Page 103 of The Man with a Treasure

“And during all the years after her?”

His eyes slid shut. “I have longed for her.”

“What was the closest we could get?”

He lifted his head and shrugged. “Barflies?”

Completely getting pulled from my train of thought, my brows bunched. “What?”

“That’s what women who look for sex at bars are called.”

I recoiled. “How degrading.”

“Yeah, and we fucked them.”

I shook my head. “Stop. You are getting me off track.” Clearing my mind of actual annoying insects, I continued, “How do you feel about Scarlett? Fly-like?”

Now, he recoiled as if I had insulted him, or her, for that matter. “She is no fly. Dove is, oh damn, she is…” He finally sighed, then reverted to Italian to make a point. “A breath of invigorating air.”

“Exactly. Noemi was how we touched the sky. She was how you and I flew. Together. She is how we earned our first taste of Heaven.”

Sal spoke to himself, “Taste. Sky—” My meaning slammed into Sal. I could see it all by the way his face and body softened as this was now making sense. “Scarlett. She gets it. Doesn’t she?”

My heart beamed. “Yes. Just like Noemi did.”

“No wonder Mateo fell hard and fast.”

“Oh yes, my friend. He was bitter about a forced marriage that he soon thanked the Heavens for.”

“Wow.”

We both had to chuckle at Sal, not meaning to, imitating Scarlett.

He added, “You and I, we believe Scarlett can take us there again.”

“Who else would comprehend such magic as one who cherishes warm water from a faucet?”

He ran both hands through his hair. “This makes so much sense. Today,” he sighed, “she was… Oh, Angelo, she is a woman of valor.”

I took a deep breath, thinking of Isabella. “Just like her mother, that courageous soul.” Thinking of Isabella had me thinking of her father. “Sal—” Suddenly feeling a little anxious, I switched to Italian, “Mr. Giordano asked me if I had feelings for Isabella.”

“No.”

“Of course, I don’t. Not like that, but… he said that it was a good thing because, otherwise, he would have to put a bullet in my head.”

Sal’s chest expanded, then released air. “Then, I guess we will both be shot because I am not letting you return Scarlett without her having the chance to understand what true lovemaking is.”

“As much as I want to lie with her and cherish her body, it cannot be.”

“Not according to that kiss,” he teased.

I stared at the piano. “Yes, that was not so easy to walk away from, but her needs are far more important than ours. The last thing she needs is me lusting after her with all she has experienced.”

In awe of me, Sal looked directly at me and quietly said, “You truly are her Angel of the Night.”

I may have felt blessed by God’s rain, but I still knew I didn’t belong in Heaven.

After a quiet moment, Sal grinned. “I must say, all this is quite a relief. I was starting to think we Soldier Tugged in front of one another one too many times.”