Page 97 of Till Death Do Us Part

Brando was Rocco and Romeo’s oldest brother, and he had eyes hard and dark enough to be made of stone. They were accessing me, trying to decide if I was going to be a problem for him or not.

“If you all will excuse me,” Scarlett said, stepping away from the table. “I’m going to tour the grounds.”

“Scarlett,” Brando called before she could get too far. He didn’t say anything else, but I could tell there was a warning beneath her name.

She waved at him, and with two men in tow, started for the back of thecastello. My eyes narrowed against the shaft of light she was walking into. When I leaned some to avoid the glare, I saw Roma bending over, fastening the ties of her sandals.

She was glowing in an airy white dress, her hair braided. When she looked up and our eyes met, she smiled at me, and the heart everyone claimed I didn’t have melted in my chest.

She gasped when she noticed Scarlett standing there. “Oh my God—I didn’t—Scarlett Fausti?”

Scarlett apologized for scaring her, and after a minute or so of talking, they walked away together.

“Thiscastellohave a history?” Brando asked. “Dangerous men who might have lived here at one time—and are dead now?”

“Deadoralive,fratello,” Romeo said, a shit-eating grin on his face.

“I believe it does, nephew,” Dr. Sala said, adjusting his glasses. He brought up the same thing Roma had. About the Neolithic necropolis.

“Fuck me,” Brando said, looking toward where the women had disappeared.

I had no fucking clue what he was talking about, but I thought maybe it had to do with what I’d heard about Scarlett Fausti. I took it more seriously after Brando’s reaction.

Mario’s wife Virna, along with a couple of her assistants, delivered breakfast to the table. Romeo was laughing at Dr. Sala because he tucked his napkin in his shirt like a bib. Romeo told him he was going to get him a personalized one with his name on it for his birthday. He slapped Romeo on the back of the head and told him to behave.

Brando and I met eyes from across the table and grinned.

I stopped Virna before she could walk away. I asked her in Sicilian if Roma had eaten breakfast.

“Sì,” she said, topping off my coffee. She told me what Roma had and said she’d cleaned her plate. She’d taken a long bath after and then changed into the new clothes I’d gotten for her.

“Bene,” I said.

Brando Fausti was looking at me again. He wasn’t totally at ease around me, but I could tell something had shifted. He might not trust me, but he must have gotten the feeling I didn’t want his wife for any purpose.

Conversation was casual as we ate. After, business was discussed again. My great-uncle brought up the agreement with Alfonso, and Dr. Sala nodded thoughtfully as he went over the finer points. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was on the old doctor’s mind.

My great-uncle got a call and decided to leave. Brando stood and went to find Scarlett. Dr. Sala asked me and the other two Fausti brothers to walk with him.

We stepped out of the covered area and into blinding sun, but the salty breeze was constantly circulating fresh air through the citrus trees. Dr. Sala made a comment about Mount Etna and how the soil was rich because of the volcano.

“The best lemons and oranges in the world,” he said.

We were all listening to him, but my eyes were on Roma. She was in deep conversation with Scarlett. Brando leaned against a tree, watching his wife.

“She is hard to look away from,” Rocco said, meeting my eye. He nodded toward Roma. “Her beauty hypnotizes the eye. She is one of the most stunning women I have ever seen.”

Dr. Sala looked between Rocco and me, adjusting his glasses again. They had turned dark in the sunlight. At Rocco’s words, Romeo looked in her direction too but didn’t comment.

I agreed with Rocco in Sicilian, but I said she wasthemost stunning woman I’d ever seen. He caught the subtle difference between his assessment of her and mine. Rocco Fausti had a wife, but they had an open relationship. He was always on the hunt for another woman to seduce, but the hunting ground he was gazing at belonged to me.

A second later, he met my eyes and grinned. He slapped Romeo on the back and the two went in the opposite direction.

“My nephew has a poet’s heart,” Dr. Sala said, watching them walk away. “A romantic heart.”

“And ruthless blood,” I said.

“Same for you, ah?”

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