He looked uncertain, but he agreed.
We all sat down, and I introduced Nazzareno to my dad—properly, since I could this time.
While my dad still had his hand, he looked at me and said, “You wanted this?”
“Yeah.” I laughed some. “I want this—for the rest of my life.”
He nodded and we all started eating. Even if dad didn’t say much, the conversation flowed, and it seemed so right to see him sitting at the head of the table, like he was overseeing his family. He had nothing left to hide.
Nazzareno and I told him about the properties in Candela. We told him Lilo and Lucila bought a place, and ours was one villa down from theirs. Minnie would have a place close to ours when she was old enough. I didn’t tell him Lilo and Lucila had bought him one too, and that Nazzareno and I were going to do the remodel for him.
He would have never accepted it.
Maybe once we got him there, though…
The plan was to get him to Naples, Florida to see Luci and spend some time with her. She deserved this moment too. So did Minnie. We’d all meet in Candela for the holidays.
Dad walked us to the door after dinner, and after I hugged him, I whispered in his ear, “Bonny is welcome too.”
He didn’t say either way, but I had a feeling he was going to welcome her company. She had been with him in Italy when he came to check on me at the hospital.
They walked us out to the street, and as we were getting to the car, I looked back. My dad was standing beside her some, but mostly behind. She was waving goodbye. I noticed my dad’s hand lifting some, and at first, I thought he was waving too, but then I realized…he was hesitating to put his hand on her shoulder.
I nodded at him and gave him an encouraging smile. After he made his move, her smile grew even bigger, and she set her hand over his. I took out my phone and snapped the picture, the sun shining down on them right before it set.
FORTY-EIGHT
AVA
The hotterthe weather grew in Rome, the more irritable I got. My nerves seemed to be on the surface of my skin, and it felt like every touch had me snapping my teeth. I was mostly okay with Nazzareno’s family, because they stayed mostly to themselves, and didn’t bother me. They were men, and men knew what a woman wanted.
In my case, not to really see them.
The more they were around, the more of a reminder it was.
My husband was about to battle it out in a sword fight with his cousin.
Nazzareno used the hidden “gym” room over at Beni’s for practice sessions. Mostly, though, we stayed at his grandfather’s farmhouse on the outskirts of Orvieto so he could have a more archaic regimen.
He was an excellent swordsman.
Rocco even told me that. Marzio had trained him and had always praised him for being a natural.
Again, though, the reality of what wasaboutto happen, and whenthe momenthappened, felt centuries apart.
At night, I’d imagine the scene. I was there, watching, and then it was over, andwewere going home.
Home.
That was all I cared about—going home with him, both of us whole and moving on.
The night before we left for Florence, where the “challenge” would take place, I couldn’t sleep. I grabbed for my glasses and my phone. I was thinking about writing another Instagram post, to myself but addressed to everyone else (probably my one lone follower; I hadn’t checked my stats since I’d created it) but fear was clouding my thoughts.
Nazzareno sighed, as relaxed as can be. He took my hand and held it to his bare chest. “I want this, to fight for your love in front of my entire family, but I do not want you to feel this much fear. I do understand it, and respect it, but if I do not do this, Renato will never back down. He will plague us until one of us breathes our last breath. The night of the event in Venice, you set a challenge in front of him, and he feels as if I have twisted fate’s attention.”
“I—”
He held a hand up. “For you, I would have done the same.”
