‘What a fucking awful example of marriage I grew up with. Half of me descends from a man who didn’t come to his own son’s funeral. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to make peace with that.’
His sudden vulnerability cuts me to the quick.
I take his hand. ‘Anyone who knows you, knows you’re a good guy.’
We walk, neither of us speaking, our hands gently linked. And it’s only when I notice Pen is already waiting for us at the car that I release his hand.
Chapter 42
Back at the house, Mark insists on cutting the slices ofgalatobourekointo bite-sized cubes.
‘You know what people are like. Everyone’s too embarrassed to take a whole slice.’ He pops a piece in his mouth. ‘Fuck, this is incredible.’
He takes a cube between his thumb and forefinger and holds it out for me. I eat it from his hand, and then he licks his fingers in a very distracting way.
‘Delicious, right?’
I nod, savouring the syrupy filo and the cool patisserie cream.
‘When I was in the army, the cook used to make us this on our name day.’ He smiles at the memory. ‘He’d always make me two – one on St Mark’s Day and one on St Antony’s. He was a good guy.’
‘It sounds like you enjoyed your time there?’
‘Yeah, I did.’
‘It’s funny, I wouldn’t have thought it was a natural fit for you. You hated authority and yet you go and spend two years where your sole activity is to follow orders.’
‘I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. My grades were average, but I didn’t care about school. I only cared about …’
‘The three Fs?’ I finish for him.
He smiles wryly. ‘The army was your dad’s suggestion.’
I’m taken aback. ‘Really? My dad?’
‘Yeah, he said it had done him the world of good and that he thought it was what I needed. Structure, a purpose, all that stuff. He was right.’
‘I had no idea.’ I frown. ‘I’m amazed that you listened to him. We barely did.’
He shrugs. ‘I was craving a male father figure to make up for the complete shit-show of the Giovanni years. He taught me to shave, too.’
More and more surprises. ‘I had no idea boys needed to be taught that stuff.’
‘I was sort of doing it myself but hadn’t quite got the hang of it.’
‘It’s funny, Dad must have taught Yan, too, but he isn’t half as attached to shaving properly as you are. He says you never miss a morning, but maybe occasionally you should. Mark Marino’s Stubble would make a killing on OnlyFans.’
I wait for his flirty smile, but he doesn’t react. He rubs his jaw roughly. ‘I don’t like myself unshaven. I look too much likehim.’
I had no idea Mark felt like this. But I should have guessed.
And I’m struck again by how much he’s been carrying all these years. How much of his tough exterior was bravado. Why had I never realised before?
Pen enters the kitchen looking sheepish. ‘Sorry, I got stuck on my phone. How can I help?’
I nod at the carrier bags on the floor. ‘Why don’t you put the drinks in the fridge?’
After she’s emptied all three bags, she stops.
