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“How do you know what I think?”
“The way you behaved, it wasn’t hard to figure that out. And no, I don’t have anything to do with her anymore. I haven’t since I fell in love with you. How could I? How could I go back to the way things were? I didn’t think I understood the meaning of love until I met you, Rome. To do that would be to lie about you and myself. How can you lie about your feelings without hurting the most important persons, me and you?”
He pulled me to the sofa, and I sat beside him with crossed arms still not fully convinced about his intentions. “I’m waiting for the rest... about why is she her?” I mumbled.
“Mary,” Dante said, showing me that he still had feelings of some kind for her. Maybe not sexual in nature, but one I didn’t understand because of the history of their relationship and the bond that connected them.
My relationship with Dante had been sexual in nature and short, but what happened in that cabin would bond us for life to each other. I was hoping the bond would go beyond that.
“There isn’t much to tell, except Mary wanted me to know that she has a partner and has moved on, and the partner would be staying with her in the apartment. I’d given her the apartment, but hadn’t finalized the arrangement, and she brought the papers for my attorneys to go over and for me to sign them and I did. That’s all, baby.”
“Why do I feel there is more?”
“She said I did good when I chose you. And if you weren’t jealous, then something is wrong with you, because I’m a good catch.”
I sucked my teeth, rolled my eyes and smiled. “That sounds like something you added.”
“What? You don’t think I’m a good catch?”
“I think you’re every gay man’s dream of finding a straight dude to love you, only if you take out that nightmarish brother of yours, and the fact that you have a dangerous occupation. Other than that I’d say you are a good catch.”
“I hope you know, baby, on the list of the most dangerous occupations mine doesn’t rank high. For example, a commercial pilot I think is number one.”
“No,” I said in disbelief.
“Yes, go look it up. Google it if you don’t believe me.”
“Well, what about the gay lover of a mob boss?”
“The benefits are great if you take the chance,” he said.
“Like what? I can’t think of one.”
Dante leaned over and pulled something out of his pocket. A small black case, and he flipped it open. It was a ring. A platinum ring with diamonds.
“Will you marry me? I’m too tired to get on my knees,” he confessed.
“I don’t know. I was hoping for candy on this Valentine’s Day.” He narrowed his glance and offered me a closed smile. “And it is too ostentatious. Too showy for me. I want something simple like me.”
“There is nothing simple about you.” He kissed me softly and I returned the kiss.
“Well, what do you say?”
I stood and strode over to the dining table. “I’m too hungry to think about that now, and I sat down and opened the bottle of expensive wine and poured a glass and then one for Dante, who at the time was sitting and watching my movements and glancing over at me. In silence he sat, took a sip of his wine and watched me through hooded eyes when I scoffed down the Alfredo in white sauce.
Dante sat in the quiet of the room with soft music in the background, drank, and waited for my answer. “The answer is, yes. I hope you know what you’re doing. You can’t come back to me and say ‘I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m a straight man not gay.’ You can’t take back what you said to me in bed.”
“I can do that.”
“Are you willing to make a commitment to me, Dante, and promise me you won’t fuck around on me with a woman or man,” I said.
He leaned close to me and placed his hand behind my head, and brought me closer to kiss my lips. Our lips touched softly. Our hearts beat against each other’s, and when he pulled back he said to me, “To paraphrase Meatloaf, ‘I’ll do anything for love, but I won’t do that?’ I’ll never fuck around on you. I want you, Rome, like I’ve never wanted anyone in my life, and I need you. You make me a better person.”
He answered my question, whether he lied to me or not at the time, I didn’t care because I wanted to believe him. No. I needed to believe him, and I did at that moment.
I took a deep breath and then let this slip from my lips, “I can eat now. I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.” My eyes wavered over to him, who seemed content eating his dinner and at peace with himself.
I had this problem of observing people and trying to read them, and most times I could, except the men I’d fallen in love with. I thought there was more to Dante and Nico being at odds with each other that I couldn’t see on the surface. I slanted my head and wondered what it could be. I didn’t have enough information to come to any conclusions at this time.
