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I had to give her this – this day, this dance – because I knew she wanted nothing more than to dance. I just wasn’t sure I will be able to share her with the eyes of the world. Her dance felt too intimate and all of that was mine. Just. Mine.
When the music stopped, Grazia fell to her knees in a dramatic pose. Her chest was going up and down rapidly and her skin was sparkling under the light. She came straight to me, jumping into my arms.
“I love you!” She said, half-laughing.
“You are damn beautiful.”
“I just danced at the Paris National Opera.” She kissed me, leaving us both out of breath. “This was the best thing you’ve ever done for me, Salvatore.”
“The way you feel right now, Grazi, I will give you that every day.”
“You do, Sasa. You do.”
Chapter 21
Palermo waited for our return peacefully. I don’t know what I was expecting, but since we came back things have been calm and I didn’t hear a word from my family’s side. I got the courage to charge my phone and checked it for the first time since I returned from Milano. There were many messages from my brothers, they were mostly concerned, but all were dated before I called Giovani. All communication has seized after that. The only one that kept calling me was Pina, but when I tried to return the call, I got no answer. I really needed to talk to her because I didn’t even know if she knew what Ariana was doing.With my father.
The past week has passed by us in relative normality. Salvatore was mostly out of the house because he had business to handle, so I got bored and started to redecorate. Chiara joined this effort and she helped me pick up new furniture for our bedroom. When that was done, we moved downstairs to the living room and kitchen which were currently under construction. Salvatore didn’t mind my domestic activities as long as I didn’t ask him for opinions about wall colors and decorative pillows.
Chiara stopped by almost every day with her son and we got really close which wasn’t hard. We were friends once. Goliath used to bring her by the house all the time before they broke up, so we picked it up right where we left off. She was also my ears to the outside world since I couldn’t talk to many people yet.
The Fiorifamigliawas a little restless to hear that their Don got married with a Caputo, but Chiara has told me that none of his lieutenants or associates made a big deal about it. Mostly because they would never question Salvatore’s decisions, but our history was also important. I knew all those people, their wives, and their kids, and for most of my life they’d expected me to marry Salvatore. At the end of the day our marriage was shocking… but not really.
Soon, I would have to show my face next to my husband, take his aunts out to lunch, and go to his friends’ parties, but for now, Salvatore didn’t think it was safe for me to go outside the house where I had guards at every corner. He wanted to know about where my family was standing before letting his guard down. I would say that all the precautions and the extra security, and the small artillery Salvatore had all over the house were over the top. I had no doubt my brothers were angry with me and that I’ve lost their good graces, but nothing could ever make them hurt me. I refused to believe anything different.
My father… well, that was something I didn’t want to think about. I got all those filthy images with Ariana grinding on him, all the pain, all the heartbreak, everything that Salvatore told me about his past, put everything in a box and pushed it deep down. It was too much. Not thinking about it was the only way I could get any sleep at night.
I rolled around in bed only to find out the pillow next to me was cold. The clock hanging on the wall said it was nine already, so Salvatore must be somewhere in town meeting his people.
Since I couldn’t get to my ballet studio for morning practice anymore, there was nothing left to do but enjoy very lazy mornings. I found my robe and threw it over what was left of my lingerie after Salvatore pulled at it with his teeth, and walked downstairs. Totto was at the end of the spiraled stairs waiting for me with buttered toast and a cappuccino. I took the cup gratefully.
“Thank you, Totto. I’d be lost without you.”
He smiled, but kept his proper stance. There was not one thing not in order with him, from the tip of his shiny shoes to the white gloves he was always wearing. “You’re very welcome, Grazia.”
“Do you know what time Salvatore will be back today? He left before I woke up.”
“He’s in the back garden.”
“Oh.”
“There are a few of his men here.”
So he did have business to take care of, he just chose to take care of it at home. I had mixed feelings about that.
I left Totto in the house and walked outside knowing that if they were talking about something I wasn’t supposed to hear, he would have met the men in a restaurant or behind the closed door of his office. Whatever this was, it was casual.
I found them around a table by the pool and recognized everyone. Pietro, Yannis, Lorenzo Lombardo – one of Salvatore’s uncles on his mother’s side – and John Black – the British guy who was Adrian’s lawyer for most of his life.
I shielded my eyes from the sun and called Salvatore’s name and he immediately came to me, but no one else moved. They didn’t even lift their head from the breakfast spread in front of them.
“Good morning, Grazi.” His lips descended over mine powerfully.
“Good morning. I missed you when I woke up.”
He nodded his head to the men. “There were some documents that required my attention. We’re in the middle of a big transaction.”
“Is this about that power-plant?”
