Page 51 of His to Hold

I try not to let my skepticism show. Leo Volante is not a man I’d associate with a sense of humor or any positive personality trait. Then again, he was kind to me that day at the beach house, so perhaps I’m misjudging him.

“What will you do with the money?” Emilia takes a piece of the chocolate cake I baked, along with a carrot cake, to eat with our coffee.

“I’m thinking about a charitable endeavor of some sort. Sick kids or abused women, something like that. Leo’s got enough money to keep the lights on, so I can put mine to good use.”

As the other women chat enthusiastically about all the potential charities Vinnie could start, my mood drops. These two women will achieve great things. Emilia already runs her own hotel, and Vinnie can do whatever she wants. The most impressive feat I’ve achieved lately was baking a couple of cakes and laying everything out nicely on the table in the living room. I also arranged the flowers in the vase at the center of the coffee table, but that’s hardly going to put me in line for a Woman of the Year award.

“Are you okay?” Vinnie reaches across and touches my arm.

“Uh, yes.” I shake myself out of my slump. “Just amazed at how good a husband Leo seems to be.”

“Well, we haven’t been married for long,” Vinnie says, “and he has had his moments, but I think we’re good for each other.”

“I’m glad.” I mean what I say. Right now, things are still uncertain between Antonio and me, but I’d never be selfish enough to resent other people for having what I want.

“Are things okay with you and Antonio?” Emilia asks.

I shrug. “You know our story, presumably?”

The other women’s grimaces tell me they know the reason for my exile.

“Well,” I continue, “Antonio knows now that I didn’t intend for him to get hurt and we’re trying to put that night behind us. It’s not been easy.”

“Yes, but Antonio came for you.” Emilia’s expression is one of hope. I guess she’s a romantic. “That must count for something.”

“He had to come for me after I killed one of his men.”

Both women look at me, stunned. Vinnie puts her cup down on the table as if she’s afraid of dropping it.

“You didn’t know about that?”

“No,” Emilia and Vinnie say in unison.

My stomach drops. Is Antonio going to be angry with me for divulging that information? Perhaps he told his brothers not to tell their wives anything about it.

“Oh.” Vinnie’s eyes widen as realization dawns on her. “Is that why Leo ditched me when we were at the zoo?”

Leo Volante at the zoo is a topic we’ll have to circle back to later.

“Maybe. He came to the house after it happened.”

“He took care of it?”

“I guess.” I’m not sure who did what to clean up after me, but I know Matteo got rid of the body.

“The man you killed was Rico Mancini?” Emilia also sets her coffee cup down. “He’s the one who’s missing, yes?”

“Yeah. He was an asshole to me. For months, he threatened to hurt me. When he tried to do it, I fought back.” I take a deep breath. “I keep asking myself if I overreacted.”

Vinnie shakes her head. “Don’t do that to yourself. He tried to hurt you and you defended yourself.”

Emilia nods in agreement. “If it was me, I would have shot the son of a bitch.”

Alessandro’s wife has an innocent aura. Coming from her, the curse sounds all wrong.

“I didn’t shoot him, though. I hit him with a frying pan.” The image of it pops into my head and nausea rises in my throat. “Repeatedly. There was so much blood.”

After that gruesome admission, an uncomfortable silence shrouds the room. This is not how I wanted the afternoon to go. I invited the women over so we could lay the foundations for a friendship. Now I feel as if I’ve ruined it. I try to think of something to say but come up short. Thankfully, Vinnie finds a different topic.

---