In this crowd, Brando and I seemed to be loners. Brando seemed to be feeling the situation out. He had spent time with this man, but under different circumstances. He had never seen his father free before, in his own place, at his own table.
Brando hadn’t admitted it to me, but a nagging voice continued to whisper in my ear that maybe he had thought about this situation before—sitting at a table with his father without the separation of it coming between them.
Alternately feeding Mia pasta and shifting food around my own plate, I wondered if there was a form of kryptonite for a man like Luca Fausti. I doubted it.
As the table enjoyed the meal, Luca kept a steady gaze on the people seated around it. No more so than our side. For whatever reason, he was fixated on the three of us. I hadn’t met his stare since we’d first arrived. There was no need. His eyes burned as hot as my husband’s. I felt it all over me.
That nagging voice also whispered that he paid us more attention because we were not as easy to figure out—our dynamics. He’d never even seen us together, much less sat in the room with the two of us.
What is it that makes you two tick?he seemed to be thinking to himself.
Or was it admiration? I found that hard to believe.
“I am not a man in the habit to ask why, so I would be honored if you answered.”
I heard Luca make the statement, heard him set his wine glass down, but didn’t bother to look up. Conversation had been flowing around the table since we’d taken our seats, but I had yet to involve myself in it. If I wasn’t paying attention to Mia, or the food on my plate, I kept glancing at the empty spot at the other end of the table.
Where was Luca’s wife? More importantly, where was Maggie Beautiful?
Brando took my hand and squeezed. Looking up at him, his silent look said that Luca had been addressing me.
“Hm?” I wiped Mia’s face even though she didn’t want me to. Her hands came up to stop me, shaking her head back and forth.
“Asta! Mo, Amma!”
Brando scooped some out of his plate, giving it to her.
“Eeeee!”
Luca slowly put his glass down again, leaning forward, making a steeple with his hands. “Why my son?”
The table became quiet for the first time since we’d arrived, all eyes on me. I wondered if he was going to go around the table with this question, but suspected the answer to that was a resounding no.
What is it that makes you two tick?
I met his intense stare. “Do you believe that I am a witchtoo?”
Ettore put down his fork and wiped his mouth. For the first time he was interested in the direction the conversation was headed. Perhaps he had put together a pitch as to why I should be burned at the stake, or kept underwater until I could no longer breathe, and was ready to present the evidence to judge and jury.
Luca smiled. I thought I heard Carmen swoon but wasn’t too sure. Could’ve been any of them.
“No, Rose,” he said, and Brando stiffened next to me. “If you were a true witch, I would long be dead.”
Ettore coughed, almost spitting out the sip of wine he had taken.Let me present to you evidence number one, your honor. I am almost dead.
“There is something peculiar about you,” Luca continued. “I knew it the moment I set eyes on you. I could feel it. To hear is one thing, but to see is another, ah? You stole the breath from my lungs when you walked into that room. This is why I had to watch you leave.”
Brando looked between the two of us, eyes aglow with feverous suspicion.
“My husband didn’t tell you anything?” I asked, picking up the wine that had been offered, but until that moment hadn’t touched.
Brando moved it out of reach as soon as I put it down.
“My son has denied me for much too long. Hurting me to the core of my heart. He would not bring you to meet me, nor would he go into detail about the two of you.”
“You know how we began?”
“The moment after he watched you dance in the snow—was it not?” At my nod, Luca continued. “He fell in love. But love for a man such as my son is not feasible. You see, he now has a target on his heart. He is vulnerable. My advice was cruel but true. He should have stayed away. For both of your sakes. Because now three of my sons are targets.”
