“Uh, I’m not really that hungry,” she said. “So how was your day?”
“Sucked, mostly.”
“Oh? What did you do?”
I hesitated as I read her expression, seeing no hint of a lie in the question. “I went to Palermo.” And she didn’t know that? She didn’tlook up my location? I had been gone pretty much all day, and she hadn’t been curious about where I was?
“No wonder you’re home so late.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her makeup already off her face like she was ready for bed, even though she normally didn’t remove her makeup until right before bed.
“Did something happen at work?” I didn’t want to interrogate her for information she didn’t want to give, but I knew something was different. I knew it had nothing to do with me because there’d been no conflict between us.
“What?” she asked automatically. “No ... it was fine.”
“Isabella didn’t come by or something?”
“No,” she said quickly.
“Then what’s wrong?” She was pretty forthcoming with me about her thoughts and feelings. I never really had to wonder what she was thinking, and I loved that about her. But now, she wore a mask I couldn’t penetrate.
“Um ...” Her eyes frantically flicked back and forth as the panic set in. “It’s pretty clear your sister doesn’t like me, and I’m just having a hard time building a connection with her ... that’s all.” She gave me a sad smile, then loosened her arms from around her body.
“Don’t worry about her, sweetheart.”
“I know how important your family is to you.”
“You’re my family.” My hands slid into her hair as I tilted her head back to look at me. “Whatever issue my sister has is her business. Let her deal with it, okay?”
Her eyes were locked on mine, and a softness came through, a softness she showed me nearly all the time.
I was glad to see it again. “Anyone who doesn’t like you can fuck right off. Don’t prove yourself. Don’t play nice. That applies to everyone—including Beatrice. You think I give a damn if someone doesn’t like me?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“Then don’t you dare give a damn about her.”
I’d thought we resolved Aurelia’s stress, but the very next morning, she was the same. Quiet and distant, she avoided eye contact a lot of the time, which was completely unlike her. The most obvious reason for the avoidance was to hide a lie, but she had nothing to lie about.
I dropped her off at work, then did my morning workout and showered. Had breakfast, took Medusa out on a walk, and then I sat on the patio under the shade of the umbrella and marinated in my thoughts.
I didn’t know what the fuck to do with myself.
Didn’t know how to stop the pain.
Returning to Rome and defeating Darius was the only way to fix it, but that wasn’t an option. Even if I could hide Aurelia in a place where he would never find her, her safety wasn’t guaranteed. Because if I lost the battle, Darius would spend the rest of his life hunting for her. And when he found her ...
There was nothing I could do. I was exiled from my home, and I’d run like a coward. I was a disgrace to my ancestors. I was a disgrace to the empire.
But I’d rather be a disgrace than lose the woman I loved.
Medusa ran around the yard for a while before she came back to me. She stood there in her walker and looked up at me, like she had the intuition to feel my thoughts, my sadness. Her big brown eyes looked into mine as she searched for a solution to my heartache. Then she came closer to me and rubbed her head against my leg, the closest thing to a hug she could give.
I started to pet the top of her head. “I’m okay, baby girl. If I could do it all over again ... I wouldn’t change anything.”
I took Aurelia out to dinner, to one of my favorite restaurants, Trattoria Tiramisù. Their family was friends with my family, like pretty much everyone in Taormina, and they had great food.
I ordered a bottle of wine for the table and then looked at the menu.
The waiter poured the glasses of wine, then left us to decide what we wanted.
