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“Holy shit.”
He goes to Jim and grabs his hand.
“Put that away right now.”
Jim gives him a puzzled look. “What?”
He pushes Jim’s hand down. “This man, he’s Leonardo Ursini. Believe me, you don’t want to mess with him.”
My eyes narrow. So he’s heard of Leo, has he? That means Leo is still in the business. Father’s business.
Louie pushes Jim away from Triss. He lowers her shirt and removes her gag and her bonds.
“Seriously, you should be more careful. Didn’t I tell you to tell me before you do anything?”
Jim says nothing. He still looks confused.
“Take him away,” Louie tells his companions.
They drag Jim off.
After Louie sets Triss free, he stands in front of me and bows his head.
“Scusa.”
He’s apologizing? In Italian?
“My friend made a grave mistake. Please forgive him. Forgive us. Anything we can do to make this right, you got it.”
Triss responds before I can.
“Where’s Lara? Where’s the baby?”
My eyes grow wide. They took Lara, too? Of course. They must have.
“A baby?” Louie looks surprised, too. And terrified. “Please give me a second.”
He runs inside. When he comes back a few minutes later, he has Lara. Triss takes her.
“Scusa,” he mumbles to me again.
He continues to say it as he backs off. Then he disappears. I approach Triss and Lara.
“Is she okay?”
“I think so,” Triss answers.
I check Lara myself. She seems fine.
“And you?” I ask Triss.
She nods. A lie. I can tell she’s still uneasy.
I know there are things she wants to tell me. There are things I have to tell her, too. For now, we should just get out of this place.
I put my arm around her. “Let’s go back to the hotel.”
~
I hold a cold can of beer against my face as I wait for Triss to come out of the bathroom. Lara sits on the bed and plays happily with her toy bunny, propped up with pillows to keep her from falling. She’s already forgotten what happened. No. It’s not that. She’s completely unaware that something happened. Something big.
Finally, the bathroom door opens. Triss comes out in a robe. She stops when she sees me sitting on the edge of the bed. Then she draws a breath.
“I’m sorry.” She sits on the chair by the table. “It’s my fault you got caught up in this.”
I shake my head. “Don’t blame yourself. This is all Jim’s doing.”
“But…”
“Don’t,” I tell her.
If she’s at fault then I’m at fault because I knew all about Jim and I still agreed to all this – marrying Triss, coming to the city, spending a day in public. But now is not the time to lay blame. There are more important matters to discuss.
“That man,” Triss speaks first. “The one who helped us. He seemed to know you. Do you know him?”
“No.”
“He called you Leonardo Ursini. Do you remember who that is?”
I look at her. “And Jim called you Christine. Is that your real name?”
Triss’s cheeks grow pale. She looks away as she purses her lips. Her hands tremble on her lap.
I open the cold can of beer in my hand and take a sip as I wait for her to calm down and give me an answer.
“It is,” she finally says. “At least, it’s the name I was given at birth. Christine Therese Mathers. I hate it, though. I hate the name ‘Christine’ because that’s what Jim called me. I hate ‘Mathers’ because it reminds me of Harvey.”
“So did you get Triss from Therese?”
“No. It’s from my mother’s name. Her name was Patricia Conrad. Her friends would sometimes call her Tricia.”
So Triss Conrad, the name she’s been using, is essentially her mother’s name.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Triss says. “I was afraid if I used my real name, Jim would find me.”
That I understand. What I don’t understand is why she didn’t tell me in private. I could have had another marriage certificate drawn up and asked someone to keep it a secret. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. Even if Triss did use her real name, that certificate would be just a piece of paper. It wouldn’t mean anything since Triss is already Jim’s wife.
“And believe me, I didn’t know that Jim and I were married,” Triss tells me. “I remember the time I got drunk. I have no recollection of what happened while I was, but he must have made me sign something. Anyway, I wasn’t aware of it, so it’s not valid, right?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I stand up and set the can down on the table. Then I take out my wallet. I place all the bills I have right next to the beer can.
“I’ve already paid for the hotel for three days. I’ll pay for three more so you can stay here after you hand Lara over to Ned’s friend. I don’t think Jim will bother you anymore. I’ll deposit some money for room service when I go down so you don’t have to worry about food. As for this, you can use it to find a place for yourself and start over.”
