Gianna being back was going to be a thorn in my flesh, and I didn’t think I’d have the heart to take it if Dante decided to leave me for her.
He called her name last night, isn’t that proof enough that he’s going to leave you for her
I struggled to push the bad thoughts out of my head and focus on getting ready for Dante’s cousin Adrianna’s birthday dinner. I hadn’t seen Dante since my eyes fluttered open in the early hours of dawn, he had slipped off secretly and headed straight to work – or Gianna’s house.
No he wouldn’t do that, Dante loves me and he wouldn’t leave me.
Immediately, I took out the phone and I dialed Dante’s number to find out when he would be coming back home so we could go for Adrianna’s birthday together and the call picked on the second ring, a high pitched voice sounded in my ears and it took me a second to realize that it was Dante’s secretary and not Gianna picking up his phone.
“I want to speak to Dante” I said into the receiver, my eyes staring ahead at the pink Hello Kitty clock in the dining section, it was my special clock that I had moved from my childhood bedroom to Dante’s home and Dante had merely allowed me to hang it up in the dining room, he didn’t want any pink staining the grey walls of our bedroom.
“Dante is quite – occupied right now” There was hesitation in her tone, a stall looming her now quiet sheltered voice.
“What? Tell him his wife is on the line”
She paused for a second before I could hear her breathy voice loud in my ears “Mr. D’angelo is unavailable but he asked me to specifically tell you he won’t be able to make it home but he’ll see you at the birthday dinner, Romano would pick you up”
“But – ” I barely got my words out before she clicked the call shut and I was now staring angrily at the pink clock, it’s usually vibrant quality now seeming dull in my eyes. I could feel it, deep down in my bones that Dante was hiding something from me.
I got dressed for the dinner, wearing a blue flowing dress that would conceal the weight I had put on recently. I let my usually tied up hair to fall delicately past my shoulders and kissing my tender waist, yes my hair was long and one of my favorite things to imagine was to let Dante wrap my hair around his hands when he embraced me from behind, my eyes rolling back with my hair.
I walked out of the mansion, poised like a Cheshire cat, my desperate attempt to look as sexy as possible for Dante, so that when he looks at me he would see no one else but me. But still, there was an annoying squeaky voice telling me that if Gianna was truly back, I would never be able to compete with her for Dante’s feeling, but I decided to put it behind me and focus on the night. Dante loves me and besides he wouldn’t want to defile papa against the alliance deal.
I put those annoying thoughts out of my head and walked into the party and the first person that latched unto me was my sister Vivianna, in a flowing blue dress that matched the party’s theme. I had been too distracted with my own thoughts I forgot to notice how blue everyone looked. Vivianna had an interesting glint in her eyes, a look that meant she had gossip that was burning on her tongue and she wouldn’t rest until she spilled it out.
“Guess who’s back in town?” she said to me and a silent dread formed at the pit of my stomach. I shrugged not wanting to meet her eyes incase there was any spark of anxiety flashing there, I kept my eyes on the throng of people that chattered noisily among themselves.
“Aunt Angelina” she released and a breath of fresh air, a breath I didn’t know I was holding escaped my glossed lips. “Word on the street is that her husband got killed in France, shot in the head by the opposition, and now she’s back in Algreen Cove to scrap up whatever left over pieces she could find still crawling about in her husband’s estate, word is everything has been seized by the government and she’s poor now”
“Oh that’s ugly” I chirped in, I was a delightful gossip but the only thing stopping me from gearing into my full potential was the crowd in my head. Where is my husband? I couldn’t breathe, I needed him right by my side to stop the chaos that was brewing in my head.
“What would you if you thought your husband was cheating on you” the words flew out of my mouth even though I was hell bent on not saying anything to anyone – especially Vivianna which was because of the ghost like expression she was sporting on her face. Then she chuckled, and another chuckle before it morphed into a full blown laughter.
“You can’t be serious Helena” she laughed again “There isn’t a man in Algreen Cove not with the kind of reputation that Dante has and hasn’t cheated on their wives. Papa cheated on mama countless times she bought a birkin bag for every time he came home with red lipstick smudged on his shirt, mama never wore red lipstick and those were the kind of girls papa went for – the red lipstick wearing skanks”
“Vivianna – ” I whispered tiredly. She had the sharpest mouth in the family.
“I mean Dante probably has some flat belly whore wrapped around his torso” then she looked my stomach which had been producing a roundness that I couldn’t control, I used to be a dancer, what happened to me?”
“As long as he doesn’t file for divorce then there’s nothing to worry about, you won’t end up like Aunt Angelina on that note I should probably tell you that I saw Dante arrive like thirty minutes earlier with a strange girl on the hip, but I thought you were familiar with cheating husbands but apparently not and I should have started with that before droning you on about Aunt Angelina”
My eyes widened “You think!”
“Where?” I asked her and she pointed up towards the rest rooms and dressing rooms that were up the stairs in Dante’s family house. Immediately, I scurried up the steps and rummaging carelessly through all the rooms and saving the best for last – Dante’s childhood bedroom. I pushed it open and it gave way easily and only a cold daunting air echoed back at me. The lights were turned off and the stale smell of unused room hit my nose. I sighed, turning around to shut the door and that was when I hit a rock hard chest. I would have been clueless if not for the familiar scent wafting into my nose, and I looked up to find Dante staring hard at me.
“What are you doing?” his eyes were cold and his tone bore a harshness that surprised me. I lowered my eyes, concentrating them at his feet
“Looking for you” I managed, then he tipped my chin up to look at him. I could feel tension thickening in the air with the way his eyes drilled into mine, it wasn’t a loving look whatsoever but I couldn’t interpret it all the same.
“There’s something I want to tell you” he said and I stayed quiet urging him to go on and the next words that spilled out of his mouth sent me into a spiral
“I want a divorce”
A divorce?My eyes fluttered open the next morning with Vivianna’s words just at the forefront of my head ‘As long as he doesn’t file for divorce, you’ll be fine’I sprang up immediately to find out that Dante hadn’t returned home the previous night after he had told me ‘Go home, we’ll talk when I get home. I just have a few meetings to round up”What meetings are you rounding up at a party?But I listened to him because I loved him, because I didn’t want to annoy him further, maybe if I was complacent enough he wouldn’t have to divorce me, I listened because I still wanted to be his wife.I got up from the bed and headed downstairs to the dining section and the moment I reached there I froze, stopping dead in my tracks and my stomach falling to the pit of dread in my stomach.“No no no no” I cried internally. There was a white envelope placed neatly on the table, like a subtle effect to cushion the blow from the contents of the white envelope. Right there, on the envelope was my name
FRANCE, PARISFIVE YEARS LATER“So what Helena, are you coming for Vivianna’s wedding or not. Your sister needs you here” my mother droned on me, just after I was done with my performance at a fundraiser in paris where I had been living since I signed those divorce papers.“I’ll think about it mama” I did not want to attend, neither did I plan on attending but I knew my mother’s guilt tripping skills were going to come into play very soon.“No Helena, there’s nothing to think about. You take the next flight down here, Vivianna is getting married and the best part, she’s marrying for love and not as a shady deal for your father’s business, how can you miss that?”I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see me, I was walking down the street still mostly dressed in my ballet attire but I had switched out the shoes for a more comfortable converse shoes.“Rub it in my face mama”“Oh come on Helena, everybody misses you. This is your home, you can’t run away from home forever, I thought
I swallowed hard, trying to summon the strength to speak, to tell him to let me go, but all I could do was stare back at him, lost in those dark eyes of his. I hated him still, his dark charm was not enough to erase the years of hurt I had spent trying to forget him.“You look – different” his words hung heavy in the air above even with his hands still latched around my waist burning a hole through my skin, and I pulled myself away from him.“You disappeared without a trace, no good byes no nothing” he said, his eyes never leaving mine. I could feel the weight of his words pressing down on me, but I refused to let it show. I had spent too many nights thinking about this moment, about what I would say if I ever saw him again.“For good reason” I shot back“What reason?” he asked, stepping closer, his presence overwhelming.I forced myself to meet his gaze, my heart pounding in my chest. “It doesn’t matter anymore, we’re divorced and if you don’t mind I’d like to go back to the party, I
I could still feel the goose bumps on my skin even long after the party had ended, with Dante’s last words still echoing in my ears. His voice ran deeper than usual, an unusual scruff encasing his voice that proved he truly wasn’t bluffing.And I do not bluffOf course he doesn’t bluff, he wasn’t bluffing when he brutally divorced me five years ago and desperately clung to his slimy ex like it was his last life line. I could still see the dangerous glint in his eyes glaring at me, laying claim at what he had discarded years ago. He didn’t what other men touching me, I didn’t want other women touching him either but he went ahead to do whatever he pleased, just like he always did and I couldn’t complain, I couldn’t lay my own claim because I didn’t matter.Now that I was back better and prettier, he wanted me back. He didn’t want me at my worst, what made him think he deserved me now that I was better. I knew I couldn’t stay, not with him closer than ever now that Vivianna was getting
“I guess I’ll be able to make the performance after all” I said into my phone as I stared at my reflection at the mirror. It was my ballet instructor Margaux, firm as a rod but was the sweetest woman when she let down her tight bun and slipped into some comfortable converse instead of her ballet flats.“I thought you wouldn’t be back until after a week, is the wedding done already?” I was already unconsciously stretching my taut muscles just at the sound of her voice, and I could imagine her rallying around me, nagging until I got my postures correct.“Slight change of plans Margaux, I need to be back, I almost forgot why I left in the place” I said, I could imagine the slight nod of her head as she said “Alright then, see you when you get back, I’ll place you in the line up”“Just one hour Helena, and it’s done, you’re far away from here, away from him and away from where the truth matters”Just one hour.I sang it like a mantra.Mama and Papa weren’t too pleased with my decision to
I never made it to the airport, just one hour had turned into several hours later and that moment I was stuck in the hospital with my brother’s blood smeared on my face and the creamy dress I wore stained with his blood.“It was the Anotti clan” I heard Paulo say to my distraught sister and mama. Mama was hysterical, papa had been shot same with Luca, but Luca had died on the spot and Papa was in critical condition and from the looks of it, he wasn’t going to make it.I couldn’t listen anymore to mama’s hysterical sobbing after the doctor announced that Papa indeed didn’t make it, I needed to leave, go somewhere the smell of antiseptic and bad news wasn’t clinging to me like a second skin. My legs were shaking, but somehow they carry me forward into the hot afternoon air.I stumble out into hospital courtyard, gasping for air, feeling like I’m in a nightmare but just as I step out, I see Dante approaching.I don’t have strength for thisImmediately, I turn back around willing myself to
DANTE’S POV“The Anotti’s are going to pay for ruining my wedding brunch”I tapped my cigarette on the coffee table, a glass of whiskey in my hand while I listened to my cousin Paulo drone about how he was going to get back at the Anotti’s for what they did to the De Luca’s. It was all mouth of course, it wasn’t his fight and the only reason he seemed so upset about it was they were ruining his whole wedding experience with Vivianna, she seemed like a sweet girl but I doubted Paulo was doing it for love. No man in Algreen Cove got married based on just love, marriage was business for us, I’m offering your something and I want your sweet virgin daughter in return.Now this trailed my mind back to Helena, our marriage had been an alliance deal, strictly business, she would play the sweet doting and faithful wife and I helped her Papa move his goods across state and that was it. I didn’t have to be faithful, the D’angelo men were never faithful but as her luck would have it, I didn’t tou
HELENA’S POVI hear the gun shot, thick and loud, slicing through the suffocating air while my arm was held captive by Tony Anotti, the heard of the Anotti gang and apparently the one my father owes a large sum of money. My body reacts before my mind can catch up, a visceral jolt of fear rippling through me as I try to duck under the nearest seat but Tony holds me in place, his eyes widening from the suddenness of the sound. For a moment, I’m back at the brunch – my brother’s weight pinning me down and his blood dripping on my face. Panic claws at my throat, threatening to consume me.“Stay still woman” Tony swipes at me as I struggle in his arms, I see my sister and my mother holding each other in fear as the rest of the congregation scrabble out of the church from the sound of the gun.“Run” I tell them “Go – now!”They were hesitant to leave me behind but my sister pulls my mother out and a subtle relief ripples through me except it didn’t last, because just as they run out another