“No,” he said. “There is no arguing. I’m stating fact. You go where I go. My wife. My daughter. My sons. My family.”
I glared at him. “You went to Italy.”
“Then you should’ve been there.”
“You should’ve beenhere!” I lifted both of my hands and they came down with a slap on my legs.
“Fine della storia.”End of story.
We both had been rubbed raw that morning, and all the salt was stinging us both. He made his point, and I made mine. We were just one of those couples meant to be together all the time. We had argued this point to death though—there was no doubt where we belonged. Hip to hip.
We became quiet, and from the corner of my eye, I caught two figures dancing. Of course. Romeo and Juliette, moving to their own beat. A catchy song coming from Romeo’s mouth. It didn’t matter where they were, they lived in their own bubble, not caring about anyone else.
Besides, as soon as we arrived, most of the women around the pool had lowered their glasses, their awed stares hard on all the gorgeous Italians removing their shirts for a dip in the pool. Eyes were playing ping pong with the copious amount of fine male specimens in close vicinity—Mitch and some of his biker buds included.
After a while, the men seemed to tune them out, so even if the stares had adjusted, Romeo wouldn’t notice. Juliette would, but she had learned to live with the amount of attention our men received daily.
Brando followed my line of sight before he turned back to our children. “I wonder if his mamma forgot to take vitamins when she was pregnant with him?”
He said it so casually that it took a moment for the words to connect with a string of thoughts and make it to my funny bone. I exploded with laughter, almost doubling over with it.
It caught.
Brando grinned, and then his grin turned into a full-fledged smile, before he erupted too. So many of the women looked our way, ensnared by this gorgeous beast of a man laughing. It was a rare sound. One that I had locked away to remember at leisure. I hoped he used it so much that I wouldn’t have to cling as tightly to it—guard it as much as I did.
Romeo heard our laughter, smiled, and waved. We laughed even harder, our shoulders bumping as we lost control.
Our laughter tapered. I lifted my glasses and wiped my eyes as Brando sighed. Our children were laughing, swimming with each other and their cousins.
“You are so much better at this—” I chucked my chin at the children “—than you give yourself credit for. I knew you would be.”
Reflections danced in the lenses of his sunglasses. He took another drink of water. “They’re going to be big men,” he said. “Powerful. They’ll rule their universes. With that comes a certain sense of privilege. And I’ll be damned if they forget consequences to actions exist. They’ll know that if they do wrong, I’ll be the consequence they answer to.”
“Still,” I breathed. “You’re so good with them, Brando.”
He let my words sink in for a moment. He nodded but said nothing else. I could tell he was pleased.
Standing, he held his hand out to me. “Come swimming with me, my wife,” he spoke in Italian.
Not waiting for me to answer, he hauled me up, almost off my feet. My body came into his—his skin so much hotter than mine. It was like melting into the sun. Then he set me back, examining me from toes to head.
Guido had told him that I had worn this bathing suit before. He knew and had made a casual comment about it earlier. Casual, but in a tone that let me know heknewand was letting meknowthat he did.
It didn’t matter what we did—he’d know. Even if the detail was as small as the clothing I’d worn.
He shook his head. “Another fucking Ace,” he muttered. “I still can’t leave you alone. Not for a second.”
Our eyes connected and held.
The lump in my throat was hard to get down, but finally, I moved past it. “Never again,” I said with all the conviction I possessed. “I know there will be times we have to separate, for whatever reason, but not like we did this time. Understand? I—” I shook my head but kept my eyes on his. “I can’t stand to be away from you. Not like that. The separation does things to my blood—to the feeling. The separation becomes oil, and my blood turns to water—I separate into two parts.”
He dipped his head lower, his forehead touching mine, his lips barely. “My word,” he whispered. We stood that way until the children’s laughter pulled us apart, but our hands stayed linked.
“Who was that woman?” I asked as we glided into the water together. First embrace made me shiver before my body acclimated and it became heaven. The gliding. The floating. The weightlessness of it all.
“Not now.”
He lifted me in his arms, swimming us around. We became quiet, and I melted into the water, giving over all the weight that kept me burdened. I had found peace in this weightless solitude that reminded me of better days. When I could dance.
