Dario took a step closer to Rocco, faces inches apart, their chests rising and falling at the same time. Moonlight filtered in between them, making them seem like two wild animals about to face off. The sea wasn’t helping matters. The floor undulated underneath our feet.
After Dario’s flippant remark, I sensed what was coming and I braced myself for it. Rocco was no small player, and neither was Dario, who now had frustration and resentment on his side. These were not ordinary men. These were powerful animals who didn’t mind taking a chunk out of flesh with their teeth.
“You should know the man,” Dario said, hard-faced. “His teammate shared your wife’s bed.”
Rocco’s face transformed to stone. In an instant, Romeo and I were between them, keeping them from ripping each other’s throats out.
“What is going on here?” Valentina screamed, throwing up her arm, her doctor’s bag flinging out wildly and barely missing the four of us.
Thomas stood behind her, holding two mugs of steaming tea. Honey and lemon drifted in the air.
No one answered her, but her appearance slowed things down. The residual looks on Rocco and Dario’s faces clearly stated that this wasn’t over. Dario went below a few seconds later. Rocco fixed his hair and followed behind, going to his own cabin.
Shouting emerged in heated Italian not long after. Rocco and Rosaria.
“I will go below, sit close by,” Guido said, a resigned look on his face.
“Animali!” Valentina said, shoving past us, retreating back down below.
Romeo took the two mugs from Thomas, telling him to go back to bed. Mitch followed not long after, taking one of the mugs for himself.
I watched the rise and fall of the sea, lost to the numerous thoughts that refused to leave my mind. Romeo was just as quiet. The strife that existed between Rocco and Dario unnerved him. A formal stiffness sometimes plagued them, but never bad blood.
It set me on edge too.
I understood the tension between Rocco and me. We were almost the same age. Rocco was raised to believe that he was the eldest son. He held all of the privileges, the rights, and the responsibilities. I showed up and turned his world upside down. We had smoothed that out in Africa, though, and for the first time, I felt we were brothers, nothing more and nothing less. All of us became close. But battle lines were drawn, and first blood had been shed.
“Brando?”
I turned to find Valentina standing behind me, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “My wife,” I said.
She looked at Romeo.
“I will warm Scarlett’s tea.” He disappeared below, giving us privacy.
“Scarlett will be fine. She has started her menstrual cycle. Cramps are par for the course, for some. I understand her history and therefore some of her fears. After what happened to her…” She lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “I explained to her that the amount of blood she sees is what she is supposed to be seeing.Tutto è normale.”All is normal.
I cleared my throat. “Is that the cause of her nightmares? Her mood swings?”
“As much as men like to believe our moods are synchronized to our menstrual cycles, this is not always the case,” she snapped. “Stress! Dealing with—” she waved a wild hand around “—this particular lifestyle. It is enough to send the bravest to the edge! I have given your wife something for the cramps and her upset stomach. By morning, I expect she will feel more like herself. The nightmares? She has been under a good deal ofstress. Now.Goodnight.” She got to the first step, took a deep breath, and then released it. “Brando?”
“Yeah.”
“I apologize. You did not deserve that.”
“He’s always been in love with her,” I said. Her shoulders stiffened but I went on. “He’s never been able to let her go.”
The woman helped save my wife’s life. I owed her that much. People are quick to go on about an eye for an eye, but they never remember to give when something has been given—it’s called remembering karma.
“She is married,” she said, the hurt in her voice causing it to quiver. “To his brother.Iam in love with him.”
I nodded, but she didn’t see, and then she was gone, replaced by Romeo. He held another steaming mug in his hand.
“I was thinking,” he said, tapping the side of the mug. “You should bring her back to Ireland.”
“Scarlett.”
“Sì. Guido tells me these parades happen on a regular basis. Bring her back to the source of the fear. He said she called for you. Ah, when she could not breathe. The best way to get over a fear is to conquer it, ah? You can conquer it with her. Or for her.”
