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“I don’t.” He said with not an ounce of give in his voice.
“So, I get to pick out a ring I will eventually have to give back?”
“Lotta questions, huh? You’d get to keep it. No matter what happens.”
No matter what happens.Boy, did that leave the door open for anything like breaking up or getting mauled by a tiger? But whatever, I was supposed to be thinking positively, right? I was getting a nice, big, fat diamond ring. What was there to complain about?
“Fine. It's probably a good idea to do something like that, given that we have to keep up this charade, and I don’t want to be killed.”
He rolled his eyes. “I would never let you get killed.”
That made me feel better as I wondered how one of his acquaintances could shoot me in the head for lying. I just kept thinking about his father’s men standing outside the mansion. It almost gave me nightmares to the point where I looked at his father like he was the grim reaper or something.
All that aside, Tomaso kept his word and took me to Tiffany’s in the city. I had never felt fancier. These were the parts of the relationship where I had to remind myself they were fleeting. I could fall into the trap of enjoying luxury or whatever. Those elements didn’t matter and had nothing to do with Tomaso or me. They were like ornaments on a Christmas tree. The tree didn’t need them to thrive. And they weren’t going to be there forever anyway.
“Don’t get too carried away now,” Tomaso said. Before I could say anything, he said, “I’m kidding. Get whatever you want. I don’t know much about engagement rings or styles.”
On the one hand, as I made my way into the store, I was filled with joy over the fact that I could pick out whatever I wanted. On the other hand, I longed for the romance element of it all. You know, the whole getting proposed to type of thing. Of course, I actually wanted that. It may have been a strange situation, but that didn't take away what I wanted. I had always dreamed of the traditional route. But there I was, forced to enjoy the moment.
The diamonds made my eyes water, but not in the way I wanted to cry, more than a hungry way, if that made any sense. Occasionally, I would look through the glass windows and see Tomaso's men standing there. Yes, it ruined the vibe a little bit. But it was hard to notice anything else in a store like that.
Out of all the diamond rings, from the square ones to those with colors, my eyes kept fixating on the circular one that sat in a square. The square had these little diamonds lacing it. No matter where you looked, there was shininess. I was essentially a kid and a candy store.
"Is that the one you like?" Tomaso's deep voice hovered over me.
I wasn't sure why, but I was a bit embarrassed to tell him yes. Even though it was god's honest truth. "This is the one I like. It's the type of engagement ring I've always envisioned."
Tomaso looked up at the clerk and pointed down at the glass where the ring sat. I couldn't even imagine that thing on my finger. But not because I didn't like it but because it was so beautiful. It seemed like something that belonged on a Queen's finger.
I watched the clerk take the thing out, and that's when it became real. Even when it was put on my finger to try it out, it didn't hit me until I saw the clerk handling it.
" So you like it?" Tomaso asked me.
I gave him a smile and nodded my head yes. And you know what, maybe I didn't need him to get down on one knee and be all romantic. There was still something about that moment that made my heart flutter.
We left that store, and immediately the romance died because a gunshot went off across the street. Tomaso quickly ushered me into the car. Now. My heart was racing for a whole different reason.
People ran every which way outside. His men all started to fire back. I watched one man go down. It wasn't one of Tomaso’s men. It seemed like it was the shooter. But of course, I could have been wrong.
" What was all that? That had to do with you. Of course, right?"
He pressed down on the gas and didn't say a word. I looked behind without putting my seat belt on and watched the chaos get smaller in the distance.
" Yeah, had to do with me. That's just my life, all right. This stuff happens."
This stuff happens. It was a basic way to sum up something that was almost killing us. And suddenly, I realized even further how deep I was in. Never before had I been so close to bullets raining past me. And yet I had this beautiful engagement ring on my finger. Something was so ironic about it.
"Just relax. Okay. Like I told you, I would never let anything happen to you."
My head snapped towards him, almost like a snapping turtle. "You couldn't have prevented a bullet from hitting me. Sometimes I don't know about this contract."
He continued to look through his windshield when he said, "When you say the word contract, do you mean it, or do you mean me."
I didn't respond. And that wasn't a good enough answer in my book.
When we got home, things were tense. We didn't say anything to one another. Surprisingly though, it was he who broke that silence about an hour in. He walked into the bedroom with frustration on his face. "I don't want you to stress out, okay. Really. What happened today was not common. From what I heard from my men, It was just some guy from a low-ranking family trying to make a name for himself against me. No one got hurt on my end. The shooter got hurt."
I didn't look at him because it was too hard. "The thing is, it's just the fact that it happened, you know? Here I was picking out the ring, and suddenly bullets were flying past my head."
