Dinner goes smoothly after that, I think the liberal pouring of whiskey helps us find our rhythm. Kent is by no means an easy addition to any party – he’s too commanding a presence, and Daniel and Jerome fall too easily into their habitual fear of him. But Janeen and I work hard to cajole the boys,
Thompson smirks at Kent, not letting him off that easy. “How can you do that?” he asks. “She’s already married.” A muscle flicks in Kent’s jaw. “They’ll get divorced. We’ll have the paperwork drawn up immediately.” “I’m not sure any court in America is going to process their divorce right now,”
But… There’s time for that – lots of it now. It’s the gift that Fay gave him: plenty of time to make up for the years he lost not being a good enough father. Still, there’s precisely one thing he wants right now, and one person he wants to be with. And he has a feeling that she’ll have taken the
About forty-five minutes later, Kent helps me to my feet. My legs are still shaky, but Kent stands close by as I brush my teeth and gargle mouthwash. “I don’t know about all this,” I murmurs, glancing up at him and feeling awkward as I dab at my mouth with a clean hand towel. “What do you mean?”
I know precisely why I’m still up. “I want to talk to you about that,” he murmurs, turning to look down at me. “But…is that the conversation we should be having tonight?” And I bite my lip as I look up at Kent’s serious expression, as he glares at me a little – letting me know that he’s well awa
When I hear the shower turn on in the little bathroom, I stand up and head to the little suitcases that I packed for Kent and I for this trip. A little thrill runs through me as I remember how anxious I was packing his – worrying if he’d like the clothes I picked out for him, if he’d ever get to wea
We sit like that for a moment, listening to the still rush of the waves against the ship, the distant sound of the engines churning. And I take a deep breath, closing my eyes, relishing the feeling of ceding him control – of letting him handle it all. After a few moments of peace, Kent speaks. “
But he lets me continue. “This is mine, Kent,” I say softly, dropping my hand. “If I let you take the blame…you also take from me my conviction that all of these were my choices, that these were things that I did. From the beginning, you told me I was a pawn in this game – and I know my father fel
My dad greets him with such genuine joy and excitement that it makes my heart swell with joy. They talk for a few minutes about Dominic’s day before dad gives him a little nudge back towards the gate where Kent and I are waiting. Dominic gives dad a kiss before running ahead again. My dad waves to
“Papa!” Dominic shouts, startling me out of my reverie as he drops my hand and darts down the road. I look up, a huge smile breaking out on my face again as I see Kent on the sidewalk just ahead. His back is to us as he speaks companionably with the butcher, a heavy bag of his purchases already hung
As I walk down the street towards the little Italian kindergarten, the whispers start around me, as they always do. I listen to all of them, a big German Shepherd padding quietly at my heels. “Is that her?” “Yes, that’s the one – I heard she was her husband’s mistress before he married her – tha
Both Kent and I laugh, but Don Bianci – across the baptismal font from us – snaps his eyes up, perhaps not liking the joke as much as we do. But I just ignore it, because dad’s right, frankly – and it’s too happy a day to care. After the final blessing everyone applauds Dominic – he likes that, bl
“Well, it didn’t seem to affect your first very badly,” Ivan says with a shrug, peering around Kent to where Daniel is laughing with an arm around Jerome’s shoulders. “So…maybe keep it up.” I smirk, squeezing Ivan’s hand once more before standing and moving to Kent’s side, tucking myself against h
“Hey, gorgeous,” Ivan says, his mouth turned up in a smirk as I cross the churchyard, beaming at him. “Look who’s talking,” I say, laughing and reaching for him when I come close enough. Ivan wraps me in a hug, dropping a kiss to my cheek as I hold Dominic a bit to the side so he doesn’t get squis
He laughs, smiling at me genuinely. “Do I make you nervous?” he asks, blunt. I laugh, unable to help it. “Has no one bothered to tell you, in all these years, that you’re a little terrifying, Don Bianci?” He grins and shakes his head at me. “Well, considering what you accomplished, young lady, I
Two months later, we’re all gathered together again. And it is only with frustration that I see Gio and Janeen standing so close together that their arms nearly brush, even though they’re still not together. I roll my eyes, dismissing the problem for a moment as I move my eyes down to Dominic and
It's an incredible night. Kent didn’t lie, not at all, about the food either. I’m shocked by the mountains of dishes that continue to follow each other, one after another, long into the night. After a few hours of it I just mournfully watch the waiters go by because I couldn’t eat another bite if I