“Like crap.Do you always feel this way?”she asked, groaning.“No, you probably don’t.”
“I don’t when I have a glass, but when I decide to take the whole bottle...”He tutted.“Yeah, it’s not a pretty sight.”
“I hate this,” Mia said.“I promised myself I was not going to get drunk again, but I didn’t feel drunk last night.I felt good.It was relaxing.”
“Scotch sneaks up on you.”
She had leaned back in the tub, and the bubbles covered her body.
Giovanni sat beside the tub and held out a piece of toast for her to take.
“Have you ever gotten so drunk that you have made a fool of yourself?”Mia asked.
“Yes.”
“You have?”
“Don’t sound so surprised.I was not always the man I am now.Besides, scotch is an acquired taste, and I happened to acquire it.”
“Boys’ lives are so different from girls’.We have to learn to be ...submissive.To not make waves or cause trouble.”
Giovanni chuckled.“I think you are failing on that front.Girls may have it hard, but it’s the same for boys.”
“Really?”Mia asked.“You have to deal with arranged marriages, looking pretty, and constantly being told you’re not good enough?”
“Yes, we have to deal with arranged marriages, but we also must be strong.My father put me through my paces, just as his father did before him.We learn a different set of skills.”
“But you don’t have to remain a virgin for your wedding night,” Mia said.
“True.We need to learn to become men, to become good husbands.”
“Not all men are good husbands,” Mia said.
He couldn’t argue with that.There were some men who liked to hurt their wives.Giovanni wasn’t one of them.The last thing he ever wanted to do was strike his wife.
“And not all women are good wives,” he said.
“Touché,” Mia said, finishing off her toast.“I am never drinking again.”
“Maybe you should not say never,” he said.
Mia frowned and rolled her head toward him.“You weren’t angry last night when you got home.You were already watching, weren’t you?”
Giovanni didn’t say anything.
“You really need to disable that damn security system.”
“That damn security system has saved our lives,” Giovanni said.“Besides, it has also helped us evolve.”
She groaned.“Evolve?”
“Mia, there is something I need to talk to you about.”
“Is it about what I said last night, because I know I said a whole lot and I can’t remember it all?”
“It’s about you and me, after you took that ...drug,” Giovanni said.
“What about it?Did you hate the way I acted?Did I embarrass you?”
