Page 67 of Thin Lines (Donati Bloodlines 2)

Oh, God.

Emma clenched her fists into tight little balls,letting the pain of her fingernails cutting into her palms keep her quiet.

“He cares for her,” Affonso said after a long moment.

“Obviously. I think anyone could see that with how hewas acting tonight.”

“I was hoping he would care for her. You see, he’sbeen putting a hell of a lot more distance between him and me lately. I can’tstand it, watching him from afar. I don’t have any say that way.”

Ray chuckled. “You mean to say he can be a grade-Aasshole when he wants to be.”

“Mmm. Stubborn, difficult, arrogant, and troubled inhis soul. What else?”

“I wonder who he gets that from, Affonso.”

Affonso scoffed. “His father, of course. Who else?”

“Exactly. Don’t act so surprise. But you deflected mypoint. Doesn’t it concern you at all to think that maybe he’s a little tooclose to your wife?”

“No,” Affonso said. “I know Calisto. He feels a senseof duty toward Emma, nothing more. He’ll want to make sure I’m treating herright, and that she’s happy. He can’t stand to see his family suffer at myhand. He figures I did that enough. It’s not a romantic thing, Ray. Calistowouldn’t betray me like that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. My boy wouldn’t do that to me, no matterhow he feels or what happened in the past. I know it. He hates me, sure, but heloves Cosa Nostra too much to fail it. I raised him that way, remember.”

“Sure,” Ray said, but he didn’t sound like he believedit.

“What is it, Ray? Speak up or don’t.”

“Didn’t they remind you of anyone in particulartonight?” the underboss asked.

“Like who?”

Ray cleared his throat before saying, “Camilla andRichard.”

Calisto’s mother and father?

Emma didn’t understand what Ray was getting at.

“I’m only a couple of years younger than you,” Raycontinued. “I was around with my father back then. Richard used to play forCamilla like that, didn’t he? She enjoyed it.”

Affonso was quiet for a long while.

Too long.

“Yes,” her husband eventually said. “My brother andhis wife used to do that a lot. I believe that was how they … connected. Whenthey were first engaged, I mean. Richard needed something to make Camilla trusthim. She was enamored with his piano playing.”

Ray made a curious noise under his breath. “And youwere enamored with her.”

“Watch it, now.”

“Well, you were.”

“A little,” Affonso admitted. “But what good did it dome, huh?”

“Point taken. It did remind me of them, though. Emmaand Calisto, I mean.”

“Not me.”