“Sure,” Erma said, drawing out the word. “Whatever.”
Brando made it over to me, a glass of champagne for me in one hand and a whiskey for him in the other. He frowned when he noticed Jolie balancing on my knees.
“I missed something,” he said.
Jolie’s eyes went wide at the sight of him, and at first I thought she was going to cry. Instead, after the shock had worn off, she offered him her finger to put in his mouth. He pretended to bite at it and she erupted into an uncontrolled fit of giggles—the kind that you can’t stop.
I know the feeling, kid.
“Nine months of something,” I said, finally answering him. “We just need to find the father. Haha.” What the hell was I saying? Erma had unhinged me with her baby talk—flushed cheeks and old wives tales.Pfft!
Brando didn’t find it funny, not one bit. However, I was saved by Erma.
“This your man?” she asked. The same awed look that Jolie had was on her face.
“Yes,” I said. “Brando—Romeo is his younger brother.”
“I see it,” Erma said, her tone matching her eyes—almost in anI’ve seen the lightway. “If I were you, girl, I’d waste no time havinghisbaby.”
I sighed.It’s not that simple, Erma.
“Whew.” Jolie’s mother came back. She held her hands out for her daughter, but Jolie turned away from her. “Well, look at that!” Her mother started to laugh. “She never goes to strangers, much less wants to stay with them. What a little traitor!”
Brando turned to look at the crowd. The conversation had started to make him antsy. He took a deep drink of his whiskey, swallowing hard, his perfect profile outlined by the hanging lights. A star-shaped light hanging from the bough of a tree in the distance caught the sharp edge of his jaw and glinted from it.
I went to hand Jolie over, but she twisted her hands in my hair, holding on. She started to cry big, fat alligator tears after we were finally successful in the delivery.
Her mother soothed her. “You’re just tired. All of this traveling has you fussy.” She looked at me, patting Jolie on the back like mothers do. “You’re a natural. If you’re not already, you’ll be a wonderful mother.”
Brando’s shoulders stiffened.
I thanked her, and she and Erma, who looked at Brando and then winked at me (“girrrrl” she mouthed behind his back), went inside the massive villa.
I sat alone for a little while until he took the seat next to me. He handed me the champagne he had been holding, and we sat in silence. I watched the dancers; he seemed to be watching me. I could feel his eyes on the profile of my face. Silence was fine by me, though. I was actually thankful for it.
Erma’s magical flush had my head spinning. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it would’ve just been Erma, but Eunice made a comment about it too, and so did Brando. Before I could get too carried away, a sense of reality invaded my panicked thoughts. I couldn’t be pregnant. I hadn’t missed one birth control pill. I was fine. But I had said that before.
Yes, but you stopped taking them before,I reminded myself.
I sighed, and Brando leaned over, running a finger down the slope of my nose.
“Serious turmoil,” he said, then downed the rest of his whiskey. “And it’s on fire. I can feel the heat of your thoughts. Tell me.”
I took a sip of champagne and let the crisp but sweet flavor invade my senses and flow with ease down my throat. “She was only talking.” I motioned to the doors of the villa, where Jolie and her family had gone. “It’s—”
“It’s not you, baby,” he said. “It’s me. I hate myself for not being able to give you—”
I stood, champagne in hand, and went to sit on his lap. I cuddled up close to him. “Stop. Let’s not even talk about it anymore.”
“Share with me.” He glanced down at my glass, as eager as I was not to keep harping on the subject. Though, Erma’s influence still swirled around in my thoughts. Harping on it only seemed to make me think even harder.
I smiled and took a sip, and then offered him what I had. His tongue entered my mouth, and he took what was mine for his own.
“That’s good,” he said, licking his lips.
“Avido,” I said, nipping at his bottom lip. “You took it all.”
He grinned at that, me calling himgreedy. But all of the contentment he had been feeling drained from his face in an instant, and before I could move on my own, he had me on my feet, and we were facing Livio once again.
