I had a wife, and more than any man, she served as my council, but somewhere along the way, when Scarlett was unable to, he had stepped in and become…something to me.
A voice of reason.
Someone who had lived the life, walked the walk, and talked the talk.
He could be trusted. And he was leaving. The second man to have this conversation with me in a matter of hours. The second man on my short list of confidants that would tell us goodbye soon.
The truth hit me a minute later, almost staggering me backward, though my feet didn’t move.
“Don’t sugarcoat this, old man,” I said, giving him a pointed look. “Tell me.”
“Ah.” He waved his hand. “There is nothing to tell. This decision has been coming.”
“Yours or his?”
His head snapped up at that. His eyes looked much smaller without the glasses. “Let us call it a tie.”
“Let’s call a spade a spade. My father influenced this decision.”
He rose, setting his glasses back on his face. He stood still for a moment, then shook his head and stood straight. “Do not keep your wife waiting long, nephew. The bed gets too cold in a house this vast and aged. Your warmth will be a comfort to her, as her softness will be a comfort to you.”
Before he made it to the door, he stopped and then came back, standing next to me. He took my shoulder in his hand and squeezed. “I loved your grandfather,” he said in Italian. “I gave him my word that I would watch over you if anything were to happen to him. I have come to love you as my own. I would be proud to call you son.”
Then he left without another word, the weight transferred to his slumped shoulders.
* * *
Scarlett buzzed from the bed, but when the door closed behind me, the noise stopped.
The bright light of the moon was being swallowed by the sky, right before night fully gives over to the day. All the colors in the room were muted. All but my wife’s hair.
Seeing that I’d come to claim my spot, Ruby yawned and then jumped from the bed, padding into the room where the children were. She’d be there when Mia woke up. She walked her to the bathroom every morning, sat next to the tub every night when she took her bath, and lay at the bottom of her bed each night while she drifted off to sleep.
If she told me she was leaving, or disappeared, I’d tear Luca from his warm bed and throw him in the icy canal.
“Where have you been?” Scarlett muttered, reaching out for me as I took all of my clothes off.
“In the kitchen.” There would be plenty of time to tell her all the new discoveries the night had offered up.
“Ooh.” She inhaled. “Peanut butter. Cinnamon. Apple?”
Slipping in beside her, I moved her closer, pressing her body against mine. “You smell like sleep,” I muttered in her ear, nibbling at her lobe.
“Sleep?”
“Your breath.”
She stilled, almost becoming frozen. “My teeth!” Slapping a hand over her mouth, trying to turn from me, she started to mumble,“I need to brush my teeth—I need to—now—my teeth.”
I kept her from flying out of the bed, keeping her pinned, attempting to stick my nose by her mouth. Proving that she was as nimble as ever, she came close to squirming out of the bed.
“I brushed your teeth,” I said, stopping her. “We had this conversation earlier. Your breath smells like mint. Still.”
She narrowed her eyes before she turned her face. “I don’t remember that part of the night.”
“You wouldn’t. I had to keep one hand on you while the other scrubbed your teeth. You were drunk with fatigue, but still bossy enough to demand your teeth get brushed.”
Without trying to cause a scene, she put her hand over her mouth and haaaa’d into it. “All right,” she said, her face softening. “I believe you.” She settled back under the covers, pressing against me again. “I like the way you smell better though. Kiss me. Now I want peanut butter.”
