Page 67 of Capuleto

"Now you're silent? Why? Because you know it's true."

"That meant nothing," I excused myself, pondering the revelation.

"To whom? Because, for me, knowing that my husband was fooling around with his lover while I was about to be raped was significant."

"God, love. I got there in time!" I tried to touch her face.

"Don’t you dare or I'll make another hole for all that shit you hide inside to leak out."

"Is that what you want? To kill me?"

"It might be the only solution for us."

I looked at her with determination.

"Then do it, shoot if that's what you need to believe me."

"Believe you? You've confessed!"

"I didn't say I kissed her."

"It wasn’t necessary."

"She kissed me."

"Wow, silly me, as if three plus one and one plus three aren’t the same. I must have missed that math class."

"I was very drunk, desperate, and needed comfort. And I didn't resist, that's true. But I was so messed up that I didn't even consider that it wasn't the right thing to do, it was just a few seconds."

"Well, for not remembering it, you seem to know the timing quite well."

"I didn't act right. Accept my apologies for that. And if you push me, I'm also sorry for having forgotten it, and that you had to be the one to bring it up. I swear it was so insignificant to me that if you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn’t have thought of it."

"And am I supposed to thank you for that? Oh, wait, that’s why you wanted to bring her into our home and have me watch, to get out of your selective amnesia."

"You're wrong again. I was referring to the treatments! Irene is a nurse, she came to the hospital yesterday and offered to do them herself instead of hiring someone I didn't know."

"And you thought I would be thrilled and that it would be ideal, after her attempt to win you back while I was out of the game. You're either naive or a fool."

For a moment, I reflected on what she was saying.

"Okay, maybe I was quite foolish in this matter. That's why I didn't tell you about it, I wanted to talk to you, even though I guessed the answer, and I didn’t have time." The barrel of her gun was still pressed against my abdomen. "Believe me or not, I love you, and I can't think of any other woman but you. You've completely consumed my mind, and if you had said you didn't want her coming to our house, I would have accepted it."

"I don't believe you."

"And what do I need to do for you to believe me, besides admitting I was wrong? Do you want me to tell her I never want to see her again in my life?" I was desperate, I would have done or said anything to get her back. "I'll do it. Do you want me to buy her a plane ticket to the other side of the world? I'll do it. Tell me, what? What do you need to forgive me and for everything to go back to how it was?"

"Kill her." Her response left me cold.

"For a kiss, Nikita? Damn."

"It wasn't just a kiss. You'd kill her because she caused you to break your promise. You'd kill her for trying to take what's mine. You'd kill her for letting her tongue caress the place where mine should always be. You'd kill her for believing her lies and being foolish enough to fall for them. You'd kill her because if it were the other way around, she would already be underground." Her eyes shone and my heart pounded in my chest. "Tell me, Romeo, what's it going to be? My bullet in your chest, or yours in hers?"

I stepped back from her, breathing heavily, my mind racing and my pulse skyrocketing. I didn’t need long to make a decision.

I drew my gun, disengaged the safety, aimed at the sky, and roared: "Irene, come!"

We waited several seconds in silence. With our breathing erratic and our blood flowing feverishly.

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