There were not enough words in the world that could make this better.
Chapter 4
In Her Honor, My Honor is Strengthened
Rocco
When a man’s footsteps fall a second time down the same road he has traveled before, it will cause him to reminisce. The distance of time, between then and now, could be felt in a place inside of me that kept track of the hands of time.
In my bones.
The first time my footsteps fell along these streets, they had landed years before, and my hand was on my brother’s shoulder, his hand not on mine. My men and I had walked these streets in honor of the sister of my heart.
We walked these streets the second time in honor ofmyheart.
Aria Amora Bella Fausti.
For similar reasons than the first, except this time, a boy had disrespected my wife, therefore me.
It did not escape me that the speech Mac gave at my wedding was pure truth:
“Your love story is an accumulation of every love story he has ever witnessed and wished for himself. Aria Amora Bella Fausti. You are a wildflower. A rose. A butterfly. You are Italy. You are New Orleans. You are entirely his. And he is eternally yours.Senza fine.You are the queen of his heart, and he is theking of yours.”He lifted his glass, and everyone followed suit. He wished us a hundred nights such as this one and then said, “Salute!”
If the story of our love was the accumulation of all the love stories that I had yearned for over the years, it would only make sense that bits and pieces of each one were unraveling with our time together.
Music from the establishment where my steps would end on this nostalgic walk seemed to spill out of the door. The same genre of music my wife enjoyed (although she enjoyed almost all of it, switching stations in the car or the music from her phone if one did not please her or suit her mood) echoed in the packed streets.
A woman jumped in front of me, smiling.
“I’m here with my friends for the weekend.” She curled a long blonde strand around her finger. “Want to meet me inside and buy me a drink? I’m not usually this forward, but, oh my God, you are so fine!” Her eyes jumped from me to my men. “My friends think so too. Yourentiregroup.” She laughed as a child would.
I wore a wedding ring. She did not notice or did not care.
Once upon a time, that was me. I noticed everything but did not care. Who was to stop me?
For the rest of my life and beyond, my wife. The love I carried for my wife would stop me.
I ignored the giggling girl, sidestepping into the bar.
“Rude!” she shouted at my back.
My men followed behind me, and we took seats in the corner, ordering drinks from a waitress who spotted us right away.
“Came here looking for Rem?” She grinned at me.
“Tell me,” Romeo said, snagging her attention, “do many men come looking forRem.”
“Oooh,” she cooed at Romeo. “I more than like that tone. Just for that, I’ll spill my guts. Especially since you men seem like excellent tippers.” She winked. “A lot of menandwomen come looking for Remy Mestengo. He charms the women, you know? For the record, I never thought that girl, the one he’s been obsessed with—Ari, I think is her name, the one who came in with you men the other night—was right for him. Just didn’t seem like his usual type. The type he could boss around and get away with it.
“She seems spirited, which usually earns his usuals a bruise or two when they try to deny him. I warned her about him. Because let’s put it this way. I’msoglad I’m not his type. But this job is important to my financial well-being, so…” She shrugged.
“The guys who come looking for him…” She sighed. “I don’t want to lose my tongue for discussing that. Dark business.” She looked us over. “Which I’m assuming you fellas are here for too. And that’s my cue to get going. I’ll be right back with those drinks.” She left humming the song playing in the background.
A man singing about lies.
For the truth in her words alone, this woman had earned the title of informant for the Fausti family. I already knew what she had told us about the boy was the truth. I would speak to my wife to verify her words about the warning, but I did not sense a lie.
Guido stood, straightened his shirt, and took the drinks from her when she came back with them on a tray. He handed her an envelope. She would find more money in her account that night. We did not even need her name. Every name of every person who was associated with this bar was already mine.
