My heart broke equally.
Although we would still have his brothers, their families, Maggie Beautiful, and Luca, losing those two units felt substantial. Which was the point all along.
“He’s jealous,” I said, reaching out a hand to fix a stray hair that had fallen on my husband’s forehead. “We should have expected this.”
“Jealous?” He almost snorted. “The man only knows the word when it comes to his wife.”
I stared at him, letting him hide from me, but he couldn’t. Not really. He disagreed with me on the jealousy point, but something flashed across his face as he spoke the words.
Something that had happened in that room with Luca and Lothario, I thought.
Something that Luca had said that resonated with him, and he’d connected those words to mine, one proving the other true.
If one paid attention, the signs were all there.
Luca Fausti envied any man who was too close to his son, apart from his other sons. It was clear on his face when Brando held meetings with Uncle Tito, or when he clasped Mitch on the shoulder while they laughed about something they had done once upon a time.
Luca longed for Brando to look at him like he did Uncle Tito. He longed for Brando to laugh as freely with his brothers as he did with Mitch.
There was also the situation between me, Rosaria, and Carmen. We were all genial toward one another, we still conversed and laughed on occasion, but after Zermatt, a definite line had been crossed.
Juliette had moved toward me, as I did her, and of course, we had Violet. The three of us had history to begin with. We had all attended the same school in Louisiana before Juliette moved to another part of the state. Violet and I had always been close, and we were even closer the older we became.
The “extra” people in our lives didn’t factor into the vision Luca had for hisfamiglia.
On the other hand…I understood more about Brando’s father than Brando did. The need for me to rationalize the situation felt strong, even if I didn’t agree with Luca’s methods.
“Brando…you can be jealous too,” I said, cautious. We weren’t in unchartered waters here, but the issue with Luca was new. “The streak has to come from somewhere.”
He turned his head, giving me a “the nerve of you” look.
“We’re not talking about me.” I lifted my hands. “We’re talking about Luca.”
“No, I heard, ‘Brando…it has to come from somewhere.’” He mimicked my voice, making me sound harpy. “Meaning,I’mthe jealous one.”
“Did you even hear—” Looking at him, I knew I’d be lucky if any of the words coming out of my mouth made it through his stubborn head. “My point is…” No, that wouldn’t do either. “How about this. How would you feel if the tables were turned? What if Matteo looked at another man the way you wanted him to look at you?”
“Will he?” His eyes snapped to mine, suddenly alert.
“That’snotmy point. Purely hypothetical.”
He thought about that for a moment. “Would the man be like Tito? A good man, I mean.”
“Does it make a difference?”
Eyes turned back to the ceiling, he fixated on a spot for a while. He blinked once, cleared his throat, opened and closed his hands. “No.”
Then he went on to give me reasons why Matteo would not have reasons to look at another man the way he should look at his father.
I’ll be a different father. I’ll be there. I’ll be strict but not without love. His mamma is responsible; so am I.
His voice faded after a minute or two.
He looked at me again. “I’ll concede you the one point. Luca is jealous, but we both know that’s the not the only reason for his actions.”
Biting my lip, I shook my head. “No, it’s not.”
It did feed into the jealousy point, though.
