Page 95 of Vita Mia

“If what?”

“If you would or if you could tell me about this Dr. Marchetti, and your relationship with her.”

Dominic turned surprised to see the accusation in Catalina’s eyes.After everything he endured and still endured she expected unchallenged loyalty?When he had to help deliver another man’s child and take what emotional scraps she had left for her love for him as reward? When she turned away any attempt of intimacy between them? How dare she demand fidelity?

“You don’t want to talk about the doctor. Is that it? Why? You think I can’t handle the truth?” Catalina asked.

Dominic chuckled. “Oh, I know you can handle the truth. You can give a damn about me and any woman. That is the truth. Remember? The love of your life is Armando Mancini.”

“Domi—”

“What? Did I say something offensive?” Dominic sneered at her flushed state. “Or is it really hard to believe that I could fuck another woman other than you and like it.”

“Why are you speaking to me like this? You and I are passed this.”

“Are we? You give me a smile from across the room and think it should be enough. I have a question.”

“Domi don’t—“

“Only one. How can a man come into your life and in less than a month erase everything we shared for years? How easy was it to fuck him the first night, then the next, and the next? How many times did it take to replace me?”

“That’s not how it happened.” Catalina answered. Armando woke to the alarm in her voice.

Dominic smiled. “Of course, it is.”

“You’re being ugly,” she said and rocked her son.

“Vaffanculo. I’ll tell you the truth. I fucked Sera. I liked fucking her and talking about you while I fucked her. It was my therapy.”

“That’s enough Domi.” Catalina decided to walk out but Dominic side-stepped her and blocked her way.

“But it was just fucking,cara. For the doctor it meant feeling, and emotions, and her version of love. I felt nothing. You see my dick is on the outside,” he said and grabbed his groin. “I can stick it into any hole I want too and walk away. It’s what we men do. Guess I’m better practiced at erasing people from my heart than her. Not better than you. Am Ipiccoletta?”

“You want to hurt me?” Catalina asked.

“Not possible. You can’t hurt someone that has no feelings. Right?”

“I loved you Domi.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it’s another lie.”

“I never stopped loving you. I just grew up. Armando was different because he let me be imperfect. He didn’t try to fix me. He didn’t try to fix anything. He let it be.”

“Right. Because imperfect made you weak enough to believe his bullshit.”

“No. It made me strong enough to stop believing your bullshit!” Catalina said. “The truth is you and Gio have let me get away with everything. Made excuses for everything! I killed Franco. I put that gun in your hand and enough lies in your head for you to pull the trigger. I was forgiven. I killed Rosetta. No one, not even her own mother mentions her name around me. I have done it all unpunished. The only time I got your attention was when I turned to Armando. That you two couldn’t forgive. Do you ever wonder why?”

“Tell me,” Dominic snipped.

“Because with him I was unfixable, uncontrollable. Maybe he wasn’t the love of my life. Maybe you always were. Maybe the big irony in all of this is it took for me to love another man to see you as a man, not some superhero.”

“If you cared for the doctor I’m glad. If you loved her I understand. Because I want you to be imperfect too Domi. For us to be imperfect together. The way Giovanni and Mirabella are imperfect for each other. Beautifully, imperfect.”

She kissed him on the lips and walked out leaving him to think of what she said. He wiped her kiss away. There was nothing perfect about any of them. And he was sick of pretending he gave shit.

***

“MUMMY! MUMMY! MUMMY!” Eve screamed to the top of her lungs.

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