Luca snatched Vincenzo by the shirt, his knuckles straining against the fabric. “Do you always make it a habit to walk in on other people’s wives? If you have an issue with the marriage arrangement, you cometo me!” The words were spoken quietly, but the power behind them wasn’t hidden. “We are clear.”
“Sì,” Vincenzo said, his shoulders squared, his chin up. “I do not have a problem with the arrangement.”
One of his eyes was beginning to swell shut, and his lip was busted. Numerous other cuts and bruises were either leaking blood or starting to bloom on his skin too. A piece of broken glass was lodged in his hand, from one side to the other. He didn’t even seem to care.
I, on the other hand, had to close my eyes a moment, focus on taking deep breaths. Mia had cried herself to sleep, holding on to the cross around my neck for dear life.
I understand, child, I thought, resting my lips against her head. It was times like these I wished for a pouch to set her in so we could both hop away.
Luca’s attention moved from Vincenzo to his son. The cut on Brando’s lip had reopened, and I knew later there would be bruising on his body, but I’d already checked on him. Nothing like glass through the hand.
“Son,” Luca said, releasing Vincenzo’s shirt and turning to Brando. “Is this the way we act in front of our wife and daughter?”
“I’ll act as I see fit in front ofmywife and daughter, sir.”
Brando said the words, but he refused to meet his father’s eyes. It reminded me of a stance a solider takes in front of his commanding officer. It made sense. Brando had been trained in the Coast Guard, one of the finest, and he was taught to respect authority.
He father stared at him for a minute. Then he nodded, going for the door. He waved his hands around, snapping out orders for men to clean up the mess. Brando stopped him there.
“No more men will come into my bedroom,” he said in Italian. “I’ll clean up the mess.”
Luca nodded. “You created it.”
I detected a double entendre to his words, and I bristled at the meaning implied. Luca considered me the mess. The worst part was that it grated one me because the truth was a jagged pill to swallow. I was trouble, always had been for Brando.
Romeo came into the bathroom after his father had left the room, checking on Juliette. He kept stroking her head, kissing her, asking if she was okay.
Uncle Tito left us and went to the men on the floor, muttering about needing more help, this interspersed with Italian curses. He hadn’t noticed Vincenzo’s hand yet, I didn’t think.
Vincenzo still stood where he had stopped fighting. Brando too. The two men stared at each other—ceasefire but no hostility abated.
“I am not going anywhere,” Brando continued in Italian. “Now you will forget my wife with the vows you will soon take and move on with your life.”
17
Scarlett
The beginning of December did nothing for the tremble in my hands.
It became worse.
I needed something familiar to steady me.
Dance had always been an escape for me, as strong as a magic pill, but it had been a while since I lost myself to it.
A rare occurrence in my life, no dancing.
As soon as the doctor had given me the go ahead after giving birth to Mia, I started right away, if only to keep myself somewhat conditioned. My mother was pleased with this; she still held hope that someday I’d return to the ballet.
In life, I ruled nothing out, but up until the tattoo, I didn’t miss it with a burn fierce enough to drive me back.
In the darkest times of my life, getting lost to something bigger than me helped me focus. It helped me lose the burdens and come out on the other side with more hope. I’d always known that dance was a talent, and through it, I somehow found my way in the world.
Forced on me, I rebelled against it, but given the chance to accept it willingly? It had become a gift. That hadn’t always been the case, but the older I got, the more I realized that it was something special, and not the curse the leeches who wanted to use it made me feel it was.
I’d woken up that morning determined to reconnect with a part of me that I’d come to rely on.
Brando had gone for his usual early morning routine.
