Something is troubling him and I want to know what before it brings all of us down.
As I pace back and forth in the living room, wearing a groove in the carpet, Santo comes into the room. He's done his best to entertain me over the past few days but there's a limit to how many games of cards you can play before going stir crazy.
"Signora Katya." Santo's voice is careful. He's right to be cautious. I'm on the verge of exploding. "Why don't we…."
"Don't." I hold up a hand to stop him. "Don't suggest another card game, a film, a game of Scrabble. Something is going on around here and nobody will tell me what it is. I've been patient long enough."
"I understand, but…."
"Do you know what's happening?"
Santo shakes his head. "Above my pay-grade, Signora."
"Hmm, well I've had enough." I press my fingers to my temples for a moment and breathe. Then I drop my hands and look at Santo. His expression is one of concern. "I'm going to speak to him."
He nods slowly. He doesn't try to stop me. By now, he knows better.
“Be careful,” he says as I brush past him.
He offers me an uncertain smile, something I’ve never seen from him before. Though he’d never overstep and say it outright, he thinks I’m making a mistake.
Perhaps I am. I know I am, yet I still storm along the corridor to Gabriele's study. I pause for a moment, gathering my courage, but I don’t knock.
Pushing the door open, I find him sitting at his desk. The light in here is dim, the shutters closed against the afternoon sun.
The desk in front of him is empty. There’s no laptop, no papers. It doesn’t look as if he’s been working on anything.
He’s just sitting there in the half-light with an untouched glass of Scotch in front of him. My heart flutters. This is worse than I feared.
"Gabriele." I take a cautious step into the room and close the door behind me. "Is everything okay?"
"Not now, Katya." His tone is weary but edged with something dark. "Now isn't a good time."
"When is it a good time?"
He has no answer for that. He picks up his drink, lifts it to his lips and then lowers it to the desk without touching a drop.
"Is there something you need?"
"Yes. I need my husband to stop avoiding me."
"I'm not avoiding you."
Does he really think that's going to fly with me?
"Yes you are. Something happened when Adriano was here and I have a right…."
Slamming his hand on the desk, Gabriele gets to his feet, bristling with anger. "You have no rights, not in my house."
He couldn't have shocked me more if he'd slapped me. His house? After I've spent weeks working to make this place somewhere worth living? My bottom lip wobbles but I refuse to cry.
"You're an asshole."
Gabriele closes his eye. His chest rises and falls slowly as he takes a breath. When he opens it, the anger has been replaced with something I can't name. It chills me to the bone.
"Get out of here, Katya."
"No."
