She laughed, but there was nothing funny about it. “What am I going to say? Your mamma is evil?”
Marciano made a noise like a laugh. Mariano hit him in the head. Mariano kept Marciano in line when Matteo wasn’t around. This family had certain rules, and they adhered to them. The way each one fell into line wasn’t just a sometimes thing. It was life to them.
“Okay,” I breathed. “How about this? How about, just for a little while, you pretend Rosaria doesn’t exist in your world. See what Massimo has to say. He’s not going to lie, make promises he can’t keep, or tell you something he thinks you want to hear. Maybe, instead of running, you give him a chance to work this out with you. I mean, Rocco seems like a strong hand in this family. If he gave permission for you and Massimo to marry, he’ll make sure Rosaria stays out of it. Especially now that he knows what she’s done.”
“I don’t know…”
I couldn’t feel like Scarlett, but I could feel how heartbroken Chloe was, and she was on the fence. She just needed a little push to get her to Massimo’s side again. “You’re leaving?” I nodded to her suitcase.
She nodded.
“Okay, how about this then. This moment will never happen again. You leave, and years from now, regret settles in heavy. Do you want that?”
She lifted her head and stared in Massimo’s direction. The tension between them felt like a whirlwind, and all the emotions between them were swirling in it. If she left, it would die, and the feelings would scatter. But maybe, just maybe, if she met him halfway, and they stood inside of it together, they could reclaim what she felt was already lost. And in saving the feelings, would save them.
“No, I don’t!” The answer seemed to explode out of her, and she jumped from her spot, almost tumbling over her own feet as she tried to get to him. His eyes lifted and he met her in that whirlwind, pulling her in.
“I’m not agreeing to anything, Massimo Fausti,” I heard her cry. “But I can’t do this. Leave you! Not like this!”
He was speaking to her in Italian as he lifted her off her feet, set her in his car, and sped away. When the dust settled, I was still waving some of it out of my face, not paying attention to the people around me. But all eyes were on me. I looked around, fiddling with the blanket, not sure if I’d done something wrong by talking Chloe into talking to Massimo.
“You’re all right, lil’ Star,” Mariano said. Was that pride in his voice?
“That was beautiful, Sissy Star,” Marciano said, his voice matching his laughter. Raspy.
I turned and met Maestro’s eyes. He wore a serious look, as serious as Matteo was, and then he nodded at me. It waspoignant, and I felt good about what I’d done, especially when I met Mia’s eyes and she mouthed to me, “Mamma would be so proud!”
The real pride came when my eyes met Matteo’s, and without saying a word, or even giving me a sign, I knew that, out of everyone, he was the proudest of me. He’d told me Massimo and Chloe were meant to be. Another love written in the stars. And if I didn’t say anything to her, I knewI’dregret it. After evil won for so many years, I refused to let it win another day in my life.
Matteo felt it too. That same intense feeling that drew Chloe and Massimo together.
It forced me up from my spot and Matteo from Saverio’s car. It was a feeling that reminded us that anything could happen at any moment, and the distance between us was too far, even if only a few feet stood between us.
He absorbed the impact of my body when it crashed into his. He wrapped me in his arms and held on to me like he had to let me go once upon a time, and once we finally reunited, he’d never do it again. It felt like centuries had kept us apart, and seconds were suddenly pushing us together, and neither of us could let go, even if our physical bodies ordered it.
We were commanded by something that lived someplace deeper than the flesh to stay together—always.
There was no telling how long I blocked out the real world, but when I was finally able to register it again, I realized all his siblings had gone, Saverio too, and we were walking toward the front door of thevilla. I forced my face to disconnect from his neck, where I’d been breathing in his pulse, feeling it beat against my tongue, to try to catch his eyes. But he was focused, and a skeleton key was in his hand.
“What are we doing?” I asked.
“I’m carrying you over the threshold, baby.” He took a deep breath and released it. “I’m carrying you home,la mia stella.”
Chapter 27
Matteo
Evening had spread across Tuscany, and the light looked pink, which seemed to wrap itself around Stella and halo her. She stood by the open window in a silver silk robe. I knew come nightfall she was going to shine even brighter than the stars for me.
She was humming “Corcovado” (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars). When I’d first played it for her, she called it lovely and asked me to play it again. I’d grinned at the way she’d called the songlovely.It made my heart swell that she seemed to enjoy our romantic ways, and some of them were rubbing off on her.
In time, I’d hope she’d come to expect that of me. To be a man who could romance her and sweep her off her feet, even when we were in our nineties. Nonno always said there was no excuse for a man to ever stop being romantic with his wife. It was his right to spoil her with it, and it was her right to be spoiled by it.
My grin widened when Stella started to move her hips to the music while she gazed out the window.Herwindow. It was almost unbelievable how this one person, out of all the people in the world, could bring so much joy to my heart just by me looking at her.
She sighed, long and soft, while her hips drifted to the soft beat of the music.
She sighed a lot, and it did my soul good to hear it. Especially after I’d surprised her with thecastello. I knew she’d fallen in love with it, even though it was hard for her to imagine me just buying it for her. A grin came to my face that I couldn’t control when I remembered how she’d reacted when I told her I worked for a living.
