Page 51 of Valentino

I walk into the refrigerator and find a bottle of wine; I open a few kitchen cupboards and finally locate the glasses and fill two.

I stand at the window and sip my wine as my mind wanders over every step of this kitchen and this beautiful apartment. It’s not fair that she’s not here to see it.

And I know I get hung up on the Carlo part of this equation, but when reality hits home I get why Valentino is so angry and hurt.

Hellbent on vengeance.

I would be too.

I carefully take the stairs. “Val,” I call when I get to the top.

“In here.”

I walk down a giant corridor and pass a few bedrooms and at the very end I walk into the grand master suite. The bed is giant and the room is a deep burgundy color. Gilded frames surround paintings and a chandelier hangs from the roof.

“Jeez,” I mutter under my breath as I look around. “It’s like Henry the Eighth lives in here.”

Valentino chuckles from his place in his walk-in wardrobe.

“I kill my wives too.” He laughs and then I laugh, and then it hits at just how close to home it is, and we both fall silent.

“I mean….” His voice trails off

“I know what you mean.” I hand his wine over.

He goes back to packing his things into a black leather overnight bag.

“We can have some dinner here before we go back to my place, if you like?” I offer.

“Okay.” He continues packing as if lost deep in thought.

I lean on the doorjamb of the wardrobe; suits are lined up in perfect rows. Expensive shoes, an entire wall of them, and they even have lights behind them as if it’s a store.

He pulls out a drawer and it’s filled with watches. “How many watches do you have?” I scoff.

“Too many to admit to.”

“Your wardrobe is so neat.” I look around and make a mental note to never let him see inside of mine.

“Well to be fair, I have an excellent house manager who takes care of this stuff.”

“A house manager.”

“Yeah.” He pulls out a tie and holds it up before rolling it around his fingers.

“What does a house manager do?”

“Manages my house.” He raises an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean. What’s the difference between a house manager and a cleaner?”

“I guess a house manager looks after everything and a cleaner just cleans.”

“She moves between the two houses?”

“Yes, and my house in Lake Como.”

“I didn’t realize that you had a house there.”