by L. D. Davis
I took her hand and kissed her palm. I took both of her hands and held them between mine. “We are not fighting. I do not want to fight, but I do want to understand, Lydia. I do not want to think the worst.”
After a moment of quiet contemplation, she spoke in a quavering voice. “I keep getting accidentally knocked up. I’ve never gotten pregnant on purpose, and I’ve never gotten pregnant under the best circumstances. I feel irresponsible and embarrassed for being irresponsible. I knew I was pregnant before Adam made me take the tests, but I was in denial. We weren’t together. You weren’t even in the country, and you had so much going on. I didn’t want you to want me just because I was pregnant. Even more, I didn’t want to tell you I was pregnant for you to leave again anyway. I wasn’t ready to deal with that level of rejection.”
Her head shook slowly as tears threatened to spill once more. She blinked rapidly but didn’t look away from me.
“I had no intention of keeping this child from you, Marco. I haven’t kept the other kids from you, and they’re not even biologically yours. I was just…I was trying to deal, and honestly, I wasn’t dealing too well. But you need to know that after Gavin threatened to keep my kids away from me if I left him, I would never do that to someone else.”
With the back of my hand, I gently brushed away tears as they slid down her cheeks. My beautiful Tesoro had fought so hard to hide all her emotions a few months ago, but now she was open to me, bearing her heart to me.
I stood, pulled her to her feet, and wrapped her in my embrace. Her arms circled my waist. We held each other for a long time. It was nice, but I waited and waited for more words, yet they never came. I understood why she hadn’t told me about the baby right away, but she never did say why she had doused my happiness the way she did. Although I managed to push the thought away, it left a sticky residue in my mind, along with a nest of tiny but viable doubts.
Chapter Nine
Lydia
Giovanni’s home wasn’t what I expected. I thought the house would be as palatial as the Mangini homestead, but they lived in one of three bright-yellow modern apartment buildings. The edifices were built into a cliffside overlooking the dazzling Lago Como. The view from their fourth-floor abode was exquisite.
“Tess is on her way,” Salina said soon after we arrived. “The girls can play with Gia in the playroom. She’s in there with Louisa, our nanny.”
We followed her through the beautifully decorated open-concept apartment and down a hall as she pointed to each door with a description. “Louisa’s room, my room, the bathroom, that’s a closet. At the end of the hall is Gio’s room-slash-office. He turned the walk-in closet into a bedroom and the bedroom into an office.”
I thought about the size of the walk-in closet in Marco’s New York apartment. Without all the shelves and storage, a bed and a few other small pieces of furniture could easily fit. Giovanni’s use of the space was clever.
“Bernice—Gio’s mom—has the room off the kitchen when she stays with us. We tried to get her to switch with Louisa, but she likes being close to the kitchen. Stubborn woman. This is Gia’s room.”
Salina pushed open a door across the hall from her own, and we followed her into a bedroom clearly meant for a little girl with a pleasant decorative combination of teal, shades of pink, and periwinkle. It was pretty yet simplistic.
“And the playroom.” She gestured through an open set of double doors into a room. There were toys in bins, board games and books stacked on shelves, and a table with art supplies. Salina’s gorgeous daughter, Gia, and the nanny, Louisa, sat a smaller table with a plastic tea set.
The girls had met yesterday, but Cora stayed close to my side. She was always shy around other kids yet comfortable with adults. Mandy was the opposite. She was cautious around adults she didn’t know but loved other kids. When Gia happily waved, Mandy released my hand and immediately went to her. It took a little cajoling from Gia and the grandmotherly Louisa, but Cora eventually joined the girls.
Before we left the room, Tessa appeared, carrying a squirming, squealing dark-haired child. Appearing exasperated, she put him on his feet, and he immediately dashed toward the girls.
Gia groaned and rolled her eyes. “Here comes the wrecker. Daniel, siediti qui.” She pointed to a chair. “Siediti, Daniel.”
Her Italian was flawless. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought she was native to the country, but when she spoke English, she did that with a very mild and barely noticeable accent. I was so impressed with Gia that I almost missed the little boy’s features. Like his mother, his wavy hair and skin tone were dark, but there was a familiarity to his face that wasn’t related to Tessa at all. The shape of his eyes, the blue irises, and the shape of his mouth. I tilted my head as I tried to figure it out, but before I could, Salina pulled me from the room.
“Hurry. Let’s escape while they’re distracted.”
I followed behind her, and Tess took up the rear as we returned to the main living area. She pointed to stools at a long counter in the kitchen.
“Have a seat. Lunch will be ready shortly. I should have warned you that I am not much of a cook. I can throw together an antipasto, and I can make pizza. That’s about it. Bernice tried to teach me to make some things, but it usually ended in disaster.”
“The pizza è deliziosa,” Tess said.
Salina smiled with appreciation over her shoulder as she took something out of the fridge. A second later she held up a pitcher of orange juice. “Mimosa, Lydia?”
I really wanted a mimosa, but I shook my head. “No, thank you. I’ll just have plain orange juice.”
“How do you like Italy so far?”
I shrugged. “It’s different from the States, obviously, but I haven’t seen too much yet to give a full report.”
“I fell in love with the country the moment I stepped foot into it. I couldn’t stay away.” Her smile turned a little bitter as she muttered, “And now I can’t get away.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I felt the tension in her words. Tess caught my eye before I could think much of it. “How long you stay? I take you out to see.”
“I’m not sure. We didn’t decide on a date, but…if I’m not already fired for missing so much work, I will be if I don’t go back soon.”
“Elena will probably try to convince you stay through the holiday,” Salina said.
I glanced between the two women. “What holiday? I thought today and tomorrow are the holiday.”
Their eyes widened as they looked at each other and then me. “Marco didn’t tell you about Epiphany?”
I shook my head.
Tess tried to explain the best she could. “La Befana bring um…presents to children. Like America Christmas, children hang la calza for La Befana. Some places different. If Christmas children only get small presents and…um…sweets, then La Befana bring just presents. Other places, it is…backward. Big presents on Christmas and sweets from La Befana. Manginis do it first way.”
My eyes narrowed as I thought about her words and tried to sort them from Italian to English and failed. “Hang socks…hang stockings? I got that part, but who or what is La Befana?”
Salina shrugged casually. “A witch.”
My brows popped up. “Children hang stockings so that a witch can give them gifts? Don’t witches usually eat children in folklore?”
Salina’s eyes sparkled as she sipped her mimosa. “You’re thinking of the Brothers Grimm. The point is there will be gifts for the children on January sixth. The fifth is like Christmas Eve.”
“Oh. Maybe we should leave before that then. I don’t want to impose on their family holiday. That will be very awkward.”
“Italians are very family oriented and, also, very generous. I have no doubt that the Manginis have already planned for your children to celebrate the holiday with them.”
I shook my head and let out a small laugh. “I didn’t see this coming. When I first met Marco, I wanted to kick him in the face.
I never would’ve imagined I’d end up celebrating a major holiday with him and his family a few months later.”
After a moment of reflection, I admitted, “Sometimes I still want to kick him in the face.”
They giggled, which made me chuckle right along with them.
Salina placed some plates and napkins on the table and threw me a curious glance. “You never did mention how the two of you met.”
As she moved about the kitchen with the final brunch preparations, I told them the story about how Marco and I met. I didn’t tell them my sister had been kidnapped by a madman, though, choosing to only mention her pregnancy complications.
“And how is you stay at Palazzo Mangini?” Tessa asked tentatively.
“It’s a beautiful house. Elena has been very welcoming. Sofia has been a fantastic help. I’m starting to feel guilty because it seems like the kids have been with her since we arrived. Everyone has been nice, or…at least, cordial.” Tessa and Salina were virtually strangers, but I suddenly felt like I could be more open with them and say what was really on my mind. “Honestly, Francesca is cool, and Martina was nice, but Maria is…unapproachable.”
Salina agreed with that assessment. “She can be rather serious, but don’t take it personally. She is like that with everyone except her twin.”
“Maria is…” Tess hesitated as she tried to find the words. “Protection?”
“Protective,” her friend corrected with a nod.
“Sì. Protective.” She repeated the word carefully. “Always protective for her family. Uh…much so for Massimo, but now she…she hurt for Massimo. She afraid and sad and not want us to see.”
I nodded my understanding, because I could relate to her methods of protecting both herself and her family.
Salina tipped her head to one side. “What do you think of Massimo?” The question seemed cryptic. Both she and Tess studied me hard as they waited for my response.
“If you are really asking what I think of Massimo, I think he’s sweet and funny despite being so sick. I haven’t spent enough time with him yet, and I look forward to doing that, but I don’t think that’s what you’re asking. I think what you want to know, is what I think of Massimo’s wife.”
Tess glanced away, but Salina stared at me with interest. “Why would you think that?”
“Didn’t we sit next to each other at dinner last night? I didn’t exactly hide my irritation whenever I heard her voice. Did you not say that I might need to use my knowledge of the language as a weapon, especially where she was concerned? Also, Celeste warned me about her—not in detail, but the warning was there.”
Slowly, she nodded. “She was right to warn you. What do you know about her history with Marco and Massimo?”
“I know she was with Marco for some time when they were young before she cheated on him with Massimo.”
“Things not always what people see,” Tessa said softly.
I was skeptical and didn’t hide it. “She didn’t cheat with Massimo?”
“She did, but…things not always what we see. Then and now. Me and her always with the Manginis as we grow up. We were family to them, much more for Massimo and me and Celia and Marco, but her and me stop having friendship when her and Massimo…” She inhaled deeply and released it slowly, as if the storytelling was taking a toll on her. “Since then, I not like her, and she not like me. Massimo and me, our friendship was nothing for many years. When we friends again, he tell me many things, and that is why I say to you, things not always what people see. And things not always what Celia want people to see.”
Salina nodded solemnly, but all three of us were quiet and thoughtful for several moments. Tessa hadn’t said a lot, but at the same time, she’d said a hell of a lot in those few words. That wasn’t the end of it, either. Salina had her own mini story to tell. She said even less, but it packed a punch, just like Tess’s reflections.
“Giovanni and I were good friends, very good friends, from the first day we met, despite the age difference. When I found out I was pregnant with Gia, I came here to tell him, but he was busy at that time, and I had come unexpectedly. He handed me off to Celia for the day. I was very young, just barely eighteen, and too trusting. Well, I caught her in a compromising position, and to silence me, she twisted the truth when she betrayed me by telling Gio’s sister Maura. When Maura was finished with me, I left Italy the next day without telling Gio anything, frightened and alone.”
I gaped at her. “When did he find out about your daughter?”
At first, I didn’t think she would answer. She didn’t seem inclined to do so, but after a minute, she did. “Two years ago.”
That explained a lot, her reception into the family, and even her cool relationship with Giovanni. There was so much more she wasn’t saying, but I wasn’t going to push her. I was a virtual stranger to her, too.
“It’s not something I talk about,” she admitted quietly. “But I told you, and Tess told you because we had no such warnings. We found out the hard way that Celia Mangini is a snake and pay attention to what you say around her. You aren’t the only one who secretly has a grasp on a foreign language.”
We all stared at each other again, but unlike earlier, there was more clarity between us, and solidarity.
“I don’t know about where you two came from,” I started, aggressively stabbing the countertop with my finger. “But I will knock the shit out of that girl.”
Salina laughed. Tess chuckled, but there was still obviously a weight on her shoulders. I wondered about the details of her relationship with Massimo and Celia, but I wasn’t ready to reveal my past either, so I kept quiet.
Brunch was ready shortly thereafter. The kids sat at the dining room table while us ladies stayed at the counter. Louisa joined us. Giovanni emerged from his office for a few minutes to say hello and retrieve a plate of food Salina had reserved for him. He was very kind to Tess and me, but his tone was formal and cold toward Salina, even when he thanked her for the meal she’d made. She tried to hide how much that hurt her, but it was apparent in the way she watched him leave, like she wanted to throw something at him and cry at the same time. After Louisa took the kids back to the playroom, she spoke cheerfully while Tessa and I helped her clean up, but she was not that great at covering her emotions, at least not when it came to Giovanni.
Tess and Daniel left soon after brunch. Marco arrived not long after that, and just in time, too. Mandy was ready for a nap. Hell, I was ready for a nap. While Marco went to Gio’s office to say hello, I thanked Salina for the meal.
“It was fun. I haven’t had any girlfriends in a long time,” I admitted, feeling my cheeks turn pink. “I really needed this.”
Her smile was warm. “Don’t get all mushy on me now. We’ll see each other again in a few hours. When you go back home, that’s not the end of this new friendship, okay? We’ll talk. We’ll stay in touch. We’re family now.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. You’re practically one of them. I’m just a guest.”
One of her brows rose in challenge. “I already told you that you’ve been accepted into the family, but more than that…” Her words drifted off and her gaze flickered down to my midsection and back up. She moved close to me and whispered the rest of her words. “No wine last night, even though you’re in Italy where the wine is plentiful and the drink of the gods. No mimosas today, even though you looked longingly at mine. Also, I called you this morning and Cora answered your phone. She said, and I quote, ‘Mommy is in the bathroom throwing up again.’”
My mouth dropped open. I’d had no idea that Salina had called me before I’d spoken to her to confirm our date. I didn’t look either, but no one had mentioned it.
“Mmm hmm,” she said smugly when I said nothing.
“No one knows,” I said hurriedly. “Except Marco and Massimo. That’s it. Don’t say anything, please. I don’t want his family to find out accidentally.”
Salina rolled her eyes. “Lydia, I went four years without utte
ring a word to Gio about his daughter. I think I can manage this one.”
Marco and Giovanni appeared just then, cutting off our whispered conversation.
On the way back to the Mangini estate, Marco and I chatted idly, but my mind was focused on the conversation I’d had with my new friends. I’d already been wary of Celia, but the level of her bitchery was deeper than I could’ve imagined, and I had a feeling I was now a target.
“Massimo wants to spend some time with you,” Marco said after we got out of the car. “Is that okay with you?”
I was tired and distracted, but I offered him a small smile. “Of course.”
“And there is something else I want to discuss with you.”
I looked up at him, my brows drawn with distrust. “What is it?”
His grin made me relax a little. “It isn’t bad. We can talk on the way to Massimo’s after I leave the kids with Sofia.”
“I’m starting to feel like I’m taking advantage of the poor girl, Marco. Maybe I should visit with your brother later and give your sister a break.”
“That is sort of what I wanted to talk to you about, but come. We’ll chat on the way.”
Sofia seemed completely unbothered by us dropping off the kids to her like she was a daycare center. Marco called Armano’s cell phone to check on the boys, and after it was clear they weren’t in any danger, we headed to his brother’s.
“Are you sure they’re okay?”
“Yes, Tesoro. There isn’t much for them to get into out there, especially if they stay on the property.”
I wasn’t one hundred percent on board with my young son running around an unfamiliar place unsupervised, but by the time I was Gavi’s age, I’d been a latchkey kid. Most of the time, Lily was with me, but sometimes she wasn’t.
Thinking about my sister produced an unexpected pang of sadness, which led me to think of my mother, which also hurt. Suddenly, I felt isolated and alone, even though my hand was in Marco’s and there were two dozen or more people floating around the property. My mom’s cruise ship was scheduled to leave in two days. It was going to be her first real vacation, the first time she would be able to truly relax without worrying about me or Lily or any of her grandchildren. Despite everything, I was glad for her.