I knew she had the potential to be a good friend then. Good friends spill the truth, even when things get awkward.
The door opened and Brando peeked in. Whatever he was about to say died in his throat.
“Oh no!” I said, seeing him about to explode with uncontrolled laughter. “Don’tyoustart!”
He stood as straight as a board and saluted me. “Yes, ma’am!”
He and Lou both exploded and couldn’t stop laughing. Guido came to investigate the ruckus, and then he joined in. Along with Rosaria, Carmen, Juliette, Romeo, Aunt Lola, Rocco, and Mitch, who had followed Guido in. Romeo had to sit down on the bed because he was wheezing and crying so hard.
“Haha! I—I have to stop.” Romeo hardly got the words out. “I cannot breathe! Sergeant S-s-sissy!”
Violet lifted a finger to shush the room and plugged her free ear. She was on the phone—apparently my dress and another had gotten switched. When the noise stayed at the same level, she walked into the bedroom to continue the call.
“All right!” I said, attempting to bring some kind of control back to the room. “Now that we’ve all had a laugh, what amIgoing to do?”
“This all you have?” Brando wiped at his eyes, asking the most important question for the first time.
“Yes, Brando!”
Violet peeked her head in the room. “I’ll run out to the shops and see what I can find.”
“No,” Brando said, putting a hand up. “I’ll go.”
Lou became quiet again, watching as Brando and Rocco left. Romeo gave me one last, long glance before he started to laugh again. He squared his fingers and pretended to take a mental picture before he followed his brothers out.
“Your husband is going to buy your dress?” Lou asked, fluffing my hair.
I shrugged, plopping down on the chair, tassels fanning out. “He doesn’t usually, unless it’s something he wants to see me in.”And then rip off.“But I trust him. He has good taste.”
“Well,” she said, starting to get to work again. “Whatever he gets has to be better than this fucking tassel monstrosity. It belongs in a museum for tawdry seductresses.”
That was another thing about Lou that I adored. She was a hardened New Yorker and didn’t seem to take shit from anyone—not even Guido. It was hard to stand up to those men. They were beautiful to a fault, built to withstand war, and had heads on them as hard as steel. To put it simply, they were more than imposing.
Guido stood at the door, one finger knocking against the frame. “You?” he said to Lou.
“Me?” she said, pausing her stride. “What about me?”
“A suitable dress.”
“I—” She put one brush down to pick up another. “I don’t have one. I didn’t have time to—”
He looked her up and down, real slow, and their eyes met on his journey back up. I almost felt the need to fan myself. I knew that look and craved it from my own husband.
The look made the heart race and disturbed the butterflies. It could make a woman snap her legs shut in anticipation, not sure if she could handle what he was about to bring. Nothing else came close to it, which was why I loved to dress up for Brando—so he’d be more than tempted to rip my clothes off.
“I will be back,” he whispered.
“Lou?” I said, watching as she passed her hands over the items on the counter, not actually touching them. She seemed a bit dazed. “Do you know how to say ‘husband’ in Italian?”
“Wha?” She shook her head. “No.”
“Would you like to?”
She gave an echo of a smile. “Teach me a few words.”
With that, Lou and I readied for the fight.
* * *
