“That made you want out of the life?”
“Well,” she said as we stopped in front of our door. “Not out of the life totally. Joey is a part of the life. But it made me want something…semi-normal. A guy getting jealous over the girl. The guy buying a ring for the girl after he realizes she’s his and his alone, and then they live life after. No arrangements. Just love.”
“His jealousy made him act out of character? Wouldn’t that be bad for a marriage? Starting out on false pretenses?”
“No.Sometimes men and women need a little wakeup call to realize what’s right in front of them. It made him realize that he was about to lose the best thing that had ever happened to him. It made her realize how much she meant to him.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
She shrugged. “There’s more than one path to the truth. You want to find your truth,amica? It seems like you already have the road. You just haven’t taken it. A little jealousy goes a long way, or it doesn’t. But you’ll never know if you don’t use a little of your female prowess to find out. You want to know what’s really up Aniello Assanti’s sleeve? I think jealousy might be the key. Or maybe for a man like him, it might be possession. A claim to what he feels he’s entitled to. The most important question, or maybe answer, here beingwhydoes he feel entitled?”
Did I really want to know what was up Aniello Assanti’s sleeve?
That was a loaded question if there ever was one.
11
Rosalia
Not long after my accident, I accepted the fact that anything I wanted to know about that missing time, I was going to have to find out on my own.
As soon as I started asking questions, the entire place treated that time of my life like a crime scene and went silent about it. This only fueled my need to know even more. Then there was Aniello, always in the background, always making me curious.
Maybe it took an outsider to point out the obvious, but for the first time, somehow the lines were starting to cross between Club D, Aniello Assanti, and me.
I’d always been drawn to him, but apart from the obvious—physical attraction—I had no idea why. I just knew that it went beyond the flesh. I’d talked myself out of it time and time again, though. Because the truth, our reality, outweighed any feeling that something existed between us outside of the magnetic pull whenever we were in the same room.
I was going to test that feeling tonight, and even the thought of it scared the shit out of me.
In reality, this plan might work, or it might not, depending on how possessive Aniello was.Ifhe was. Either way, it could possibly eliminate him from the lines or make him even bolder.
The thought of him in my life did crazy things to my heart.
The thought of him being nothing to me, nothing but a forbidden dream—that thought made it hard to breathe.
For whatever reason, he had become air to me, even if he had no idea he had. Even if this was one-sided. He had become a symbol of hope, of more to life, and without that? I had nothing left to hold on to.
Absolutely nothing.
I took a deep breath in and released it slowly as I set the lipstick down on the vanity. Smoothed the dress out once more. Fixed a strand of my hair. Made sure the straps on the heels were tight enough around my ankles.
I’d never worn anything like this to work before. Wasn’t even sure when I’d bought it or why.
This dress took confidence to wear.
It was black and sheer with rose and vine embroidery—some of the stitching was in color, and some was black velvet. It had to be worn with high-waisted black bandage underwear because it was totally sheer, except for the flowers and the vines. It gave the impression that my body had floral tattoos, even my breasts, which were only covered by two roses.
I’d swept my hair up on the sides, letting the longer pieces fall over my shoulder, and went with minimal makeup, but made a statement with winged eyeliner and deep red lipstick.
It was then or never—I spritzed a little perfume on all the points and then forced myself out of my room.
Cilla was on the sofa, watching a movie. Bambina swept past me and jumped next to her, staring at the popcorn she was eating. She’d left her phone on the counter, which was unusual. She was never far from it. It went off, lighting up, and I glanced at it.
It was her mom, asking her opinion on floral arrangements.
“Shit!”
I jumped away from the phone, like I’d been caught doing something wrong. Cilla ran over to me, whistling as she looked me up and down.
