Page 40 of Beguiled and Broken

I cleared my throat and smiled before I said, “Thank you. I’m sorry, what did you say your name is?” Bianca smiled too, just to be courteous. It was pretty clear she had no idea who this woman was either.

“Oh...I didn’t. I’m Caty, a friend of the family.”A friend of the family.I remember asking myself then why I didn’t know her.

Bianca spoke up. “Well, we appreciate you being here and your well wishes. We’re glad you could come.”

“So, what’s next for you two?” I decided to answer before Bianca did.

“Oh, ya know, lots of babies… and just loving our life together.”

The woman’s eyes took on a dark, ominous look, but she held her smile until it slowly turned into a thin line. It made me uncomfortable. I said, “But thank you, yeah. Thanks for coming.” I hoped she’d move along. Eventually, she smiled, nodded, and moved along past us. I couldn’t shake the thought that she shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but we had more people to greet, and Bianca was nudging me. I wanted to ask Ma or Nonno about her later but forgot in the midst of everything.

*

Cole started reading a passage from Cat’s diary out loud:

Dear Diary,

It was painful to watch him marry someone else. To watch another woman, standing where I should’ve been. It was unbearable. I’m glad I at least got to talk to him. We’ll be reunited soon, my love.

Sop-Cat

Cole asked, “Vinny, did you see the name here? It looks like she wrote S-o-p, scribbled it out, and then wrote in ‘Cat’.” He looked up from the diary, then at me.

I looked at him, and then at Carter, and gripped the side of the table while I lowered myself into a chair. I couldn’t breathe. “I can’t breathe. I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Carter grabbed me a can of soda, popped it open and set it in front of me. I took a big swig to settle my stomach.

Cole asked, “What man? What is it?”

“The woman I told you about that I was supposed to marry…her name is Sophia. S-o-p…she started to write herrealname and stopped. I’ve fucked up so bad. How the fuck do I explain all of this to Bianca?”

Cole sat in the chair next to me and said, “uh, yeah, but it’s better that she knows about the arranged marriage than think you cheated on her.”

“Catarina is Romano’s daughter. Catarina is Sophia. FUCK…” I yelled. “Here’s the other thing...”

Carter and Cole looked at each other, then back at me.

“While I was at my mother’s house for my grandfather’s funeral, Sophia’s father called my mother to give his condolences and mentioned that Sophia has mental health issues and went missing ten years ago. Nobody had seen her since. She was sitting behind me the entire time.”

Cole and Carter mumbled a collective, “Damn...”

“Are you going to call your mother and let her know about all this?” Carter asked.

“I don’t know. I think I need to but being so far away, I think it’ll make her panic and worry. I won’t do that to her, especially since she doesn’t have Nonno anymore.”

Cole said, “Let me see what else I can find on Cat..er..Sophia before you do anything else. Alright? Just sit tight. Give Bianca a minute. You focus on listing out all these puzzle pieces we’ve found so that when you do go to Bianca, you can actually speak.”

I nodded. “Thanks, you guys. I want my family back and I know I fucked up. Nothing good ever comes from secrets. I should’ve never kept this from B. This isn’t how things were supposed to be right now.”

Carter put his hands on my shoulders and gave them a squeeze, “Biancawillcome around. When she does, tell her everything, alright?”

“Yeah. I will.” I half smiled at the thought of Bianca coming around, but inside I was terrified.

Chapter 26

Vinny

The next two days went by painfully slow while I waited to hear whether Cole found out anything about Sophia. The last twenty years played over and over in my head, but especially the last couple years since Sophia walked into it. I sat in Carter and Lex’s guest room at a small desk in front of the window and wrote down all the things that had happened. Everything Carter and Cole helped me remember and finally understand. Everything I wanted to tell Bianca. I was hopeful she would be receptive, trust me, understand, forgive me, and most importantly, not hurt anymore.

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