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‘Let’s move to the bar, shall we?’ My Uncle Keith seized the opportunity and began to guide Nick away and for the first time in what felt like forever, I let out an exhale and allowed my body to loosen up.
‘Find us a private room,’ Salvatore demanded, as he turned his head sharply to look at Bruno, making his longer strands of hair fall untidily over his face.
‘Done,’ Bruno replied as he walked away.
‘Anyway, we’re glad to have caught up with you both. Many congratulations, my beautiful girl, on achieving such a fine degree and achieving your childhood dream. Your mum and I are so very proud of you.’ My dearest papa attempted to throw some cold water on the overheated situation.
‘Thank you,’ I managed to utter, before pulling sharply out of Salvatore’s hold and bending to proffer a kiss to my papa’s cheek. Once there, I placed my hand on his opposite cheek and whispered a quiet thanks in his ear. I knew he’d heard it even though he made no reference that it had ever happened.
‘Serafina,’ Salvatore interjected, showing his impatience and I knew that Bruno had returned.
‘Mum.’ I stepped forward and leant over my papa’s shoulder to receive a welcome embrace from her. One I wished I could have held for longer, but given the position I’d inadvertently put myself in I appreciated that I didn’t dare.
‘He loves you, Serafina… in his own way,’ she whispered in my ear, before kissing me quickly and helping me back upright.
‘Mrs De Luca, we’re leaving.’ Salvatore took hold of my elbow nearest to him with a firm grip and painfully pulled me against him.
‘See you in September?’ I questioned hopefully, looking from one to the other of my parents.
‘Of course.’ My papa nodded just the once and smiled. Then he moved his wheelchair slightly backwards and out of the path Bruno was trying to lead us.
‘Serafina Giordano.’ Somewhere in the vast room behind me, just faintly above the final bars of “The Blue Danube,” I heard Nick call out my name.
But I didn’t turn, because that girl no longer existed, and I knew it would do neither of us any good to pay him any attention. My uncle would see he was on the next plane out of here to the U.S. by this evening.
It dawned on me then, as I placed one foot in front of the other trying to keep up with the ridiculous pace my silent but fuming husband was setting, that unconsciously there was a reason I hadn’t digested where in America he wanted to further his studies, because I realised that if asked, I could truthfully answer that I hadn’t a clue.
It seemed that although I had convinced myself we were separated, I had been living a lie. The life I had led over the past five years had been a life in waiting. A life on pause, lingering, while I passed the time it took for Salvatore to walk back into it like he owned me.
Because of course, he did.
CHAPTER FOUR
SERAFINA
We leftthe main hall through double doors and passed a few people going in and out of the bathrooms.
Finally, we left the people behind us.
But I couldn’t relax.
Salvatore’s grasp on me didn’t lessen at all, ever determined it seemed to get me to a place we could be alone. My husband was a man who amongst other things killed for a living, but he didn’t scare me, not at all. Not once, in the two years we lived together, did he show me anything more than his anger and frustration.
But I was wary of him. I had always been wary of him. I knew he held my life in his hands, but even more terrifying was the fact he also held my heart. I’d felt acutely the pain he could cause me, in sending me away after the death of our unborn son. Over the past few years, I’d thrown myself into studying to fill the void and numb the pain. Pain that had rushed back to the surface when he’d collected me from the flat earlier.
If I strained my ears over the sound of my own blood whooshing past my ears in trepidation, I could just about hear the orchestra back in the ballroom.
Using his hold on my elbow, Salvatore pulled me in front of him and into a sparce looking room.
‘No one… I repeat no fucking one is to disturb us. Do you understand?’ His voice deepened as he gave his definitive instructions.
‘Yes, boss.’ Aldo and Bruno spoke in unison and the door slammed, annoyingly making me jump.
As the door closed shut behind us, sealing us in together, the sound of the orchestra faded away, until all I could hear was the air-conditioning blowing in from a vent somewhere and the sound of us both breathing. I took a quick look around what appeared to be a small meeting room that seemed to be trapped in the seventies, given its brown and cream colour palette. I noticed a stack of three chairs pushed against the wall next to the door and one long table that dominated the room. I kept on walking, until I could have reached out to touch the table.
Choosing that exact spot, I stopped dead and waited.
I kept my back to him, feeling the loss of his touch and closed my eyes until all I could focus on was him.
