Page 68 of Now and Forever

Warmth filled my cheeks as I shook my head.

After Dario left, I went into our bathroom. At the far end of the room was a large tub, the size of a small hot tub, big enough to fit two. There were even pillows with lumbar support catty-corner at each end, and the interior was lined with air jets. I began to play with the controls. Small waterfalls came to life, filling the depths with cascading water. After adjusting the temperature, I piled my hair on top of my head and stripped out of my clothes, leaving my hosiery, panties, bra, and dress in a pile on the tile floor.

Within the alcove in the wall were small candles and a basket containing bath bombs. A smile came to my lips as I investigated the different fragrances. Surely Dario didn’t spend his nights soaking in a bath. As I added a lavender and hemp bath bomb to the water, I had the feeling I had Contessa to thank for these amenities.

Once the tub was filled, I lit the candles, turned on the tub’s LED lighting, and turned off the bright overhead and vanity lights. My skin quickly pinkened as I stepped into the hot water, the level within rising. I hit the button activating the jets as soothing bubbles massaged my body.

With my back toward the door, I lay facing the windows. The sky beyond the panes was a kaleidoscope of colors. Reds, oranges, and pinks swirled with purples and blues as twilight worked to darken the night and replace the sunset with stars. Darkness prevailed as my fingertips began to wrinkle.

Wearing a mint-green satin nightgown, I settled into bed and resumed the book I’d begun the night before. I hadn’t meant to stay awake until Dario returned. It was that as one more chapter turned into many more chapters, I was so caught up in the story that I lost track of time.

I scanned my husband as he entered the room. He smiled a tired grin. His hair was mussed as if he’d run his fingers through it, and he was wearing the same suit as when he left.

“You’re awake?”

I laid the book on the bedside stand and my gaze met his. “I hadn’t planned to be. I kept telling myself, just one more chapter. Did things work out?”

Dario took off his suit coat and began to remove his multiple holsters. “I suppose you could say that.”

This probably wasn’t the right time, but it seemed like I wouldn’t have many opportunities throughout the day and night to have Dario’s full attention. “Will you tell me about Josie?”

He spun my direction, looking as if I’d just slapped him. “Why would you ask about her?”

I smoothed the blankets over my legs. “Because I’m your wife, and I want to understand you better. I don’t care that you loved someone else. I’m sorry you lost her.”

Dario pressed his lips together, the muscles of his jaw pulling tight.

“Contessa mentioned the theater room wasn’t constructed for you. I’m assuming it was for her.”

“It wasn’t,” he said briskly.

“Did you ever consider marrying her?”

He shook his head. “Catalina, this isn’t a conversation I’m ready to have with you. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready.”

Sighing, I nodded. “When you’re ready, I’ll listen.”

A few minutes later, he asked, “How did you find out about her? I made sure her things were gone before you arrived.”

I looked over at the book I’d been reading and back to Dario. It didn’t have her name on it, but by process of elimination, I figured it had been hers. “Mia mentioned her at my shower.” I figured it was safer to throw her under the bus than Armando or Contessa.

Dario mumbled under his breath.

“She gave me a rather skimpy nightgown and told me that she had it on good authority that you like confident women. She said wearing that would be confident. When I said I didn’t know you well or what kind of women you liked, she said something about there being women before and after Josie.”

Exhaling, Dario removed his cuff links and pulled his shirt tails from his pants. As he unbuttoned the front, he asked, “Is that why you assumed I was with another woman if I showered?”

“Part of it,” I answered honestly. “To hear some people talk, that’s what I should expect. I know we didn’t marry for love. Maybe I’d feel better if I knew you’d shared that with someone. Even if it isn’t me.”

Shrugging the shirt from his shoulders, Dario closed his eyes. When they opened, darkness swirled within the brown. With his chest now bare, he sat on the edge of the bed, near my legs. The spicy scent of his cologne lingered on his skin. Having him this close with the lights on, I resisted the urge to reach out and run my fingers over the scars on his chest.

Dario looked down as if he too was noticing the scars. His eyes came back to mine. “Our marriage is what it is. I don’t think a man like me is capable of love. It isn’t about you. It’s not possible to live the life I do and allow emotion to enter in. Tonight, a customer at the club broke our rules. He hit one of our workers, beat her up pretty badly.”

I listened in horror. “What did you do?”

“I gave him a taste of his own medicine.” He flexed the fingers on his right hand. His knuckles were abraded. “Told him to get out and not come back.”

“You hit him?”

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