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Looking hard at her pale reflection, Jillian took a deep breath and removed one contact lens, and then the other, taking the brown colored lenses out to reveal her natural eye color—a vivid, and rather startling, turquoise green.
Moving to the sink, she washed the brown contact lenses down the drain and then washed her hands, all the while looking at her heart-shaped face with the high cheekbones, aristocratic nose and strong chin.
This is you, she told her reflection, this is you without artifice and make-believe. This is the you Vitt needs to see.
She didn’t know how Vitt would react when he saw her eyes had changed color again but at least tonight when he saw her face, he would see her real face. He’d finally see her.
Vittorio rapped on the bathroom door. “My family is gathered downstairs and waiting.”
“I’m ready,” she said, opening the door and stepping out, wondering how long it’d take him to notice what she’d done.
He tipped his head, studied her. He’d noticed the change immediately. “You look…different.”
“Is it my hair? I can take it down.”
“It’s not your hair.”
“Maybe it’s the dress. It’s a little big.”
“Everything in your wardrobe is big.”
“I never bought new clothes after I had Joe. But I don’t mind. And no one’s really going to be looking at me tonight, right?”
He smiled with his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.” And then he drew a velvet pouch from his pocket. “But maybe this will add a little sparkle and shine to your black frock.”
Shyly she bent her head forward so that he could fasten the elaborate gold clasp at the back of her neck. The choker was snug, the strands heavy with precious stones.
“Turn around,” he said.
She did, and for a moment he said nothing and then he tipped her chin up with one finger. “Green eyes tonight.”
She nodded.
“How did you know you’d be getting emeralds?” he asked, sounding amused.
“I didn’t.”
“You just decided to swap out your colored lenses tonight?”
She fingered the precious jewels at her throat. “I decided I was tired of hiding, so I threw away the contacts.”
“Your real eye color is green?”
She nodded.
“And what is your real hair color? Red?” he guessed.
“How did you know?”
He’d been smiling but his smile died. “It’s the one color you’ve never been.” Vitt reached out to her smooth chignon and touched the twisted strands at her nape. “My wife has red hair and green eyes. How odd to think I’ve never really known her.”
“But you have. This—” and she gestured to her face and body “—this is the real me. The only me. The one you met in Istanbul. The one you took to the villa. The one who had your baby.”
“Good. Because you are the one I wanted in Istanbul, and you are the one I loved in Bellagio, and you are the one I want to help raise our son.” Then he took her hand in his, kissed her hand, before tucking it in the crook of his arm.
Together they descended the staircase and entered the grand dining room with the pale blue-and-cream frescoes on the walls. Jillian stiffened in the doorway when everyone turned to look at them.
“I know it’s a lot of people,” Vitt murmured reassuringly, “but just be yourself and everyone will love you.”
