“His wife was barren.”
“What?” I dropped the dirty dish I was washing in the sink, and a surge of bubbles hit me in the face. I wiped them away with my sleeve.
“Yep. She couldn’t have children.”
“He told you that?”
“He told me lots of things.” She shrugged. “Sometimes a man does, when he feels comfortable in the presence of a woman. Not that I was truly a woman—well, I guess I was. But I think he was attracted to my innocence. His people are ruthless. I was a change. I suppose if he had Brando, he could’ve had more kids. He wasn’t exactly celibate, you know? The wife, though, she couldn’t have any. I only assumed Brando was his only.”
She became quiet, reflective.
“Was he terrible to you, Maggie Beautiful?” I asked softly.
She smiled, but the sadness around her eyes was ever-present. “No. The opposite. He didn’t show his true colors until the very end, when he wanted me to give Brando up. The thing is, after he killed Sheriff Stone’s wife, I think her life saved mine. He would’ve taken him from me, Scarlett Gorgeous. I can’t prove it. All I have is a mother’s intuition. We get that, whether we want it or not. I would’ve been powerless to stop him.”
“Oh,” I said, letting the water drip, drip, drip to the floor from my wet hands.
If Luca Fausti had been successful…where would Brando be today? I asked myself. And the answer was clear—with someone other than Maggie Beautiful and away from me.Life without him…wouldn’t be much of a life at all. I probably would have suffered, not even knowing what it was that I ached for.
She took a seat, all tricks abandoned. I took her hand, forcing her to look at me.
“At least we get him for two weeks, right? Let’s get our things and head back to Milan.”
“I’m sorry.” Her eyes grew wide. She wiped at her cheeks even though she wasn’t crying. “I forgot to tell you. He sent word. He’s not coming home.”
“What?”
“One of the guys—he’s getting married. They were short a man, so Brando volunteered.”
He didn’t even tell me…
“Good.” My voice went high. “More time to work on this place!”
I stood straighter, but I felt a bit lightheaded. After we were married, he had never…notcome home. And Maggie Beautiful’s story about how close Luca was to taking him made me yearn for him even more.
“I’m just going to—” I pointed toward the steps, toward our room.
“Uh huh,” she said, a satisfied smile coming to her face. “You do that. You call him.”
Pacing back and forth in front of the door that led to the terrace in our room, I glanced at the clock. It was nine p.m. here, four a.m. there.
I called him four times and he didn’t answer. I called Mitch.
“Scarlett?” His voice was raspy with sleep.
“Mitch. Put him on the phone.”
“Hold on. Hold on.” He yawned. “You do realize it’s—” He paused. “To-hell-with-it o’clock in the morning? Is something—”
“No,I’m fine!”
“He’s probably working out.”
“At four in the morning, Mitch? Stop lying to—”
“Scarlett,” he said, his voice going soft. “That’s all he does.”
“Why?”
