Page 78 of The Saint

“Of Zio?”

Her smile grew and she nodded. “I worried what he’d think, me falling for one of his men.”

“But it wasn’t a problem,” Dad said, a chuckle in his voice. “Paulo caught us sneaking around, trying to hide our relationship from him.”

“What happened?”

“I invited them both to dinner,” Zio said. “I confronted them and told them I never wanted to be lied to again. If Lorenzo made my sister happy, if he took care of her and treated her well, I would have no problem with him.”

“You hear that threat in there?” Dad whispered at my side, and Zio shook his head, that smile still in place.

“Love is meant to be shared,” Mom said quietly, looking at her brother. “That’s what you told us. That it shouldn’t be hidden away. That it’s meant to shine and can only grow if it’s brought out into the light.”

Dad’s hand smoothed over my back again, and I realized I’d flinched.

It was getting harder and harder to hide my love for Jael from the world. And while I wasn’t sure I wanted to anymore, I also didn’t know how not to.

“Do you love her?” Mom asked, this gentle, soothing sound that reminded me of being tucked into bed by her when I was a child.

My throat clenched, and I tried hard to swallow all my fears down. How could I open up when I’d been hiding for so long? Unable to speak, I nodded instead.

“And what happened…” She paused, and I lifted my gaze from my hands to her face. Tears had welled in her eyes once more, and I wanted to stop them, to take that hurt away from her. “...when Jael left? It was because you loved her?”

Another nod, and my gaze dropped to the floor.

That darkness I’d fallen into was something I never wanted to revisit. Being without her had felt like I was without myself. I wasn’t sure who I was without Jael in my life, and learning to live without her by my side, a phone call or a short walk away, was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. Some days, not having her was enough to make me want to end my life.

“Has she been good to you since she returned?” Zio’s voice had lost some of the lightheartedness from moments before, and I cringed when I saw his hand fisted on the armrest.

“Yes,” I told him, meeting his eye. “She’s… a part of everything.” He stared at me, they all did, waiting for me to say more. “She’s part of the family. She’s good with my friends. She… pushes me.”

“And you trust her not to leave you again?”

“Paulo!”

I couldn’t hold his gaze a moment more. My frustration at myself grew. The woman I loved was the perfect woman for me, and here I was, questioning her love for me. Her ability to stay.

“Rolly, sweetheart, you don’t have to—”

“I hope she stays,” I told him. Told them, really. Because I needed to share my fears with someone, and they were all right here. The people I loved. My family, the ones who had always had my back.

Mom squeezed my hand. Dad gripped my shoulder before smoothing his hand across my back. I felt like a child who’d fallen off his bicycle. I was warmed by the love that surrounded me as they tried to soothe the hurt that was already there, even though they could do nothing to take it away.

“It’ll be okay, son,” Dad told me, his deep voice a balm for those ragged wounds. “We’ll always be here for you, no matter what. If you want to be with her, your mother and I will support you. Just, please, don’t shut us out.”

My head dipped, and though it felt heavy, I raised it again. Turned to my father and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He patted my back, held me close, then loosened his grip so Mom could hug me too.

Something inside of me broke free, a heavy weight floating away. Sharing my life with them wasn’t easy. I wasn’t sure it ever would be. But for them, I would try.

“Is this why you’ve kept your artwork hidden?”

In his chair across the coffee table, Zio had leaned forward. He gestured to the wall above the fireplace, to the painting I’d done of him and Queenie.

Mom leaned back, brow furrowed and a frown upon her lips, as she released me from our embrace. She gripped my hand, tight enough to hurt.

“Yes. It is.”

“You’re extremely talented,” Zio told me. “I know enough about art to see that. And Carmen told me you’re having an art show?”