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He took me in his arms, calming the storm raging inside me, and brushed his lips on my cheek.
“And where is your mind, wife, if not with me?”
“Rosa Vitale.” I lied, looking for an excuse.
“Your ballet teacher?”
“Yes. I need something from my old studio and she could send it to me.”
“Grazi.” He warned. It was not wise for me to have any ties with that part of my life. It wasn’t safe.
“It’s my favorite pair of pointe shoes,Sasa. Please. I’ll call her and she can take care of everything. She has no relation with my father, or anyone in the family.” I plead with him. “It’s very important to me.”
His forehead frowned and I knew I had him. He only had one weak spot –me– and I hated using the love between us to go behind his back, but I was trapped between a rock and a hard place.
“One phone call, Grazia. Keep it short.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,Tesoro. If it’s in my power, I’ll give you anything you want.”
Except peace of mind. He knew what my brothers meant to me and still decided to stay back and watch one of them go down in flames.
“We should go inside, Salvatore.”
“Right. My dear cousin is waiting.”
We walked in without knocking and Pietro rose from his chair to welcome us. Salvatore was right, this was a small gathering. Only Yannis and his girlfriend, and Chiara and her husband were there.
My eyes landed directly on Bruno Angeli. This was the first time I got to see him up close. Even if Chiara and Francesco were a constant presence in Salvatore’s house, her husband was not so much. I caught a few glimpses of him on the rare occasions he came to pick Chiara up.
When we walked in, he was talking to Yannis and they both stopped to look at Salvatore and I.
“You look good,Don.” Bruno said and then pointed at me. “Is this her? Is this your wife, or someone you keep on the side?”
I froze and Salvatore pinned him down with a dirty look.
“Be very careful how you speak to my wife, Bruno. It’s very thin ice around her and your jokes are not appreciated.”
“Relax, cousin.” Bruno then stretched his hand towards me. “Grazia Caputo, it’s very nice to finally meet you.”
He could have met me a long time ago if he’d had bothered to come to dinner every time his wife was invited.
“Fiori.” I corrected him. “It’s Grazia Fiori now.”
“Right, because of the marriage.” Something in his tone irked me, but I was too consumed by worry to read between the lines.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Bruno. I’m surprised you never came to visit us with Chiara and Pietro.”
“I’m a busy man.”
“You sure are.” I matched his cold voice.
Chiara came next to me and I met her with a hug.
“There you are,” she giggled, “you two are late.”
“Blame it on your cousin. He had to stop for business.” I timidly looked to Salvatore who was now sat at the table waiting for me to join him. “It must have been something important because it was longer than expected.”
