“Michela has a dance competition. I told her I’d go.”
I couldn’t help but listen to their little quarrel. Antonio and Michela grew up together like siblings. It was clear Stacey viewed her as a threat even though Michela was older than they were and had no interest in Antonio in that way and vice versa.
“Seriously?” Stacey huffed.
“We can go after.”
Antonio was like his father—he didn’t like being told what to do and was unapologetic about his decisions. After we dropped Stacey home, weheaded to my mother's for dinner. Antonio joined his cousins while I sat in the kitchen with my sisters as my mother cooked. It was like old times, before Rita and Isabella were married when Marco was alive, and Luca was the family's angel. I remember when Luca came home to tell us he was drafted to play soccer in Europe. Mother cooked his favorite dish as she always did for each child to celebrate their accomplishment.
“You know, when I was your age, I was married with my first kid,” Rita told me. “When are you going to start your own family?”
“If your brother Luca can stop scaring off men!” I reply.
“Luca was nothing compared to Marco,” Isabella chimed in. “Remember, he would third wheel every date!”
“Okay, maybe you guys had it worse,” I laugh.
“Bethany, why don’t you let Luca set you up with someone? He has so many connections,” my mother smiled warmly.
“I don’t know if getting married is for me.”
The three of them looked at me as though I had ten heads. “What?!” they all said at once.
I shrug my shoulder, “What’s so bad about that?”
“You’re beautiful and smart,” Rita said, “Wouldn’t you want to pass those on to your future children?”
Isabella spewed with jealously, “Beth and Luca were the lucky ones getting those green eyes.”
I stuck my tongue out at her. She was always envious of that.
“All my children are beautiful,” my mother cut in. “But Rita is right; you should settle down.”
“How about this? I’ll marry when Luca does!”
The three of them shook their heads.
“So never,” Isabella replies. “You know after Claire he swore off marriage.”
Thinking of his deceased spouse, Claire, made me angry. She was selfish, always wanting more out of Luca than he could offer. She despised him for not loving her the same way she loved him, so she went on a suicide mission. Everyone plays it off as though she passed from an illness like cancer. But she had more of a mental illness. Luca found her locked in a car with their two children as the engine was on in the closed garage. Antonio was the only one who made it out alive. Claire and their daughter, Lilianna, who was only a month old, didn’t survive.
“You would too if you were married to Claire,” Rita blurts out.
“Rita!” my mother shouted.
“It’s true.”
“He wouldn’t have married her if it wasn’t arranged,” Isabella added. “Too bad about Sandra.”
This made the room go silent. No one mentions the name Sandra, especially around Luca. She was his first love and only love. He found her body floating in one of Chicago’s fountains. When it came to love, Luca didn’t have much luck.
“Mood kill,” I said to Isabella.
“I still have hope for him,” Rita voiced, “And I have hope for you too, Bethany.”
Chapter 8
After settling in, I check on my brother. All the walls in the office were glass, so no one could ever hide from doing anything. I used to think it was part of the office’s aesthetic, but I’m sure it’s a security thing. As I approached his office, which was the only secluded one located away from everyone else, I saw Emilio standing there with one hand in his pocket as he spoke to Luca. This would be the first time I saw him since throwing myself at him. A reminder of the embarrassment was making me sick to my stomach.
