“Not today.”
He threw his head back and laughed so hard that he growled. I tensed.
“Do you know my husband?” I asked.
He wiped his eyes, a smile lingering on his full lips. “No. Should I?”
Ah, she kept that quiet, at least. Why?
“Why do you keep flirting with me? If you know I’m married, but more importantly,you aremarried.”
“Simple,bella. I want you.”
Oh hell.I tried to ignore his comment, but I knew he saw the flush that crept up my cheeks.
“Dario and Romeo, are they your only siblings?”
“Sì,bella. I should think if there were more, I would know.”
“I’d like you to meet my husband,” I said. “If that would be doable?”
“Ah, it is doable.” He winked. “When?”
“Soon.”
We worked out all of the details.
“A man that has such a treasure would be one to know,” he said, but something in the undercurrent of his words made me uneasy. It was almost like a challenge. “It will be a pleasure to meet him.”
It was my turn to smile like the cat that ate the canary. “Yes, I’m sure it will be.”
* * *
I took the wine bottle with cherished thanks in return. The three of us cuddled up in our bed, Maggie Beautiful between Violet and me.
Slow music drifted in the background, candles swayed, and our feet touched every so often. A storm had blown in, and it became so intense that we had to shutter all of the windows. The eerie scratching of the wind, the bolts of lightning, and the rain had become too much for all of us.
I sighed, Maggie Beautiful right after, followed by Violet. It seemed to catch like a yawn. The sounds were as different as people—I had become reflective, Violet seemed to be floating, and Maggie Beautiful was as weighted down as a rock below sea.
The Fausti three hadn’t stayed long, to Violet’s extreme displeasure, but before they left, Romeo asked her out on a date—to go dancing. To my extreme pleasure, none of them went swimming.
Perhaps I was going a bit nuts with the “idea in my head” of our villa, but I wanted Brando to be the first to swim, just like I wanted him to be the first man who ate at our table.
I had been irritated with Violet for most of the day for even offering, but since nothing came of it, forgiveness came and we spent most of the day enjoying siestas by the pool.
Afterward, we started a fire in the pit, continuing the warmth from the day. But I could tell Maggie Beautiful had issues on her mind. A drink was ever-present in her hand.
As the flames of the fire rose in the night, tiny sparks floating into oblivion like drifting fireflies, Maggie Beautiful tried to persuade Violet to cancel her date with Romeo.
Violet protested with her Greek temper in place.She had married too young, she was sick of being a ping-pong ball, she just wanted one—ONE!—guy to enjoy at a time.
Maggie Beautiful gave me a knowing look. A Fausti man was not the one to test the waters with. If anything, he was the one to end it. Violet understood some of my attraction to Brando, but she didn’t fully grasp the concept. To her, it was mostly physical, but the infinite danger below the surface somehow escaped her.
A Fausti was never born a boy. He was bred to be a man. And if that man wanted you, he took you into his wilderness and became your gatekeeper. As beautiful and alluring as his place of solitude was, he could change the temperature in a heartbeat, and the hot blood in his veins could turn to ice.
Even Rosaria Caffi, who was far from innocent, couldn’t refuse the lure. She had married her own beast, after all.
Violet continued the protest until finally she looked at me and said, “Brando was right to let you go. He loved you enough to allow you a taste of the world before you married him.”
