Page 76 of Till Death Do Us Part

“Yes,” I whispered. But love felt like a simple term for what I felt. It was what Felice had said. Plato.

She grabbed my hand and squeezed. She knew I was in an impossible situation. She had been in it before, but it had been wrong. Sandro was right for her. But that didn’t make me believe Jack was the one for me. My heart had decided on Felice before I even had a say.

Probably to change the subject, Lo asked about Elsa. She’d declined the invite to the bachelorette getaway, claiming she couldn’t leave the museum,so much to do,though she was going to be covered. I really had no clue what was going on with her lately.

Lo’s phone pinged, and she started laughing. She showed me a picture of Sandro in his art studio, shirt off, raggedy old jeans on, barefoot, sticking his tongue at her. Underneath the picture was a text with how many days until the wedding. He was counting down. She sent him a selfie and drifted after. She was almost flighty with happiness. Was she in love with him already?

Talia texted the name of the restaurant as we got to our bikes. Lexi and Eve were waiting for us. They chatted with Lo about the new salons as we headed toward the restaurant. I fell back some. I couldn’t escape the feeling I was being watched. I could feel eyes on me.

I stopped and looked around, but no one on the street was paying attention to me.

Lexi waved me forward. I parked my bike and told them to go in ahead of me. I wanted to find my lip gloss in my bag. After they disappeared, I dug my phone out and checked it. I had a text and selfie from Jack. Either Babbo or Isabella had given him my number. I studied his face, so like Felice’s, and wondered how fate could have gotten it so twisted.

* * *

I was trapped in a nightmare. The car was flipping, and I was screaming for Felice. Even though his name was coming out, it felt like I was being strangled while trying to cry. Sort of like limbs made of lead in a dream. He never came for me.

“Roma!”

The dream was slow to fade, but when it did, Lo was shaking me awake.

“A-l-l-l-right. I’m a-w-w-wake.”

“Are you okay?” She stopped shaking me.

“Yeah.” I sat up. “Just a bad dream.”

“About the attack?”

“No. About the car—” Not accident. “Impaling.”

She looked at the open door, then rushed out, “I still get them sometimes about the attack. It’s always the moment Ben punched me in the eye. Then he started to strangle me.”

“I’m so sorry, Lo,” I whispered.

“Me too, about everything.”

Everythingcovered a lot of ground. We both knew it. She took a seat on the edge of the bed and studied my face.

“You look tired. You want to stay in tonight?”

After we got back from lunch, I decided to take a nap. We’d been going nonstop, and we’d been eating and drinking the same.

“No. The past couple of days just caught up to me.” I smiled at her. “Besides, this is our last night before we’re on a plane to Italy and you’re a married woman. Wehaveto do this. Let’s get ready.”

About two hours later, we piled into Babbo’s Land Rover and headed toward a reservation-only French restaurant. We had all decided to get dressed up. I wore a hot-pink sleeveless dress that was ruched at the waist, had a thigh-high slit, and fell to my ankles. I paired it with a pair of open silver heels.

Lo’s sequined silver dress sparkled against the lights, her veil and sash whipping in the wind.

“I’m getting married!” she shouted. “Here comes the bride…all dressed in white!”

A couple people started clapping and hooting. We all started laughing. The wine had started before we left. Since Isabella was pregnant, she was the designated driver. We must have consumed bottles of wine at dinner. The place didn’t have vegetarian options, so I opted for crab cakes. They practically melted in my mouth.

We headed to a dive bar in Oak Bluffs, only about fifteen minutes from Edgartown, after dinner. Lexi popped a champagne top out the window, and we all toasted. We downed the entire bottle while still in the car. By the time we got to the bar, we were all swaying into each other.

We were way overdressed, but like Elsa was known to say, strike ’em down.

The place was packed. The live band already had the crowd dancing. Drinks flowed, and almost everyone was on the dance floor. I stood at the bar, trying not to laugh at Isabella sticking her ball of a stomach out and back. Alina was doing hand movements around it.

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