Her words still cut me, but it's not as deep as it used to be.
"We're in love," I say. "He's a good man. He'll do anything to protect me."
"Isn't that lovely?" she replies. "But the real question is, would you do the same for him?"
The woman standing before me retrieves a second phone. She shows me footage of the inside of the bar. It shows Dante and Ida huddled together as they speak. Seated in a booth directly behind them are two men, one of whom has a concealed gun pointed directly at Dante.
"I wish it didn't have to be this way, but you've left me with no choice," my mother says. "You always needed a little nudge to do the right thing. I have people everywhere. If you don't return to me in the next twenty-four hours, you're going to wake up with a dead man next to you."
I start hyperventilating at the very thought of something happening to Dante or his sister.
"Mother, please," I say.
I try to bargain with her, but like always, it falls on deaf ears.
"I'm in Rome," she says. "Zoe will give you the details of my hotel. I hope you make the right choice before it's too late."
"Mother, wait—" But she cuts the call before I can finish my sentence.
My head fills with white noise as Zoe writes down an address for me on a piece of paper. She folds it and pushes it into my palm before leaving. I'm alone in the bathroom now, completely at the mercy of my racing thoughts.
Everything was going so well.
Things were finally starting to make sense. I found something so beautiful. I don't want to let go of it just yet.
But my mother always keeps her promises.
If she says she'll hurt him, she will.
I have no other option. I have to go back to my mother.
When I return to our table, I pretend I didn't receive news that shattered my world.
I pretend everything's normal as we head back to the beach. I smile as Ida and I take photos together. I pretend to enjoy the glorious sunset.
Dante watches me, but he doesn't say anything. It's only when we return to our bedroom at midnight that he holds my wrist and asks me the question I know is coming.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
I don't have the words in me tonight. I don't know how to say goodbye to a person who has become so important to me. So I don't.
"I had a really nice time today," I say to him. "Thank you."
"I did, too," he says. "But why have you been acting strange all evening?”
I wrap my arms around him. It's the middle of the night. We're illuminated by the moonlight. I want to whisper my secret to him. I want him to tell me that it will all be okay.
But again, I can't find the words.
My mother's threat holds me back.
"Can you kiss me?" I ask.Because it might be the last time you ever kiss me.
His fingers slide into my hair. He tugs on my strands and makes me meet his burning gaze.
"I know I've been caught up with so many things lately, but you are my number one priority, Grace," he says. "Family is everything to me, and there's not a single thing I wouldn't do for you. If there's something I've done that you're not happy with, I want you to tell me.”
"You're perfect," I whisper. "I love you, Dante. So much that it feels like agony."
