Page 33 of His Two Hidden Masks

“Will I what?”

“Will you see him again?”

“I haven’t decided,” I said, shaking my head.

“Oh, yes, you have. Look at you. You are positively beaming. You have a sex glow.”

We started walking again finding a gap between two tour groups headed to San Marco. We walked quickly to avoid being trampled.

“Leo,” I said, my arm linked with his. “Do you remember the cards, the ones that Auntie Aurora read in secondary school?”

“Yes, and we agreed the cards are useful only when we like what they say,” Leo said. “How is this helpful?”

“She said I would meet a man and fall in love in the moonlight.”

“You should see him again, Bella,” Leo said, as we stepped into San Marco.

“Why?” My breath caught, remembering James in the moonlight in this exact spot.

“Because he fucked you to happiness. You deserve to feel happiness. You know this.”

“I know,” I said. “He was the best I have ever had.”

“I am starting to get jealous,” Leo said. “I love David, but you have that new love spark that is so magical.”

“It’s not love, Leo.”

“Fine. Call it a lust spark. And, apparently, yours is going to last for more than one day. He wants to see you again.”

“You are assuming he wants to have sex.”

“Woman, please,” Leo said, giving me a look. “The man has a penis and I guarantee he wants to put it in you again. It’s what we do. We put the penis in things.”

I laughed and swatted his arm again. “Why are you so crude?”

“I’m not crude. I’m honest,” Leo said. “You met a man. You fucked him. He most definitely wants to fuck you again, and you should do it.”

“Yes?”

“Yes,” Leo said. “And if he wants you again for one night, for two, what does it matter? You want him, take what you want. Venice is for lovers, for one night, for one hour, for a lifetime.”

“I told him that,” I said.

“So proud,” Leo said, clutching his throat for dramatic effect. “The student has become the teacher.” He glanced at the bell tower clock. “I need to run. Text me later. I want to hear all the details.”

“Will do, but remember, he may not want to fuck me. He might want to mine me for information about my father,” I said.

“Or he just wants to mine you,” Leo said. “I am on a roll today, aren’t I? #bumpoutyourfunk #minemehardbaby.”

“I did not say that.”

“Oh, but you thought it.” Leo leaned down to kiss my cheek. “Do something I would do, and for Gods’ sake, fuck like your life depends on it. I know leaving Roberto has been difficult.”

I opened my mouth in protest.

“Stop,” Leo said. “We don’t need to talk about it, but you know it’s been hard. You need to choose happiness, however brief. Choose joy. Choose love. Life is so fucking hard, Bella. Choose yourself, for once.”

Leo gave me a wave and I watched him jog across the square toward the Lido Glass Factory. Choose myself. I liked the sound of that, and hadn’t that been what I did the night before? I had finally pushed aside all the voices in my head that told me to be good, to follow the rules.

---