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I was deep in thought as I took that stroll. My conversation with Timothy had gotten me thinking about how many things had to align for Marcus and me to meet. But I was pulled back to the present when a deep voice said, “Hi, Romy.”
When I looked up, I had to stop myself from audibly gasping. Dante Dombruso was directly ahead of me, and so totally out of his element that I almost couldn’t process seeing him here. He was the type of man who wore expensive suits for just about any occasion, but now he was dressed in jeans and a black polo shirt, and it just seemed wrong.
Since he’d been working closely with Adriano to find Marcus, my heart leapt and my gaze immediately shot past him to the lake. Had we been discovered, or was this just some sort of weird coincidence?
As panic welled up in me, I blurted, “What are you doing here?”
“My husband and I are babysitting our grandson today, so we decided to bring him to the park. We were going to rent a paddle boat, but they’re closed.” He studied me curiously and asked, “Is everything alright?”
I tried my best to maintain a poker face as I said, “Yeah, fine. You just startled me.”
Meanwhile, my mind was racing. What if Marcus hadn’t arrived yet? I was a little early, so he could come walking up at any moment. If he spotted him, Dante would go straight to Adriano, and everything would fall apart.
There were all sorts of ramifications to Adriano finding out about us, of course. But what really struck me in that moment was the very real possibility of ruining my relationship with my brother. The thought made me nauseous.
Yes, I’d made the choice to lie, and to sneak around behind his back. It had almost felt like a game, but this was a huge wakeup call. Would Adriano ever forgive me, if and when the truth came out? Did I even deserve his forgiveness?
I needed to fix this—all of this—before it was too late. But how?
Just then, Dante’s grandson ran up and tugged on his sleeve. I was incredibly grateful for the distraction. When I said, “Hi there, Malik,” the little boy grew shy and hid behind Dante’s leg. We’d met at a family function, but he didn’t seem to remember me.
A moment later, Dante’s husband Charlie joined him, gesturing at Malik as he announced, “The potty break was a success.” Then he spotted me rooted in place a few feet away and flashed me a smile. “Hey there, Romy. What’re you doing here?”
Even though my heartbeat was drumming in my ears, I tried to sound casual when I said, “I’ve been coming to the park to walk for a few weeks now. I don’t belong to a gym here in San Francisco, so it’s a good way to get some exercise.” One of the first things I’d had to learn as an EMT was how to seem calm and collected, even when everything was falling apart around me. Right then, I was very grateful for that skill.
Dante was shrewd and observant though, and I could tell he wasn’t totally buying it. “Isn’t this pretty far out of your way?”
“Sure, but it’s gorgeous here. We don’t have anything like this in Vegas.” All true.
The little boy decided he’d had enough of not being the center of attention at that point and exclaimed, “You said we could see buff-lows!” It seemed like he was on the verge of pitching a huge fit.
“We’re on our way,” Charlie promised, as he scooped up the child. “Good to see you, Romy.”
He hurried toward the parking lot, but Dante stayed where he was and said, “Dealing with a five-year-old is like trying to negotiate a peace treaty with a warlord. We almost had a major meltdown after we promised paddleboats and couldn’t deliver. All I could think of to distract him was offering to go see the buffaloes, because I remembered there were some in the park. They damn well better still be there, or else we’re screwed.”
It really felt like he was making an excuse to keep the conversation going. Maybe he was waiting for me to slip up, because he could tell I was hiding something. Or maybe that was just my guilty conscience talking.
I stuck a smile on my face and said, “I’m pretty sure the buffaloes are right where they’ve always been. Good luck, though.”
Dante murmured, “Thanks.” He still seemed suspicious, and he paused for a moment before saying, “See you, Romy.” Finally, he headed toward the parking lot.
I started walking in the opposite direction, but as soon as he was out of sight, I broke into a run. Once I’d ducked around the corner of the boat house, I pulled my phone from my pocket. My hands were shaking, so it was all I could do to fire off a quick text to Marcus, warning him about Dante. Then I started pacing, as worry twisted my gut.
