Page 32 of My Dark Ever After
“Guinevere,” someone said in surprise over my shoulder.
It was Leo with an older man who looked vaguely like him, though his expression was blank where Leo’s was charming. I assumed this gentleman was Tonio, an uncle Stacci’s and Carlotta’s kids had named their pig after, and Leo’s father.
“I didn’t expect to see you.” Leo stepped around someone to put a hand on my shoulder and kiss me on both cheeks. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m with the family. The boys wanted to see the parade. I could say the same for you, though. I thought you were in Florence with Raffa.”
“Ah, of course. I returned just this afternoon, and I decided to have dinner with my father.” He indicated the man behind him. “Have you two met yet?”
Tonio stepped forward with a warm smile and clasped both my hands in one of his before he kissed the air beside both of my cheeks. “I am happy to meet the woman who has made Raffaele smile.”
I beamed back at him. “Thank you. I am happy to meet Leo’s dad and Raffa’s uncle.”
“I am not truly either,” Tonio explained. “Leo is my adopted nephew, and Raffa’s father was my best friend, so the title is merely an honorific.”
I didn’t know quite what to say to that, so I replied, “You have the same kind eyes.”
Tonio laughed, squeezing my hands sharply before dropping them to wipe at his eyes. “Grazie.”
Leo’s smile was thin. “Where are Ludo and Carmine? You shouldn’t be alone.”
“Relax. Ludo is just outside,” I explained, though it felt good to know Leo was concerned for my safety. He hadn’t taken to me like Raffa’s other friends had, and I still wasn’t entirely sure why.
“Bene, bene,” he said, staring somewhere over my shoulder like he was considering something before he nodded sharply, expression clearing. “Are you enjoying the festival?”
“Yes, it’s incredible. Then again, I’m very easily enchanted,” I said with a self-deprecatory laugh.
It used to be one of my better qualities, I thought. That innocent wonder and curiosity. Now I wondered if it wasn’t why I’d earned the nickname Jinx from my family. I never seemed to know when it was better not to follow trouble.
“A side effect, maybe, of being very enchanting yourself.” He was smiling at me, pale eyes bright, but there was an artifice to it that made me think he was trying too hard. He was the last of Raffa’s friends I had to connect with, and I had the feeling he was making a sincere effort to be kind to me. “If you want to see something truly worthy of wonder, you should climb the bell tower to watch the last of the sunset. Raffa mentioned you enjoyed watching the sunsets from Piazzale Michelangelo in Firenze, but watching one over the hills of Chianti is a true spectacle.”
“It’s open to the public?” I had noticed the old stone tower as soon as we’d walked into the piazza that afternoon. It was no doubt the best viewpoint in town.
“Yes, yes,” he assured me, distracted by his father leaning close to whisper something in his ear. “Let me show you the entrance before I leave.”
I agreed, pleasantly surprised by his overture of friendship. “Grazie, Leo.”
“I will leave you two youths to enjoy the festival,” Tonio suggested. “It’s time for this old man to go home to bed.”
We both said our goodbyes, and then Leo offered me his arm with a little bow as his father took off for the exit without us. I smiled as I slid my hand over Leo’s forearm and let him lead me through the crowded entry, around the milling bodies in the street, and toward the bell tower.A band had started to play in the square, the music amplified by the crowded buildings surrounding the open bowl of the piazza.
“I am sorry about before,” Leo said over his shoulder. “I was rude when we first met. It didn’t have anything to do with you. Not really.”
I waited for him to continue as we finally reached a closed wooden door that swung open easily under Leo’s big hand. He was a handsome man, dark-gold hair and pale eyes contrasting nicely with olive-toned skin. He had to be Northern Italian with coloring like that. Gemma had ended up with similar looks, our Italian father’s skin and our Albanian mother’s flaxen locks.
The door closed behind me with a loud clanging, which startled me into yelping, hand flying up to cover my lurching heart.
Leo only peered at me through the dark. “I fell in love with a foreigner once too. She was charming and beautiful, and I thought at the time that I would give up anything for her.” He paused, one hand clenching tight at his side. “It didn’t end well. I didn’t want to see a man I consider my brother go through the same thing.”
I stepped closer to place a careful hand on his closed fist. “I’m sorry, Leo. Losing someone is never easy.”
“That’s the thing, though, isn’t it?” he asked. Among the shadows, his face was hard, almost cruel. His teeth were flat and square, not like Raffa’s pointed canines—they looked brutal enough to chew through bone. I was seeing monsters in every man now that Raffa had pulled back the veil on his underworld, even kind and good-looking ones like Leo. “You haven’t lost your love. Not really. You’re making the choice to let him go. You wanted the truth, yet when he gave you honesty, you couldn’t handle it.”
Before I could think of what to say, Leo’s phone started ringing, and he pulled it out of his pocket, frowning down at the screen.
“I’m sorry, Guinevere. This is important. Will you be okay to find your way to the top without me?”
“Is everything okay?” I asked, because there was real distress on his face as the phone continued to ring in his hand.
