I closed my eyes, facing the sun, letting it fuel me too.
“If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it the same way, with my love,” Kitty whispered. “Two men, two great loves, and my one heart.”
I opened my eyes, and she was staring at me. “I know,” I whispered back. I gave her a second before I asked, “After Mr. Big—your Mr. Big—passed, you stopped being with Old Gio too?”
She nodded. “It didn’t seem fair. And after all that time of them sharing, Giordano understood. They always understood. For me. That’s how much they loved me. They loved me enough not to make me choose between them, because like I said, it would have killed my entire heart. Like it would kill your entire heart to lose my grandson.” She closed her eyes again. “This is my first time back on this ground since I left. I can feel my mamma here. I think she knew I needed double the love of an average woman and sent them to me. I had big dreams. And nothing less would do.”
She sighed. “I’ll never return here. I’ll die in Portofino, so my loves will know where to find me. You know that’s why Tullio built the casino to resemble it. Yes, his mamma was from there, and that’s what the story is. But…he did it as a reminder. Portofino was the place we fell in love. And Giordano built Paradiso to resemble what I felt like to him. His heaven. They even bought Tres from Mr. Davies. I never returned with both of them again—it was one man or the other. They alternated summers. Just like I might have kissed Tullio first, but I’ve kissed Giordano last and will one last time when the time comes.”
The two places in Vegas sat side by side, a fake sea between them that Tullio Bigatti, my husband’s grandfather, had built with Giordano Capitani. A split line between all three of their hearts, Canta Maria Ducci the center of it.
“Always the middle,” as she had said.
We grew quiet again as we closed our eyes, faces still turned to the sun. Then, in what felt like too short a second, but too long of one too, because I was eager to get home to my husband, Georgia and Rocky were back. They had gotten Lidia settled in the car and dumped the trash.
Kitty’s eyes blinked open when Georgia touched her shoulder.
“Ready to go, Ms. Kitty?”
She smiled, but it was a trembling one. Canta had been saying goodbye to the place she was born since we arrived. She had lost so much there, but she had found herself through big dreams. “I used to come here when I was little. I’d play in the summer. And I’d do this, turn my face to the sun, after I’d spent all my energy. It’s a small, free pleasure to have the sun on your face. But...it had always felt so rich to me. Like warm silk gliding against my skin.” She ran a tender hand down her cheek. “Then I’d open my eyes in a blink, and something would change with the scenery. Just a small thing. A leaf would have blown over my foot, or a rabbit would have come out to nibble. And that’s how life feels. Like a blink. Each year changes the scenery a little.”
Georgia squeezed her shoulder. “Do you feel you used up your time well?”
Kitty smiled. “So well, and I still have more to go.”
Georgia and Rocky each helped Kitty to her feet and started walking her toward the car where Lidia was sleeping with her mouth open.
“I’ll go ask one of the men to drive us down,” I said. “I’ll ride in the back with Rocky.”
I was in my own world, staring at everything but what was up ahead, my mind a jumble of thoughts as I made my way to the security car. When I looked up, I blinked and stopped.
Kitty was right. The scenery had changed.
My husband stood close to the car, his arms crossed, waiting.
He’d been in the car the entire time.
Maybe he noticed the surprise on my face because he said, “I’ll always be here to protect you. I’d kill for you. I’d die for you. You’re mine.”
I didn’t realize I’d crossed my arms. I relaxed them some, and he nodded toward the car. We walked together, and close enough, he opened the door for me. The other man was already making his way toward the car with Kitty, Lidia, Georgia, and Rocky.
The car ride was quiet. I set my seat back some and closed my eyes. I fell asleep, and I when I woke up, we were close to Hotel Tre, and Big had my hand. He kept it while we made our way to our room. I stopped him in the hallway when I noticed a blown-up black and white photo hanging at the end of it. I’d noticed it before, and admired it, because the woman smiling back at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes was drop-dead gorgeous.
She wore a gold dress encrusted with diamonds and pearls.
She was the center of it.
Looking a little closer, I noticed for the first time the two men on either side of her. They were both dapper, in dark suits that screamed money and power.
Yet it was clear to see.
She had control of them.
Their eyes were glued to her.
I turned some, and Big’s eyes were glued to me.
“That dress she’s wearing.” He nodded to it.
