.” I shake my head. “How am I supposed to walk away from her again, Dante?”
She’s been moved somuch. She lost Bea, lost Pepe. Matteo took her, and Amie took care of her. And now I’m going to walk away and leave her behind.
He exhales. His fingers dance in front of Alessia’s face, dropping away when she only watches him quietly, not grabbing for them. “You will not be away from her for long, Cat. Only as long as it takes, and we both know this will not be drawn out.”
Matteo will not wait to move, once he knows we’re back.
“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”
“I’m not.” His tone hardens. “I promise you,tentazione. You’ll be back soon. You’ll bring her home, and build on the foundations from this time. This time… it is not the only time. There will be more.”
He sounds so certain. He presses a kiss to my lips, then to our daughter’s head, before he stands. “Breakfast. Coffee. There is still time left. We’re not running out of the door, Cat.”
First, we wait.
Alessia, thankfully, brightens as we enter the kitchen. Her face lights up. “Ba!”
Stefano glances up with surprise. His eyes sweep across me, seeing too much. Or possibly remembering last night, judging by the way his lip curls into a small smile. I give him a tart look as Ihand Alessia to him, and she immediately buries herself into the crook of his arm with an audibly happy sigh.
Dom, seated across from Stefan, leans forward, his voice coaxing. “Alessia.”
She turns her head between them both, before she opens her arms for Dom. He grins as he plucks her from Stefan’s lap. “Excellent taste.”
The smile fades as she claps her arms and points straight back to Stefan.
Dante doesn’t bother hiding his laughter as Gio walks in, his hair damp from a shower. “A new game, it seems.”
