And I knew then I would have done anything for this kind of response.
Anything to make her happy.
* * *
Vittoria
Dinner went betterthan I could have hoped for. From the very moment my Zio Como opened the front door, I didn’t wait. I threw myself into his arms. And when the first of my tears escaped, he held me close with a hand to the back of my head. I barely heard his apology over the pressure in my head relieving itself, but the truth was, even if he hadn’t offered it, I would have come and embraced him nonetheless.
Como may not have been the best role model, but I couldn’t just forget what he did for us.
He was a bachelor with zero commitments, living a free life, when we were dumped into his lap. He took us in without a second thought. He never complained. He didn’t mistreat us. In fact, he changed his life to work around our needs. I couldn’t discount all the good he did.
Sometimes people said things they regret.
The sudden memory of the night my father died caused a shadow to fall over my soul.
I was guilty of it myself.
Sure, it was a little awkward at first. When Vincenza hugged me, I could feel her stare Ettore down in some bizarre power move. Thankfully, my husband had more sense than to engage. Besides, that fight would have been over in seconds. Like a rottweiler vs a chihuahua, I know Ettore was simply waiting for Enza to overstep so he had an excuse to tear her head off.
He was behaving for me.
The conversation was stunted at times, but polite. The flow of the evening slowed some and when I asked my uncle if I could go up to my room, he said, “Of course. It’s your room, Vicky. It’ll always be your room.”
I didn’t except Tor to follow me up and I felt mildly embarrassed of the soft pink bedsheets and lace frill around the posters of my bed. Dear Lord. Why did I still have dolls on shelf? My cheeks turned a deep shade of pink as I laughed nervously and uttered, “I guess I wasn’t all that set on growing up too quickly.”
My husband stepped in close and attempted to make me feel better by saying, “It’s overrated anyways.”
You know. Of all the time we spent arguing in the beginning, it felt like we’d finally made it over that hill and now, I considered myself extremely lucky to have him. Ettore Scala could be a scary motherfucker, but he was soft for me. My heart claimed him and I was proud to carry his name.
When he crowded me from behind, he put his hands to my hips and squeezed. “Six months ago, this would have made me a creep.” I was about to ask what would have made him a creep when the hard length of him pressed into my ass causing my lips to part. “But now, I’m just being an indulgent husband.”
He was indulgent.
We spent more time in my room than intended and when we slammed backwards into my closed door, I pulled away from his mouth long enough to whisper, “We should stop.” My head tilted to the side, giving him room to place wet kisses along my throat. Tor’s strong hand trailed my spine, lower until he clutched at my ass cheek. My eyes almost rolled into the back of my head when he kneaded it firmly and simply replied, “No.”
So, when we stumbled out of my room sometime later, holding hands. My quiet laughter dissipated when I saw my sister standing there, taking in my flushed cheeks and swollen lips.
Her lip curled, “Did you guys get busy in there? Ugh. Gross. We just had this wing cleaned. If you could keep your hands off each other for five minutes, coffee’s ready.” She began to walk away. “And wash your goddamn hands.”
Tor and I looked at each other a long moment before he chuckled. Mortified, I buried my face into his collar and groaned.
His voice was filled with mirth when he said, “Did she look jealous to you?” I hadn’t really noticed. “Think she’s regretting her decision?”
I pulled back, blinking up at him in confusion. “What decision?”
He shot me a look. “You know.” But I didn’t know. “The big one.” My face must have shown I wasn’t following because his gaze narrowed a little. “Marriage?” His head tilted slightly. “This ringing a bell?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t know?” he uttered disbelievingly.
“Know what?” I laughed out of pure perplexity.
He blinked at me then, and what he said caused a physical reaction. “That my offer of marriage was to Vincenza, not you.”
My heart clenched and my face fell in time. I felt the blood rush out of my face as I took a small step back. “What?”